Cold Weather Car Battery Care

We often don’t think about it, but your battery is what you trust to get your car started every morning to go to work or drop off the kids at school. You need to be able to rely on your car to have enough power to start in the morning and run all of your electronics when your car is not running. What you may not be aware of can leave you stranded in the cold and it could have all been avoided with something as simple as a battery check.

When you go in for an oil change does the place you go check your car battery? If not ask them to check its condition. An AVR print out should be printed to show you the battery strength, alternator charging abilities and starter strength.

Batteries Only Get Worse as Cold Weather Sets In

Please note when you look at those numbers if your battery is at approximately 50% of its capable strength this could very likely fail in the cold temperatures to come.  Please note that batteries only get worse as the cold weather sets in. Many of us like to use the battery in our cars the same way we would as if it was summer time so we need to make sure we take the time to make sure we have something reliable running our cars.

Storing Your Car for the Winter? Disconnect the Negative Cable

What if you store your car? Some people go as far as to put the car in the garage and take the battery in the house! I personally would suggest leaving the battery in the car with the negative cable disconnected and a battery tender should be attached to keep the battery voltage up and maintained. Please remember that a battery only has to drop in voltage 2 volts to freeze and your brand new battery is no good.

With these few things in mind please have a safe winter experience. Take care of your battery and your battery will take care of you.

R.K. Fray
Simone Performance