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Maintaining your car battery!

Posted June 17, 2024

Final battle: Battery VS Winter!

Wrapped up in your warmest coat, you desperately press the start button on your car. Nothing works, nothing starts. All you have to do is get the kids back inside and hope the tow truck comes soon.

Sound familiar? Fortunately, if you had your car checked at ICIPneu Touchette before the winter, the chances of this happening are slim. But if not… we hope you have roadside assistance!

Cold VS Battery

Why does your battery suffer so much? A simple physical reaction. In the battery, there are chemical compounds, including some water and lead, that are sensitive to being too cold (or too hot, for that matter). Cold temperatures will prevent a full recharge as quickly, making the amperage less powerful. When you try to start your car, your battery will not have enough capacity to work efficiently.

Several other factors can also affect battery capacity. In the winter, there is more use of the many electrical accessories, such as windshield wipers. If your ride isn’t long enough to allow the alternator to play its full role, and you overuse the available electricity, you won’t have enough charge for the battery to play its role.

So, do we start?
We have to leave. The kids are due at school, and you’re due at work. You should still try to start the car by taking a few precautions.

1- Turn off everything: you want to conserve battery power for the engine. Turn off everything, including your heater (we know it’s cold), radio and defrosters. Turn it on when the engine is running, not before!
2- Press the button. Not more than 10 seconds though, at the risk of flooding the engine. Stop for 5 minutes, then start again. No more than three times is better.
3- Do not disassemble the battery to warm it up inside. Let our specialists do this for you. A poorly done connection can get you into more trouble.
4- Nothing goes away, there is still the overbolt (call roadside assistance) or the towing. Boosting may seem easy to do, but be careful. You don’t want to damage your battery, or worse, that of your charming neighbor who came to help you!

What to do to avoid it?
There are not many quick fixes.
1- Maintenance
The best thing to do is to make sure that we have inspected the battery at the beginning of the season. It must be strong enough, and clean enough, to get through the cold months. Ask our experts for advice.
2- The engine block heater. Installed in the workshop, the engine heater keeps the oil at the right temperature, which makes starting easier. It must be plugged in, however.
3- Charge your battery. If you know your car will be stationary for a long time, use an external charger. It’s easy and inexpensive.
4- Drive for 20 minutes. In winter, 500 meter trips to the convenience store are hard on the battery. Drive longer so that it can recharge, and recover its energy with each use.
5- Consult our specialists. They can diagnose the condition of your battery, and suggest solutions. After all, we are the experts!

Properly maintained, your battery shouldn’t cause you any problems before -55 degrees. And at that temperature, who really wants to go outside anyway?

Questions? Our Advisors are Happy to Help!

If you have questions about anything you've read in this resource page, contact your nearest dealer for more information. We are passionate in assisting our customers make the best choices to keep their vehicles in tip-top shape and keep their families safe.
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