5 Practical Tips on Battery and Car Maintenance for Women

Car maintenance can be a challenging topic. It can be especially daunting, overwhelming and even feel too far out of reach to do alone as a woman. Well, the good news is it’s not…

There are so many small things that can be done to avoid some car trouble. These include having emergency backup bits in your vehicle and taking a few minutes to learn some basic steps that can make you feel independent and confident when it comes to your car.

Batteries Basics and Long-Term Maintenance

Your battery charges while you drive your vehicle. This is important to remember, as issues can occur when your vehicle is standing (not in use) for long periods. Although it’s common to have someone start the vehicle and let it idle while you’re away, this practice can actually do more harm than good to the battery. This could run the battery more flat as the vehicle isn’t being driven, and therefore, there is no charge going through to the battery.

Another common approach is disconnecting your vehicle battery, which can also be harmful to the more modern electronic systems on vehicles. This is because a battery can lose charge by standing on a shelf, even if fully charged. The gradual loss of power if there are no external connections made to the battery is due to something called internal resistance, which can be described as a battery’s natural design. The battery’s internal resistance causes it to drain over time even when it’s not being used. On top of that, factors like temperature and the battery’s age can speed up the rate of discharge.

The best way to keep your car’s battery healthy when it’s parked for a long time is to use a trickle charger. It gently feeds the battery just enough power to keep it charged, without causing any damage. This also helps extend the battery’s lifespan. By looking after the battery and vehicle, you can prolong that life span, but you will still need to replace your battery every few years.

Jump-starting Your Vehicle

Jump-starting your vehicle is a skill that every person should have. It’s so easy and can be made even easier with some handy tricks. My best friend is the battery booster pack kit, which can be purchased at any motoring outlet. This is basically a power bank with enough power to jump-start your vehicle. The device comes with jumper leads, and you can jump your vehicle within minutes with no help from anyone and no other vehicle is needed.

The traditional way to jump-start a car is to use jumper leads that hook up to two cars: one vehicle that’s running and has no battery issues, and attach it to the flat battery of the other car. This method works great for jump-starting your car. Just make sure you’re parked in a spot where you can access your bonnet easily if your car is stuck, and someone with a car is around to give you a hand.

Important things to remember when jump-starting a vehicle:

Turn your headlights on to avoid blowing a fuse or damaging your electronic system.
Put the handbrake on in both vehicles
Turn off as many switches as possible. The more that’s turned off, the better.
Place the vehicle in park.

Warning: The jumper leads are LIVE WIRES! So, be careful. Never let them touch each other whilst connected to anything!

Traditional Jumper leads:

Step 1: Connect one cable to the positive (+) post of the discharged battery (dead battery)
Step 2: Connect the other end of the same cable to the positive (+) post of the booster battery (good battery)
Step 3: Connect the second cable to the negative (-) post of the booster battery (good battery)
Step 4: Make the final connection of the second cable to the negative (-) post of the discharged battery (dead battery)
Step 5: Rev the vehicle that’s on (the good battery) to around 2500 RPM and hold it there for a few minutes to help generate some charge into the dead battery.
Step 6: Try crank / Start the dead car.
Step 7: Once started, CAREFULLY reverse this exact procedure by removing the jumper leads one step at a time. Remember, this is a live wire and can be harmful; remove with care.

Using a booster pack battery jumper:

Step 1: Ensure the power bank is at full charge
Step 2: Connect the jumper cable to the battery
Step 3: Connect the positive (+) to the discharged battery
Step 4: Connect the negative (-) to the discharged battery
Step 5: Turn the power bank on
Step 6: After a few minutes of the power bank being attached, crank / start your vehicle.
Step 6: Remove the jumpers (keep them separate whilst removing them)
Step 7: Charge your power bank and place it back in your vehicle

Jump-starting a Manual Car Without Cables

You can jump-start a manual car without cables by giving it a push. Just get it rolling, put it in gear, release the clutch quickly, and the engine should start… and you’re good to go! However, you don’t always have people around to help with jumping your vehicle or pushing your vehicle, which is why I strongly suggest investing in a power bank battery booster pack. This is also a good emergency charging device to have in the car for phones or any other devices that may need charging.

Battery Health and Testing

If you are concerned about your battery’s life span, pop into a store for a free battery test. It takes five minutes, doesn’t cost anything, and it will give you the exact reading of your battery’s current status. This is always good maintenance and gives you peace of mind.

I hope I have given you some good insight and tips in this article. If I can advise on 1 thing, it would be to purchase a power bank, jump starter booster pack.