How to maintain your car battery?

If you want to save a few euros, we give you several tips to prolong the life of your car battery.

The battery is a small power station that powers the starter motor and the car’s electronic components. This device stores and converts the energy received through the alternator so that it can be turned back into electrical energy when needed.

Despite its importance, it is one of those components whose condition we rarely stop to check. However, this does not mean it is not an essential element for the car to work, since without it, you can forget about your car starting. If you find yourself in this situation, here we explain what to do if you run out of battery in your car. In fact, battery-related problems are the most common breakdown assistance call.

That is why we are going to give you some tips so you can maintain and extend the life of the battery, that poor device we tend to forget and that is so important for the car.

Check whether the battery needs maintenance

These types of batteries are already in danger of extinction: they need to be topped up with distilled water periodically, since it eventually evaporates. Therefore, if you have one of these installed (don’t worry, if you do it is stated on the battery itself), you should remove the six caps they usually have and check the water level at least once a year. It is important to use distilled water, since if you use tap water, the mineral salts it contains will reduce the battery’s useful life.

Press the clutch when you are going to start

Most modern cars with a manual gearbox require you to do so. The reason is that if you start the car with the clutch pressed, the battery only has to start the engine. If you don’t, the battery has the unnecessary extra strain of moving the car’s transmission, which reduces its useful life.

If the battery is on its last legs, start with everything switched off

If, when you turn the key to start the car, you notice the battery takes a long time to get the starter motor going, it means it is already on its way out. If so, the most advisable thing is to buy a new one or, if it isn’t too old, recharge it. However, until you deal with it, you can make its life easier by starting the car with the radio, air conditioning and lights switched off.

Don’t connect unnecessary systems

Once the engine is running, the battery is already on holiday, since it is the alternator that takes care of supplying power to the electronic devices. However, if you are one of those people who, as soon as you get in the car, likes to switch on every device it has, this may be too much for the alternator and it will have to ask the battery for help.

Be careful with electrical installations

If you are handy and decide to fit a more powerful sound system in the car or daytime running light strips, make sure all the wiring and connections are perfectly insulated.

If you don’t, these will release small discharges when the engine is off, which will shorten the battery’s life. In addition, before installing any of these accessories, we must take their power consumption very carefully into account, because if they need too much, we may have to install a larger battery.

Don’t use the car for everything, use your legs

Just as when you switch on a lamp at home, the moment when the battery suffers the most is when we turn the key to start the car. It needs several minutes for the alternator to recharge it and recover from the effort. However, if we take the car to go round the corner, we don’t give it time to recharge, so its durability is considerably reduced.

But don’t abandon the car either

Don’t think that because the car is parked the battery won’t discharge, because it does. If for some reason you aren’t going to move it, we recommend that you start it at least once a month and drive it for at least 30 kilometres.

If you plan for the car to rest for a long period, it may be worth disconnecting the battery. To do this, simply disconnect the negative terminal and make sure it doesn’t touch any metal element. Don’t be surprised, however, when you reconnect it and the radio asks for a security code, since the system resets. Still, don’t think that doing this makes the battery immortal, since at most it will hold its charge for two years.

Try not to park in places with extreme temperatures

Winter is the time of year when the car battery is most likely to go flat because of the cold on the streets. However, extreme heat can also negatively affect this device. That is why our advice is to avoid parking the car on the street for more than 5 hours when temperatures are below 5 degrees or above 30 degrees. It may seem like an exaggeration but, would you leave your smartphone for five hours directly in the sun?

If the car is parked, don’t connect anything

If you are one of those people who likes to go to a viewpoint at night and sit listening to the radio with the car switched off, you should know that you are sentencing your battery to death. The same goes if we switch on the car’s interior lights, not to mention the climate control system.

Don’t forget the terminals

When you open the bonnet, we should look at the terminals, those two clamps that connect to the battery poles. If they have a white crust on them, it means they are sulphating. It isn’t a serious problem, but we should remove this crust since it shortens the battery’s life. To clean it, we recommend using a stiff-bristled brush, water and bicarbonate of soda.

If you follow all these tips, we can’t guarantee the battery will last you ten years, but its useful life will be considerably extended. So, if you don’t want the annoying expense of replacing the battery once a year, we recommend you take our advice. And if you want to save money on your car, we also give you 10 tips to avoid nasty surprises when taking the car to the workshop.