Cooler temperatures don’t just affect your desire to put on a sweater and sip hot chocolate, they also affect your vehicle’s battery. Winter will be here before you know it, so Peruzzi Toyota in Hatfield, PA recommends knowing these facts about how winter affects your car battery:
Winter affects your car battery in unique ways, causing it to not perform as well. Here are four main reasons for that.
1) Thicker oil: in winter, your engine’s oil thickens up, which means it doesn’t flow through the system as well. Thus, your battery has to work harder to start the engine.
2) Increased workload: on a nasty winter’s day, you could be running the heater, defroster, windshield wipers, and headlights – all at once. Not surprisingly, over a long period, this puts a big strain on the car’s battery.
3) Lower capacity: cold temperatures affect the battery’s ability to generate power. In fact, in winter, a car battery can lose as much as 20 percent of capacity when the temperature drops below 32 degrees. If your car battery is weak, winter can do it in and there you are, waiting in a snowy parking lot for someone to give you a jump.
4) Slower recharging: the alternator automatically “recharges” the battery as you drive. However, that recharge rate slows in winter months.
According to Peruzzi Toyota in Hatfield, PA, some common signs that winter is affecting your car battery include headlights that glow “yellow” instead of bright white, an engine that cranks more slowly, a funky “rotten egg” smell or a dome light that appears dimmer.
You’re also at risk for winter battery failure if yours is more than three years old.
Just like checking your tires, checking the state of your battery before winter is essential. The service experts at Peruzzi Toyota in Hatfield, PA are happy to help get your car battery ready for winter.
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