Sunday, August 16, 2015

The Importance of Voltage as in Your Vehicle's Battery | Joe & Tony's Service Inc.

We all are very familiar with the impact of low voltage on our cell phones. So take that chaos and multiply it by 30-100 which is the number of micro-processors that  a 2010 NY Times article estimated are in today's cars and trucks. This estimate precedes the onslaught of factory installed infotainment systems in cars, so I'm sure you get where I'm going. But then again maybe you don't.

What I'm proposing is a new way to look at replacing the battery in your vehicle. The old way is to milk every day that you possibly can out of the power supply that starts your vehicle and helps to run all its computers. Car batteries can be purchased with warranties of anywhere from 48 to 84 months, but the fact is that most batteries fail at about the 48 month mark depending on where you live. This reality is the reason that a well respected consumer publication recommends that in hot climates owners begin to test their batteries' condition every year beginning at 2 years old and in cold climates beginning at 4 years. Yes that's right, sweltering heat is harder on batteries than freezing cold.

The point of all this is that it may be penny wise and dollar foolish to squeeze an extra day or two out of your car's battery. Since a lack of available voltage could trigger a diagnostic trouble code and illuminate your check engine light, you should consider a marginal battery a threat to your vehicle's diagnostic system. Although the initial check of your vehicle's condition would include an evaluation of battery health, why not eliminate exposure to a misdiagnosis and all the angst that goes with it.

The cost of diagnosing an erratic code could exceed the money saved by extending the replacement time of your battery by a few weeks.

Have your battery tested as it ages
Copyright 2015 Joe & Tony's Service Inc.