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Most car owners only worry about their car battery in the bitter cold of winter when the chemical reaction that makes power in your battery slows down and your car uses more electricity to move cold oil and engine parts to get started.  But the truth is, summer heat is more likely shorten the life of your battery.

The average lead-acid car battery, still the most common style of battery by far, makes and stores electricity by immersing lead plates in powerful sulfuric acid.  The chemical reaction between these two substances is the magic that moves electrons to start your car.  Once your car is started, the alternator takes over all the work, generating enough power to run your engine, your lights, your eighteen speaker stereo and simultaneously recharging your battery for the next start.

While most modern batteries are "sealed," meaning they down have easily removable caps for adding additional sulfuric acid, all batteries are victims of slow acid evaporation.  Like boiling a pot dry on the stove, evaporation eventually removes enough acid from your battery to reduce the chemical wizardry to a level that prevents recharging.  And the hotter the pot gets, the faster the water boils off.  When your battery is exposed to high heat the effect is exactly the same.  If your alternator can't recharge the battery effectively then you only have to turn the key a handful of times to drain starting power.  The result; the dreaded click of a dead battery. 

When summertime comes around the heat under your hood is raised by several factors.  The sun is beating down on your hood from the outside while inside the engine bay your cooling system is struggling to shed engine heat as fast as it can.  All that hot air is trapped in your battery, raising its summertime operating temperature significantly.

Chances are you know how to open your hood and find your battery, but then what?  You can't look at a battery and tell whether evaporation is taking its toll. Nevertheless, it is only a matter of time before the battery runs dry.  When your battery gets that far gone, it is incapable of recovering even if it is serviced.

The solution is to bring your car to RoadMart Inc., where their team of automotive professionals can test your battery to make sure it is charging properly.  If the battery is doing fine they will send you on your way.  If not, RoadMart Inc. can install an affordable, high-quality replacement battery or upgrade you to an evaporation-proof gel type battery in just a few minutes and get you on your way.  Either way, you will leave RoadMart Inc. with peace of mind. Make an appointment today.