There’s nothing more frustrating than a dead car battery. You trust that your car is going to start, so it can be shock if it doesn’t. Davis & Clark Auto Repair has this advice for you about protecting your car’s battery.
Stick to Your Maintenance Schedule
Your car’s routine maintenance schedule is so important for just the overall health of your car. This maintenance schedule ensures that all of the various systems get touched when they need to be. But it also offers an opportunity for small issues to be noticed and corrected long before they become big issues that could result in something like a dead battery.
Get Your Alternator and Battery Tested
Having your alternator and battery tested is part of routine maintenance, but it’s something you can do during other services, too. It can be a good idea to ask to have both tested when you get your oil changed, for instance. You may not have any issues with either one at that point, but it can be good to just verify that all is well.
Drive the Car
The absolute best preventative maintenance for your car’s battery is to simply drive your car. That’s it. When you drive the car, you’re using the built-in perfect charger for the car’s battery: the car’s alternator. And when you’re making sure that you drive the car as often as possible, that’s making sure that a full charge gets back into the battery and it never continues to drain.
Other Options if the Car Has to Sit
But what if the car absolutely has to sit? There are definitely times when that may be necessary, and you have a couple of options. One is to remove the battery from the car entirely. That can help to keep the battery from discharging as fast and it can be easier to top up the battery yourself every three months or so. The other solid option is to attach a trickle charger to the battery. This can help to maintain the charge in the battery, keeping it from dropping too low.
Need some help with your car’s battery? Give us a call at Davis & Clark Auto Repair in Bend, OR. We’ll be happy to test your battery and your alternator for you to determine where the problem is. If you do need a new battery, we’ll help you to find the perfect one for your vehicle’s needs.
