It appears that the cold snap is taking its toll on the local car population. I guess because last year we had such a mild winter that no one really had any need to change their car batteries there must be a lot about to die.
I hadn’t really put too much thought into car batteries until the other day when my friend returned one of my girls from Brownies.
Catherine drove onto the drive as usual and Gen jumped out, followed by 5 minues of gossip between her and my wife before she returned to her Focus to get going.
“The car won’t start!”
The next thing I heard was a shout up the stairs “Nick can you help! Catherine’s car wont start”
(Obviously as ‘the car man’ I know everything there is to know about getting a car started)
I sprung into action to check the car. I tried turning the ignition over but all I could hear was click click click.
I’m not really that well versed in modern day car mechanics, but I know a dead battery when I see one.
“How long have you had this battery Cath?” Oh I’m not sure” came the reply.
“What sort of journeys have you made in the last couple of weeks?”
“Not much just pottering around locally, dropping the kids off etc”
I don’t have my own set of jump leads so a 10 minute trip back up to work and back did was next on my list of evening duties.
Shortly after that Cath was on her way.
Bermuda Triangle
Maybe my driveway has some kind of Battery Bermuda Triangle effect, but the following day my brother-in-law came over to see the children and exactly the same thing happened to him.
He does a short journey to the station every day and not much else.
I’ve come up with a simple equation to help you work out if you might be at risk of a frustrating breakdown:
Cold weather + Short Journeys + Ageing Battery = Likely Stranding Of Motorist.
Here’s a link to a website which gives you a few simple things you can do to help prolong the life of your battery and hopefully keep you moving when you need to.
And if you want to get yourself a handy battery charge pack for your own piece of mind, here’s a link for that as well
