HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU NEED A NEW BATTERY FOR YOUR CAR?

WHAT DOES A BATTERY DO?
A battery is what helps fire up the engine. It is a source of power that helps in the ignition process. It also provides charge and power to other accessories of the car. Any car requires a battery as it is useful for various purposes in a car like starting the engine, stabilizing it, filtering, and also for car accessories like electrical lighting and dashboard lights. It helps provide power whenever the charging system is unable to carry excess loads and maintains the flow of charging system when it is not operating.

WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT?
The battery is really important as your car won’t start without it being fully charged or the other accessories won’t be able to function without it. When the battery is fully charged the car can run smoothly and start on the first attempt.

SIGNS TO GET IT REPLACED
A battery usually lasts 4-6 years depending on usage and maintenance. But it does start showing wear and tear after a couple of years of usage. It is an important component that needs to be taken care of regularly. Here are the signs that a car shows to indicate that the battery requires being replaced.

Check battery sign: The first thing you will notice when the battery is low of having any other problems is the check battery sign. It can be due to various reasons that the check battery light might pop-up like lose cable ends, low liquid level, and other. When you notice the sign it does not mean that it is something major and requires immediate attention. It just means that you need to get the battery checked in few days to figure out the problem.

Engine cranks but does not start: When the battery is a couple of years old or been idle for a while, it takes some time to crank up the engine. The car might require for tries to start as the battery charged gets low when it stays idle. It can also happen during the winter season. After a couple of years, the battery needs to be charged, cleaned, and maintained to get the best performance. It will also help it last longer.

Sometimes the car starts, sometimes do not: As the battery gets past its prime, the battery starts showing major signs like this which directly indicates that it requires being replaced. The car won’t be able to start even after many tries as the battery has lost its ability to recharge itself as it could before.

Taken to the limit: When you have used battery to its full potential by maintaining it, cleaning it, and recharging it, the battery finally will give up when it has run its course. The car would not able to crank up the engine after a lot of tries and there would be no use of getting too charged again.

Not even cranking the engine: This is the sign that shows that the battery is dead and has to be replaced immediately. The engine won’t even crank and the car won’t show any sign on the dashboard of a battery.

WHERE TO GET IT REPLACED
The best thing to do to get a battery replaced is to find a mechanic near you. Look for a local auto repair shop in the nearby area who is well-known auto repair service provider and people in the locality trust. You can also search online or call a mobile mechanic at your home or office to get the battery replaced. The process of replacing a battery is quite simple but is better to get it replaced by a professional as any sort of ignorance while replacing the battery can affect its lifespan and cause problems to the car as well. Even you can DIY it if you have some experience of doing it or by watching a tutorial. Still, for the best results, it is better to get it replaced by a professional mechanic.

These are the signs which indicate that the battery requires being replaced. Once you notice these signs, it means that the time is near to get a battery replacement done are to get it checked.

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CHECK ENGINE LIGHT

Over the past decade or so, the cars have developed tremendously in the technology and there are basically signals and light for every little thing to notify and alert a driver about the car’s components.The check engine light of a car is connected to the car’s central computer system that helps it light-up for a wide range of reasons. It does not always mean that there is a major problem in the car or engine. It can light up due to minor issues as well like a loose gas cap.

CAUSES AND PROCESS

The check engine light signal appears on the dashboard (OBDII). It is a sort of monitor that looks after the performance of the parts connected to the engine light. If there is a problem with air pressure, air temperature, engine temperature, climate control, braking system or the electronic system the engine light might show up. When a problem is diagnosed in any of those areas, the check engine light will show up to notify and warn you. When you get notified the computer saves a “trouble code” in the memory as well. The code stored in the memory helps identify the component that has malfunctioned. The code is then read with a special scanning tool. This is how the check engine light functions and gives you signal of a malfunction or problem in the above named components.

HOW TO RESOLVE IT

When you see the check engine light on and if it is blinking, take the car immediately to an auto repair shop or hire a mobile mechanic to get it diagnosed. The expense of getting it diagnosed is reasonable, but the final expense depends on the problem that gets diagnosed. When you hire a mobile mechanic or take the car to an auto repair shop, the mechanic scans the trouble code to identify the problem. The diagnosis and repair do not take much time and can be solved on the same day as the repair might even be as simple as a wire change. This shows that you just need a day to get the check engine light problem diagnosed and resolved.

These are the basic things you need to know about the check engine light so that you don’t get scammed or too worried about it. It helps you get and idea of what to do in such situation.