Beware of the cold on your car battery

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - This winter weather has put a strain on everything, schools, and infrastructure, and while those things take our focus — it’s important to not forget about your car.

If your battery is between 3 and 5 years old the extreme cold conditions we are experiencing can exasperate its remaining power, because cold weather requires more energy from batteries to start cars.

Many area car parts stores will check your battery for free to see if you need a new one, and some also offer to waive an installation fee. That’s why it’s better to call a shop before you head there.

So can your car battery get you reliably from point A to point B? Those signs to be on the lookout for include a longer time for your ignition to turn over and your car to actually start, dim headlights or a perceived strain on the car’s alternator, and of course if the car battery light comes on the dashboard.

If your car dies while you’re out it may cause more problems for you if you use jumper cables and another car to jump your car. That’s because newer cars have a lot of extra sensitive electrical equipment and a power surge from the jump could damage them.

However, there is a solution to this; battery chargers. They work similarly to jumper cables — connecting a positive and negative lead to the car battery and a place to ground the car.

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