A Few Things to Make your Car Battery Last Longer

It does not matter how much you paid for your car or how advanced it is, but chances are that you are using a lead-acid battery. How do you preserve the life of your battery? Granted, every battery has a lifespan, but many batteries go down before they have lived their full life. How can you make yours last as long as it should? Nothing hard really.

Just read the tips below…

Tip #1: When was your battery manufactured? How Long should it last?

The first thing is to make sure that the battery you buy is new. Check the date of manufacture because a good battery should last at least 5 years. With that in mind, you will know when you need to recharge the battery when the lights start dimming or when the car fails to start. Usually, if the battery is, say, about 2 years old, you may need to recharge it if you have trouble starting the car. If the battery is 5 years old, you may need to replace it with a new one. Before buying, find out when the battery was manufactured.

Tip #2: Give your battery regular maintenance

Given that a quality car battery is expensive, you will obviously want it to serve you for days on end. For you to achieve this, you will need to service your car battery as much as you can. Ignore the manufacturers when they say their car batteries are maintenance free. Nothing could be further from the truth.

How often do you check the water level in your battery? It should always be below the water hole. However, note that some batteries today do not need fluid. If yours does however, always use distilled water to refill it.

After every 5000km, it is important to have your battery tested for voltage, that is, does it still discharge the required 12 Volts? Mechanics know how they test for voltage.

Tip #3: Keeping your battery clean

Every few months, you need to give your battery terminals a rub down with a wire brush to keep them clean. You should prepare some baking soda paste, dip the wire brush in it and then scrub your terminals gently, of course after removing the connectors. Once clean and dry, replace your connectors.

Tip #4: Maintain the battery at cool

Avoid exposing your car battery to extreme heat over a long period. To successfully shield your car battery from soaking in too much heat, use a battery wrap, which goes a long way with protecting your battery from the damages emitted by your car’s hood. If you live in South Africa or other countries where they experience winters, you will need to protect your battery from freezing. How are you going to do that?

Ensure that you purchase one that comes with heating options, as it will go a long way in shielding your car battery from the effects brought about by freezing and sub-freezing.

Tip #5: Switch off the accessories when you park the car

So many people forget this when they park their car in the garage at home. They leave the parking lights on, and sometimes even the radio. This is the fastest way to have a flat battery in the morning.

Never, ever recharge a battery that is drained out. Always refill it with distilled water first to the required level.

If you are storing the battery, then you have to make sure that the charge always stays at optimum, that is, 12.5 volts. That way, when you return it to the car, there will be no trouble starting the car.