You wake up and get ready for work. It’s your average Monday morning and you feel great. Everything is organized, you’re on time, and you’re ready to go. You get in your car only to see nothing happening.  The car is not turning on. Fear surges over you. You can’t be late for your job, But you have no way of making it to your destination without your car. 

In this blog, we will cover what to do when your Car Battery Is Dead, how to avoid your car battery from dying, and go over a few solutions that can help you and your car remain on good terms!

Car Batteries – What Drains Your Battery? 

A number of things can make you feel drained; an unbalanced Diet, a long day at work, or even spending too much time around other people. And although your car battery isn’t attending social gatherings, there are plenty of things that can leave it feeling just as drained. 

A dead car battery is a driver’s nightmare. Especially when you’re on a time schedule and can’t be late to wherever you may be going. However, it can be avoided. To prevent a dead car battery, you need to find out what causes your battery to die. In order to determine what it is that is draining your battery, check these things: 

1-Your Headlights 

If your car battery keeps draining, the first thing to check are your lights. Your tail lights are the number one most common reason for draining car batteries. Most of the time, we don’t realize they are on because most cars take a minute or so to turn off. 

2-The Parasitic Draw 

This one has always surprised me – Even if your car is off, your battery provides power to things such as the clock and radio. These things shouldn’t have a major impact on your battery. What may drain it are your interior lights, door lights, or even a bad fuse.

3-Your Battery Connection.

The positive and negative terminals connected to your battery can sometimes mess up over time. These terminals may have also become corroded over time. This may cause trouble to your vehicle and explain why your car isn’t starting. 

4-Your Battery Connection 

The positive and negative terminals connected to your battery can sometimes mess up over time. These terminals may have also become corroded over time. This may cause trouble to your vehicle and explain why your car isn’t starting. 

5-Temperature

 Freezing winter weather and extremely hot summer days can potentially cause problems to your car’s battery. Although rare, it does happen. If your battery is older, intense cold or heat could weaken its performance or even cause it to die completely. It’s important to have regular checkups and make sure that your can is suitable for your weather conditions. 

6-The Battery Isn’t Charging While You Drive

Your car relies on your battery when you start the engine. However, when your vehicle is running, your battery relies on the alternator to help it remain fully charged. If your alternator isn’t working, it can’t power your battery effectively. 

7-You’re Not Driving Enough 

If you’re not driving long enough the alternator may not have enough time to properly recharge your car’s battery between pit stops, especially if you have an older battery. So keep in mind that regular short trips can shorten your car battery’s life. 

What To Do When Your Car Battery Dies

The most common way to deal with a dead battery is by jump-starting it. All you need to jump-start a car is a set of jumper cables and another car with a working battery. If you don’t know who to ask, you can always ask a stranger to help you out. In other words, a good samaritan. Chances are, people are going to want to help you, especially if they’ve been through what you’re currently going through. And, I’m sure we’ve all been through the struggle of discovering a dead car battery at least once before. I know I’ve had my fair share of dead batteries. 

*It’s important to remember that you should never try to jump-start a car if its battery is cracked or visibly leaking acid.*

1. In order to safely jump-start a car, you’re going to want to take out your jumper cables. If you happen to be reading this and educating yourself on what to do if it happens to you one day, make sure you have a set of jumper cables and keep them in your car at all times. If you happen to be in a situation where your car is dead and you do not have jumper cables in your car, you can also find and ask a good samaritan who is not only willing to help you out but has cables handy. 
2. Once you have a hold of jumper cables, place both vehicles in park or neutral, and shut off the ignition on both cars. Make sure to engage both parking brakes too. 
3. Attach one of the red clips to the positive terminal of your battery. Usually, you will be able to read “POS” or “+”, and it’s usually bigger than the negative terminal. 
4. Attach the other red clip to the positive terminal of the helping car. 
5. Attach one of the black clips to the negative terminal of the helping car’s battery. 
6. Attach the last black clip to a metal surface on your car that isn’t beside the battery. Here, you will want to use one of the metal struts that hold the bonnet of your car open. 
7. Attempt to start your vehicle. 

