5 Lessons Learned from a Dead Battery in Winter
A dead battery is never fun – especially in the dead of winter. You could be left stranded at work, at home, or somewhere much worse like the mall parking lot. Below are a few tips and tricks I picked up from my recent deceased battery experience.
- If your battery has recently gone dead, drained by leaving your lights on or some other way, you might want to go ahead and get a new one before winter rolls around to avoid being stranded. Cold weather tends to make a weak battery even worse.
- Before you buy a new battery, check to be sure the terminals on your existing one are clean. If there is too much crud between the battery cable and the terminals, the battery will not be able to make a connection, making it seem like it is dead. Clean the battery terminals/cables with a baking soda and water solution. This may be all you need and it could save you from an expensive battery purchase.
Note: You might try terminal protectors to keep your battery connection crud-free. - Check your batteries electrolyte levels from time to time. This is something most people don’t even know about. If you look at your battery, it will probably have 2 removable vent caps on top. Remove the caps to check the electrolyte level. If it is low, add distilled or bottled water to the fill wells. Be careful because overfilling can cause problems.
- Buy a battery with a good number of Cold Cranking Amps.This can help guarantee that your battery starts in even the coldest of weather.
- If all else fails and you have to jump start your car battery, be sure to do it correctly. The Art of Manliness blog says that first you should (1) connect one end of the red (positive) jumper cable to the positive terminal on the stalled battery. (2) Then connect the other red (positive) cable clamp to the positive terminal of the good battery. (3) Connect one end of the black (negative) jumper cable to the negative terminal of the good battery. (4) Then connect the other black (negative) cable to a clean, unpainted metal surface under the disabled car’s hood. Somewhere on the engine block is a good place.
Have you even been stuck in the middle of nowhere with a dead battery? What did you do to get rolling again?
