Top 5 Reasons Your Car Battery Keeps Dying — And How to Prevent It

Does your car battery keep dying? Like all things in life, car batteries have a finite lifespan.

Over time, they weaken due to poor quality or maintenance and lose their ability to hold a charge, eventually leaving you stranded with a vehicle that refuses to start. In this article, we’ll go over the most common reasons why your car battery keeps on dying and what you can do to prevent it.

What Causes Your Car Battery to Keep Dying?

Charging system malfunction: When a battery seems to die when you're driving, the charging system may be at fault. The most common point of failure with a charging system is the alternator. Loose or stretched belts and worn tensioners can prevent an alternator from working.
Physical damage: Damage can occur from a collision of some kind, even if it was relatively mild but the impact location is near the battery, it can crack the case, allowing acid to leak. Also, if the battery is not locked firmly into place, it can move while the car is in motion and get tossed around enough to cause cracks in the casing. Furthermore, if your charging system malfunctions and overcharges the battery, it can swell with gas, causing leaks from a split case.
Extreme Temperatures: Hot or cold weather won't kill a battery that's new or in good shape, but a weak or old battery may fail in such extreme conditions. Alternatively, extreme temperature extremes can also magnify other underlying issues.
Age of the battery.
Over-Jumping: Jumping a dead battery every once in a while, is totally fine, however, if you per-take in this multiple times it certainly results into putting a strain on the battery. Consequently, over time the battery will just die out completely.

How to Prevent Your Battery from Dying?

While it’s true that every single battery has to die eventually, the key to prolonging its life is to keep it well maintained and in good working order. Here are some tips to get you started:

Schedule regular battery maintenance and professional inspections – We highly recommend routine check and care for your battery, in order to ensure that it operates at peak efficiency. Some of the key tasks we look into at our branches nationwide include inspecting the battery for damage, voltage testing, and cleaning the terminals which in tandem contribute significantly to improving a battery's life longevity.
Turn off electronics (Lights, radio etc.) when the car is off - Leaving your radio on so that you can hear it working with no key in the ignition is possible on some cars leaving close to no significant harm on the battery life. However, there is indeed a risk you will accidentally leave it on for a long period and eventually flatten the battery so you can't start it. With a healthy battery that would take weeks, but with an old battery it might make a difference in days.
Drive your car regularly to maintain a full charge – If your car sits idle for extended periods. the battery is likely to lose charge. Hence, we recommend take it for a drive of 30 minutes at least once a week to keep the battery charged. Alternatively, one can use a trickle charger to maintain its charge when not in use.
Replace an old battery – With a typical lifespan that lasts 3–5 years, replacing your car battery is an inevitable part of vehicle ownership. The cost on the other side, varies based on the type and size of the battery needed for your vehicle.
Check for parasitic drains if your battery dies often– Parasitic drain is a condition that occurs when an electrical component or system continues to draw power even after the vehicle is turned off. If this is left unchecked, then the persistent power draw can deplete your battery, leaving you stranded.

There are two ways to locate the cause of parasitic battery drain:

Current draw testing— This test is done by connecting a current measuring device on the negative battery cable and removing fuses one at a time until the current draw drops, thereby identifying the problem circuit.

Voltage drop testing— This is just as effective as current draw testing and it’s easier to perform because one doesn't have to remove the fuses.

Conclusion

Batteries that are well-maintained can last longer, giving you more value out of your purchase and reducing the frequency of replacements. If yours is nearing the end of its lifespan and frequently losing charge, then it may be time for a battery replacement and Battery fitment. At Tire World we sell only high-quality batteries that are competitively priced. Contact us today for more information.

Top 5 Reasons Your Car Battery Keeps Dying — And How to Prevent It