Warning Signs Your Car Battery is Dying: How to Notice The Problem Before It Happens

As mentioned earlier, age affects a car’s battery more than you would think. Diagnosing a dead or dying battery can be difficult and leave you unsure of what to look for. If you’re not sure how to look for a dying car battery and you’re not very talented in knowing about cars like me, then you can go get that checked! 

Another sign of a car battery dying or draining quickly is a bulging battery case. Due to weather, your battery may bulge and swell which can be dangerous and cause cracking or leaking of battery acid. It’s crucial to know about this and refrain from jumping your car if you smell or see battery acid. 

A bad-smelling battery is just another sign of a dying battery. If you attempt to start your can and then open the hood, you may smell something like rotten eggs or sulfur. This is a crucial sign of a leaking battery, which can be caused by old age, damage to the battery, or an internal short circuit. In this case, you’ll want to plan a visit to your repair shop. 

Have you ever been driving and noticed dim headlights? Your car’s headlights will appear both duller and dimmer than usual if there’s not enough power to keep them fully on. 

Have you ever been driving and heard a clicking sound? And you weren’t quite sure of what it was and assumed you probably heard something else? Or do you just feel like you’re going crazy? Personally, ticking noises have always gotten under my skin, especially when I don’t know where they’re coming from. Ignition clicks are the worst kind of clicks as they signal that there is no amount of power being supplied to the battery. Make sure to listen out for clicks and get them checked out before it’s too late!

Finally, checking the engine dashboard light is on will help you distinguish if your car battery is dying. The check engine light is a catch-all warning telling you something is wrong, but it may not be related to your battery. Regardless, it’s important to take it seriously. 

Solutions!

I’m pretty sure we can all agree on how frustrating a dead car battery can be. And if you haven’t yet experienced it, I hope this blog prepares you for the hassle and Stress you will face but also educates you more on what to do and how to deal with a dead car battery as safely and efficiently as possible. 

Unfortunately, I have dealt with dead car batteries more times than I can count on my fingers. I can be a forgetful person and simply forget about my tail lights. I’m so used to getting out of my car and focusing on it being locked, I forget to keep an eye out for the lights. 

There is a solution that I have found to be not only efficient but life-saving. FOUND ME is a company that focuses on protecting the things and people you care about most. Even your car battery life! FOUND ME presents you with a supersized tag with a QR code that you can place on the dashboard of your car after parking it.

The Qr code can be scanned from the outside of your car by a good samaritan who might notice you left your lights on. He would then be redirected to a multilingual secure chat with you, the owner of the car. There, you can be reminded about your tail lights, open windows, flat tires, and any other complication that cars tend to face… and even be notified that your car is about to be towed because you were poorly parked! 

In The Last,

Living on campus, I would count all the cars with their tail lights left on as I walked to my dorm. It bothered me not knowing how to tell the owner of the car as I could picture them walking to their car already late for class, only to realize they left their lights on and their car wasn’t starting. 

FOUND ME’s goal is to help people communicate in a secure and confidential way and can help you help others. 

To learn more about FOUND ME and how to protect your information click here. 

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Originally Published on https://foundme.com/blog/

Maya Janin Blogger & Content Creator

As a freelance blog writer, I’m a passionate creative writer who has written over 40 unique blogs about lifestyle, travel, health and well being, pets, and what to do in cases of emergencies.

I focus on providing helpful advice and resources while educating readers in an interesting and organic way. I strive to make my blog space a safe space for readers to learn while offering focused, targeting, strategic materials as well as free tips and tricks.

I am fluent in both English and French. I spent 18 years in France and I love to tie my cultural experiences into my content. I received my Bachelor’s Degree in Strategic Communications and Public Relations in 2021. I currently live in Steamboat Springs, Colorado and work as a Social Media Marketing assistant.