Cold weather means it’s time to check your car battery

With winter arriving in Saskatchewan, it is now time to start looking at how to take care of your car battery.

Evan Magee, owner of Saskatoon Mobile Repair says when a battery gets cold it only runs at about 50 per cent, so if you want to get the most out of your car battery you have to keep it warm.

“Basically batteries have a shelf life of about every four years so if your battery is nearing that fourth year I recommend getting it tested and possibly replaced,” he said.

“Anything prior to that, what you want to do is keep your battery nice and warm. So get a battery blanket on it as well as plugging in your vehicle. Also, you need to keep your battery posts clean so you can ensure a start every single time.”

He says in most cases just plugging the car in will be all you need to ensure a start, but to keep your battery alive for as long as possible, the combination of a battery blanket and plugging in the block heater is ideal.

“When you plug in the block heater of your car, you can have a battery blanket that is also wired into where you plug your block heater in. So you are not only warming your engine, you are warming your battery as well,” said Magee.

Magee says if the battery does end up dying, a boost should usually get it back up and running.

“If your battery is dead, what you want to do is boost your vehicle. The best option would be if your battery is completely stone dead, remove the battery, take it into a warm shop or house, get it up to room temperature then get a charge on it and then put it back into the vehicle,” he said.