Untimely and sudden issues with the battery can be extremely frustrating. Ideally, a fully working battery should start the car immediately and then be recharged by the alternator while you drive. If you have difficulty starting the car or it breaks down while you drive, it means something is not working properly. Now there is not one single reason for car batteries dying. There is a list of causes that could be causing dead or a dying car battery.
Batteries are complicated and their working cannot be solely determined by one factor alone. There are multiple bases for a battery to dye. Some problems can be handled easily by you without the need to be dropping by a battery store. But, in other cases, you would need expert help from a battery store to figure out the issue and suggest its solution.
Most Common Reasons to Rule Out for Car Battery Dying
Some of the reasons could be avoided for the car battery to work smoothly and perfectly and some are unavoidable. Several of the reason can be spotted easily and are too obvious to be noted. While many are hard to pinpoint.
Here is a checklist for you to figure out what might be the possible reason for your car battery getting flat, before ending up in a battery store. Use it to rule out battery problems one by one. But if you still couldn’t figure out the problem you need to hit the battery store for a new one.
Leaving Headlights and Dome Lights On:
Headlights and the very dim dome lights could be the secret culprits in your battery drainage. If your car battery is continuously draining, the very thing to look out for is your headlights and dome lights. Nowadays, vehicles are designed to turn off the headlights and dome lights after some time, but a malfunction in the system can leave them on permanently. Hence, it is the chief reason for most car battery draining issues.
Weak or Poorly Maintained Battery:
If the battery is not maintained properly, it gets weak over time, making you end up in a battery store. A weak battery is more prone to drainage as it does not recharge to its full capacity and strength. Whenever the engine is off car batteries power headlights, dome lights, and various other accessories like a car radio. But they have a limited power to do so. In such a case, even a single avoidable human error like leaving the headlights on can make your car battery completely flat.
Loose Car Battery Connections and Corrosion:
Car Batteries are recharged by the alternator at the positive and terminals on the top pf the battery. With time the terminals can get corroded. The corrosion can either look like white powdery stuff like dandruff or blue/green growths around the terminals. Corrosion weakens the recharge capacity of the car battery and ultimately is functionality. Therefore, to avoid physical damage to a car battery it is important to keep the terminals clean periodically. Otherwise, the corrosion could end up in a battery store for a new battery.
Car battery terminal connections get loosened over time with continuous engine vibrations and bumps. When this happens the car battery cannot efficiently recharge and smoothly transmit power, creating trouble for you in starting the car engine promptly. You don’t need to head down to the battery store for this. It is good practice to periodically check the terminals connections and tighten them if necessary, before heading out on the road.
Parasitic Electrical Drains:
Electronic Parasitic drains are sneaky culprits in killing the capacity of car batteries. Electronic parasites are difficult to locate and are not as obvious as other problems of car battery drainage. The most frequent reason for electronic drains can either be a bad alternator or a broken fuse.
If there is a problem with the alternator, your battery might not get charged to its full capacity hence, resulting in frequent breakdowns. Also, a broken fuse may continuously and slowly drain the battery even if the car is turned off.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to identify electrical drains, and you most certainly would need assistance from an expert mechanic at a battery store to figure it out for you.
Severe Hot or Cold Temperature Cycles:
A new car battery has the capability of surviving extreme temperature fluctuations. However, an already weak and old battery may crash in extreme weather conditions. A zero Celsius temperature can reduce battery capacity by 60%. At such a level, it is even hard to power the interior lights and other accessories let alone starting the car. This is something hard to be fixed as you cannot change the weather. It is handy to keep nitrous-themed jumping cables in your car, in case you can’t have immediate access to the Battery shop near me.