Your car’s battery isn’t a huge fan of the cold weather. The more chilly it gets during the winter, the more it hates it and becomes resistant to running properly. But of course, it being a battery, you’re the one who will have to take proper care of it to ensure it runs smoothly and doesn’t cause any trouble to you as you’re driving your car. Car batteries are designed to tolerate any condition, but extreme cold can hinder their operations. Therefore, you need to preserve your car’s battery and heater throughout the winter to ensure everything runs smoothly.
1. Get Your Battery Checked
The first and foremost step is to get your battery checked by a professional who can easily point out what is or isn’t wrong with it. For this purpose, you can easily visit an automotive shop near you and request them to do a battery test.
This test will help determine any weaknesses and even inform you of the temperature threshold that, if reached, will kill your vehicle’s battery. This helps you figure out how and when you will need to repair your battery and plan ahead of it instead of having to get it changed right at the moment it dies.
2. Wrap Your Battery in a Thermal Blanket
In order to protect your car’s battery and keep it warm during the winter season, you need to start using thermal blankets to coat your battery with. This ensures that your battery’s original temperature is retained. Just make sure not to try and replace your batteries by yourself next time, as this will end up ruining the protective thermal coating. Always visit an expert or experienced professional to replace and maintain your battery to avoid trashing its protective coatings.
You can find thermal blankets and other parts from an auto parts store or a company that specializes in providing spare parts, like Toyota Creek Motors.
3. Park Your Car in a Garage if Possible
If you have a garage, that’s great. But even if you don’t, make sure to rent a nearby space to park your car safely covered and under a roof. And even if that isn’t possible, just cover your car properly where you’ve parked it. This will ensure it stays safe from any snow or dew during the winter, which can end up freezing its battery or overall engine and even cause rust on your car’s body.
4. Drive Your Car for More Than 10 Minutes
One of the easiest ways to make sure your vehicle’s battery is properly heated and isn’t at risk of dying due to the chilly season is to drive it around town for about 20-30 minutes approximately on a daily basis. This keeps the engine mobile and the battery charged, keeping it heated enough to not get affected by the cold. However, if your start-up seems to be slower than usual, you will need to take the car to a repair shop immediately as it could be a sign that your car’s battery is dying.
5. Clean-up the Battery Regularly
One reason for your battery to be slower than usual could be internal corrosion on the battery terminals. Hence, you always need to check for corrosion and other such dirt and substances, as this can hinder your vehicle’s battery start-up due to poor connection and end up causing battery failure.
6. Be Patient with Starting Attempts
Lastly, if you’re trying to start your car on winter mornings, be patient with your start-up attempts to avoid causing stress on the battery. If you’re starting the car, and it doesn’t do so right away, wait for a few minutes before attempting to do so again. Make sure the battery is getting enough charge to start properly by keeping your radio, AC, etc. off until the car is started and running smoothly.
These are all the steps you need to take to ensure your car’s battery and, as a result, the heater is preserved and runs smoothly during the winter season. If you need more assistance about this or any other topic, you can visit Toyota Creek Motors.
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