Surprisingly, many vehicle owners fail to maintain their car battery, despite its importance to the proper functioning of their car. Funny enough, a car battery doesn’t require much maintenance. With little maintenance, you can keep your battery in tip-top condition, prolong its lifespan, and save you from frustrating ‘no-starts’ and breakdowns on the road.

Here are 4 common causes of battery problems:

1. Cold Weather: The cold weather has the following effects on your battery:

• Power output drops
• Ability to accept a charge drops, so the battery doesn’t recharge as quickly when you’re driving
• The Load increases:  lights, blowers, wipers, heated seats, defroster are all used more in such weather

2. Excessive Strain: Running all the modern electrical gadgets in your car like  DVD Players, iPods, GPSs, etc., at the same time can over-stress your battery and can shorten its lifespan.

3. Leaving Electrical Equipment on Without Running the Engine: Many people have a bad habit of running electronics, charging phones and/or running the radio/cd player when the car is not running. Leaving your headlamps and other electrical gadgets on when your vehicle engine is switched off can drain your battery – and fast!  Ensure your switch off everything in your vehicle when your engine is not running.

4. Frequent Short Journeys: Such journeys don’t give your battery enough time to recharge when the vehicle’s engine is running.

Having battery or electrical problems with your vehicle?  Give Pauls Auto Repair a call!