Car Battery Maintenance: Keeping Your Car Powered Up During the Festive Season

There’s nothing quite as crushing as inserting your car keys into the ignition and getting no response from the vehicle. The silence that you hear during this process is telling - the battery is dead. 

This could be a massive problem for many South African drivers on the roads this festive season. Before hitting the road for a festive vacation or road trip, it’s important to ensure that your battery is in good working condition. 

Below we’ll go through a few battery maintenance tips and tell you about the signs of a dying car battery. We’ll tell you about We Rent Cars - a great place to find rent-to-buy cars.

6 Maintenance Tips to Keep Your Battery Running Longer

1. Clean Your Terminals and Cables 

Corrosion is one of the most common causes of a dying battery. When the terminals are corroded it reduces the battery’s ability to receive adequate charge. 

The best way to remove corrosion from your battery is by taking a toothbrush and baking soda and lightly brushing away the rust. Corrosion on a battery normally appears as a blue-green powder that surrounds the terminals.

When using a rent-to-buy car from We Rent Cars, you’ll have access to workshops around the country who can service and clean your battery whenever you need. 

2. Test Your Battery Regularly 

The summertime is one of the hardest times for a car battery. This is because excessive heat causes battery acid to evaporate faster than usual. 

So, if you’re planning on taking a long road trip along a scenic South African road this summer, be sure to test your battery regularly to avoid breaking down on the side of the road. 

You can either test your battery for free at a workshop or you can do it yourself using a multimeter. 

3. Check the Acid Level 

After checking whether or not the battery is charged enough, it’s time to tackle those pesky acid levels. You should ideally check your car battery’s acid level every 6 months, but if you’re hitting the road this holiday season, we recommend doing it immediately.

Usually, when a car battery sits at below 80% acid it won’t receive a full charge and it will have shallow discharges. This means that the electrolyte levels won’t be balanced and your battery will run out of charge faster. 

Once again, utilising a service like the We Rent Cars workshops is your best bet to properly check acid levels. If you have a hydrometer you may be able to analyse it yourself. 

4. Conduct a Load Test 

Conducting load tests are important when maintaining a car battery. Ideally, you’ll want to conduct a load test every month or so - which makes it doubly important to do before hitting the roads this December and January. 

A battery load test determines how well the battery will perform when placed under a load. It will determine whether your battery has the sufficient charge to operate all the other systems in the vehicle.

You can easily perform a load test at home using a voltmeter. 

5. Avoid Frequent Small Trips 

We know that you’re most likely going to be hitting the road for a long road trip this festive season. This is a great way to keep your battery charged. Taking frequent small trips, however, can significantly shorten the lifespan of your battery. 

This is because the battery uses charge to power up the engine every time you start the car up, and driving for less than 10 minutes doesn’t allow the battery to get a full charge.

Once you reach your holiday destination this year, get your legs moving for short trips instead of hopping in the car. 

6. Check the Battery Tray

The battery tray is an essential component for a well-functioning battery. Its main function is to keep the battery in one place when the car is running - to prevent it from shaking and moving about while you’re driving. 

A badly corroded battery tray can cause rust to spread all over your terminals and cables, which as we established above, is bad for the battery’s lifespan. Disconnect the battery from the positive and negative cables, and clean the tray using baking soda and a sponge. 

What are the Signs of a Weak Battery?

So, you now know how to keep your battery in good condition for the road trips and long drives ahead. Here’s what you should look out for if you suspect that your battery is starting to die:

• You have trouble starting the car. 

• Once the car is started, the battery doesn’t hold a charge for very long. 

• Your dashboard and interior lights seem dimmer than usual. 

• Your headlights and taillights are flickering. 

• A loud clicking sound when you turn the key. 

• Slow engine crank. 

If you are utilising We Rent Cars rent-to-buy service then you can visit any one of our workshops across South Africa when you experience these symptoms. But what is We Rent Cars? 

Choose We Rent Cars for Expertly Maintained Vehicles 

We Rent Cars is a car retail service that is changing car ownership in South Africa. If you’re looking to get on the roads this festive season but don’t have a vehicle, consider one of the great rent-to-buy cars in our rental catalogue. 

All you need to do is follow a three step process, and you’ll be on the roads in no time:

• Apply

• Drive

• Buy

If you want to enter into a rent-to-buy subscription, contact us today!