Having the confidence that your car, truck or SUV will start every time you go out to your McHenry garage or driveway and get behind the wheel this winter depends. It depends on how well you’ve maintained your vehicle and whether the starting and charging systems are up to the job.

If you’ve ever gotten in the car, truck or SUV and turned the key only to find that your vehicle won’t start and you’re stuck in your McHenry driveway or garage, or stuck somewhere away from home, you know how inconvenient that can be. 

We tend to take our vehicles for granted and that includes the battery. But, when the battery in your car, truck or SUV fails, it tends to rush to the forefront of your priorities. That is inconvenient anytime of year but far more so in the winter. It’s also more likely in the winter.

Most people think that winter is the hardest on a battery. Actually, the summer heat is really brutal for car, truck or SUV batteries. The problem is that winter is harder on your vehicle in general.

In the winter, the oil in your car, truck or SUV’s engine is thicker. The cold does that to it. The starter has to work harder to turn the engine over fast enough to start running. It takes more juice from the battery to turn the starter so the starter can turn the engine.

The additional charge from the battery requires that the alternator is recharging the battery to its full capacity. If you have too much corrosion on the cables between the battery and starter, or battery and alternator, you could also have problems. 

That’s one simple thing that can be done to help ensure your car, truck or SUV engine will start in winter. Checking the alternator to ensure it puts out enough of a charge, and the starter to ensure it doesn’t take more than necessary, are also critical factors to keep your vehicle starting all winter.

You can have all of these factors checked out by a trusted auto repair shop. At the same time, they can check your battery.

All batteries fail, at some point. Most batteries, however, have a reasonable life-expectancy. This is especially true if they vehicle and battery are maintained. 

Did you know that a voltmeter can read a charge passing across the surface of a battery that has too much dirty grease on it? Keeping the battery clean can help. If the battery has refillable cells, filling those with distilled or deionized water and keeping them filled is critical. Dried cells don’t generally come back to life.

The distilled or deionized water is critical because tap water, for instance, contains minerals and elements that will build up between the cells in a battery.

It’s still October in McHenry. You probably don’t have to worry about a cold spell proving your battery and/or charging/starting system is up to speed. But it will be cold enough soon enough. Why wait?