Tips For Maintaining Your Car Battery

If you own a car, you probably want to make sure that it works as well as possible. This means maintaining every part of it. You probably make sure that you get your car washed regularly so that the salt and grime from the road don't cause problems. You probably get your oil changed on a regular basis too. However, you might not be paying attention to your battery. If your battery is not well maintained, it is going to go dead, and without a live battery, you car isn't going to start. Here are some auto battery maintenance tips that you can follow in order to make sure that this doesn't happen to you.

1. Insulate Your Garage

The cold air is going to play havoc with your car's battery. It is going to cause it to drain faster and will reduce the overall lifespan of the battery. As a result, you will need to take steps to prevent this from happening. One thing that you can do is park your car in your garage during the night and make sure that the garage is well insulated. Don't worry about heating the garage because this will cause more harm than good: a heated garage will cause your car to rust more quickly due to the higher levels of humidity. If you cannot insulate your garage, instead consider insulating the battery.

2. Clean Your Battery Regularly

You need to be sure that your battery's connection with the rest of your car is as clean as possible. A dirty connection is going to reduce the strength of that connection and therefore the overall efficacy of the battery. Once every few months, pop the hood of your car and remove the cables connecting the battery to your car. Use a rag to wipe away any dirt or grease that you might find there. Replace the cables once everything has been cleaned away.

3. Check the Seat of the Battery

You want to make sure that the battery is sitting snugly in the battery tray and isn't bashing around. If you can wiggle the battery around because it isn't quite set, this means that there are foreign particles in or on the tray that will have to be cleaned off. Hitting the battery repeatedly could cause it to rupture and spill acid in your engine, which you obviously want to avoid.

For more information, talk to a company that specializes in auto batteries, such as Battery Tree.