Winter can do a lot of damage in a lot of ways, including causing car batteries to slow down and work a lot harder. Whether your car battery will actually survive through the winter remains to be seen, but it is important to understand why your battery may fail. 

Reason #1: It Is Working Too Hard.

During the winter, your car battery has to work 10 times as hard. It sort of like you trying to walk through sand. It is a lot harder than walking on pavement. When the temperatures begin to drop, the oil in your engine gets thicker. As the oil gets thicker, your car battery requires more power in order to start your vehicle. The older the battery, the more challenging this task is.

It is possible to avoid this problem during the winter, though. All you need to do is check to ensure that your car battery has the appropriate cold cranking amps based on your climate. This particular number relates to the ability of your battery to start a vehicle's engine during extremely cold temperatures. The higher the number, the better it will be able to withstand the frigid weather. You can also help your battery by utilizing a synthetic motor oil that has a high tolerance for cold temperatures.

Reason #2: It Is Struggling to Warm Up.

Just as it is important to stretch and warm up your muscles prior to doing a full-blown exercise routine so as to prevent an injury, it is important for your car battery to warm up so that it can hold a solid charge. Unfortunately, cold weather tends to slow down the process of car batteries warming up. For that reason, it may seem as if your battery is becoming a bit sluggish during the colder months of the year even though your dashboard indicator shows that its charge is the same.

One thing that you can do to help your battery is to install a battery blanket around the battery. These are relatively inexpensive and can be purchased online or at your local parts store. These blankets will make starting your vehicle on extremely cold, frosty mornings at a lot easier and faster.

Reason #3: It May Be Drained Due to Car Features.

If you are asking your vehicle's battery to charge a significant number of gadgets at any given time, there is a good chance that your battery is being drained. The vehicle itself is a lot for a battery to have to power, especially during the winter, so when you throw on several other things, it can really drain it. Eventually, this will cause it to completely die on you. 

When starting your vehicle during the cold, make sure all unnecessary things are unplugged and turned off – cell phones, tablets, and other electronic devices, as well as the headlights, heater, and radio. While it may not necessarily run down your battery instantaneously, it will help give your battery a little bit of extra juice to get your vehicle started in the cold, which will extend its life a bit longer. 

Contact a company like Battery Tree for more information. 

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