The hot weather of summer may shorten the life of your car’s battery and other parts. When the temperature outside is high, it may put a significant load on your car engine and battery. As a result, you run the chance of experiencing a breakdown if your car’s battery isn’t in tip-top health. Keeping your car battery cool in the summer is becoming more important as average high temperatures rise each year.
One of the ways to accomplish this is by parking your vehicle in the shade, covering it while you’re not using it, and protecting the dashboard from the elements will all help. Also, ensuring mechanical and electrical repairs are done well in advance is also recommendable. However, these basic suggestions won’t be enough to maintain your car’s battery healthy all summer long, no matter the weather. With this blog we aim to give you tips and tricks that will help you protect your battery in the summer heat. Read on.
Is There a Reason Summer Is the Worst Time for Dead Batteries?
car batteries are particularly susceptible to dying in the summer. When it gets hot out, batteries tend to die. Multiple stresses acting in concert due to the heat may be disastrous to a battery.
- Your car’s battery has an internal chemical mechanism that evaporates electrolytes (usually water and sulfuric acid). In the scorching summer, these essential fluids begin to evaporate. Your battery will start to die without these fluids.
- Corrosion: Natural battery corrosion and oxidation are accelerated by high heat and liquid evaporation.
- The term “sulfation” refers to the gradual buildup of lead sulfate on the lead plates of most rechargeable batteries. Sulfation, which causes battery failure, may be accelerated by the heat.
- Batteries may be overcharged if the temperature is too high and the charging mechanism malfunctions. Overcharging may shorten the life of your battery, just as it can shorten the life of any other device.
What You Should Do to Beat the Heat?
- Parking your Car in the Garage: Put your car in the garage whenever you can. Garages may not have air conditioning, but they do provide some relief from the heat for your car.
- Keep Your Car Cool:It will also aid in cooling the car’s interior, making it more bearable to enter. Also, keep an eye on your tires. Tires that have seen better days might cause your car to overheat quickly because they put extra strain on the engine.
- Get Your Car Battery Tested:You should have an expert technician inspect and test your car batteries. You don’t want your vehicle to die on the road before you remember to examine the battery.Checking sure the battery is securely fastened in its brackets and that the wires are snug might be considered self-diagnostics. You may also take a quick look at the car’s battery’s other parts. Promptly replace any components that show signs of rust or deterioration.
- Battery Replacement:This advice is for drivers whose vehicles use the older kind of battery that has filler caps that may be removed. In this case, replacing the battery with a newer unit is your best bet. Older batteries have a tendency to overheat because their fluid evaporates too fast. Once again, this is something you should do before summer arrives to keep your vehicle battery in good shape.
- Coolant Top-up:You should know that you should periodically check the coolant level of your battery. No matter how hot it is outside, you cannot afford to have no coolant. However, the danger increases when the temperature outside is high. If you run out of coolant, your cooling system might fail, leading to engine overheating.
- Check Your Battery Usage:Overuse of lights, chargers, and other vehicle amenities (such the radio) while the engine is turned off may significantly drain thecar battery in any season. The alternator helps power these components as you drive by taking over part of the load. When you switch off the vehicle’s engine, however, the battery is once again responsible for this function. It’s tempting to stay in your cool vehicle after turning off the engine to enjoy the radio or make a phone call, but doing so for long periods of time may be harmful to the battery. When you’re done using anything, be sure to unhook the charger and switch off the lights.
