Are you doing everything that you could to protect your car’s battery? You might be surprised to learn that most car owners don’t. The Auto Shop of Chapin has some tips that can help you.
Look at Your Car’s Battery Now and Then
It sounds overly simplified, but looking at your car’s battery can tell you so much about how it’s doing. For instance, make sure to look at the posts the top of the battery. Those can become covered in a white powdery substance called corrosion. That can be brushed away and cleaned off. Another potential issue can be cracks in the outer casing of the battery. Those often start as bulges. If you see or smell anything unusual, it’s best to get the battery checked out.
Try Not to Let the Car Sit
Your car tends to do better when you drive it. That’s especially true for the battery, because as the car sits the battery slowly loses more and more of the charge. Eventually, if the car sits too long the battery can completely die. That’s definitely not what you want, so an easy fix is to drive the car for at least fifteen minutes or so every week. If that’s not possible, adding a trickle charger can help quite a bit.
Pay Close Attention When You Turn Your Car Off
Get to know how your car handles electrical items when you turn it off. Lots of cars automatically shut off anything that drains power or beep to let you know you’ve left something on, like your lights. But some older cars don’t do that, and if you do something like leave your phone charger plugged into the accessory port, that can drain the battery. So it’s a good idea to get to know your individual car and how it responds when you turn it off.
Schedule Battery and Alternator Maintenance
Your car’s owner’s manual has a lot of information about what types of alternator and battery maintenance your car needs. Following that schedule is the best plan, but if you haven’t been doing that already, it isn’t necessarily too late.
The Auto Shop of Chapin in Chapin, SC can help you to keep your car’s battery in the best possible condition. Call us today and we can take a look at what’s going on with your car’s battery and give you a comprehensive recommendation for what to do next to protect your battery and the rest of your car.