It happened again yesterday afternoon. I was walking out of the radio station and a very nice lady flagged me down in the parking lot wanting to know if I had jumper cables. It was another case of the high temperatures zapping the life of a car battery.

 

Fortunately for me there were some other people in the building that actually knew how to jump a car off. We got her rolling right along and that got me to thinking. Why would the heat affect my battery?

Heat and vibration are a battery's biggest enemies according to Triple A. You can't do much about the heat but you can make sure your battery isn't shaking itself to an early death. Heat also speeds up the evaporation process when it come to internal battery fluids. Most batteries of today don't need water like the older car batteries. Still, that lack of internal juice can zap the juice you need to get cranking.

Another thing you can do to prevent a mid summer meltdown in the parking lot of your favorite grocery store is to know how old your battery is. A battery that is more than three  years old needs to be checked. Many auto part stores will do this for you free of charge. The technician can tell you just how much life is left in your battery. Then you can decide whether a new one is worth the investment.

It is also a good idea to have a road emergency kit in your car. This kit should include jumper cables and you need to know how to use them without blowing yourself up. They really are quite simple to use but they do require some basic knowledge.

Just remember the heat can affect your car battery just like the cold can. It's always a good idea to make sure your car is road ready before you hit the road and start blocking traffic.

 

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