If the battery in your car was brand new yesterday and almost worn out today, you’d recognize the difference easily. But it doesn’t work that way. Your battery ages slowly day by day. The change is gradual, imperceptible until that day when something pushes your old battery over the edge.

Often, that ‘something’ doing the pushing is winter. It’s not that the cold is bad for the battery; the problem is the cold has an effect on the engine of your Wonder Lake automobile. Primarily, that problem is that, with the cold, the oil is thicker. The engine has to turn over with the crankshaft going through a bath of thicker lubricant.

It also takes longer to work that oil up through the passages so that is spreads between the cylinder walls and the rings on the pistons. This means that the starter has to work harder to turn the engine. And if the starter has to work harder, it passes along that demand to the battery.

If the battery is strong, it simply supplies the additional amperage required to ensure that the starter can do the job. But, if the battery is older, the demand may go where the battery can no longer follow. The experience, from your perspective is when you feel the starter slowing to a stop as the battery runs out of steam. Then you hear the clicking of the solenoid.

This is the sound that means your automobile is unlikely to start. You need to call an tow truck to give your auto a jumpstart. Hopefully, you’re not sitting on the side of the road waiting too long. Hopefully, you don’t have somewhere you have to be. Hopefully you won’t get too cold waiting. And, hopefully, you don’t find yourself in the same situation after your next stop.

In truth, once your battery fails to live up to the test of winter, it’s time to have the problem resolved. This includes checking to make sure that the problem really is the battery. You can also have an alternator that is no longer generating electricity up to par. Or you may have lost a belt so the alternator is no longer turning when the engine is running.

You may also have bad connections. Winter can also bring this problem to the forefront. 

The solution is to take care of the problem before you find yourself unable to start the automobile. Bring your vehicle in to a trusted auto repair shop in the Wonder Lake area and have them check it out. Have your battery and charging system checked out now and you can head into winter without worry that your automobile won’t start. Oh, there could be a problem that would still arise but it’s extremely unlikely once you’ve applied due diligence.