Day 24: Car battery care

Friday night I wanted to nip out to the store and I found that my car wouldn't start. All the lights would flash but it only made a weak attempt to roll over and start the ignition. Since my errand wasn't essential and the day had been especially cold I decided to stay home. Sleeping on it did not solve the problem and I found the same odd reaction. After a few calls, including one to the dealer and 2 others to neighbors and family with opinions on cars, I learned that batteries weaken in extreme cold and that they also neen more power in cold weather to generate the juice needed to start the car. After a quick jump start my car was back in action.

So today I looked up some more information on car batteries and how to care for them. If a car battery is more than 2 years old, it is more likely to leak power in cold weather. http://www.thedailyeaston.com/wheels/dont-freeze-your-battery This explains why I've had the car for 3 years and I've never had this problem before. The other reason maybe because I used to have a garage and now I park outside. A mechanic or dealer can test a car battery to determine it's performance and I guess they can also somehow measure the wear and tear, or the potential power. When it warms up a bit I'll take my car to the dealer to have it checked.

This is not may car but one terrifying picture that is amusing only in the comfort that it didn't happen to me.

Also in the news today was a man in NYC who found his car covered in ice...

http://news.yahoo.com/video/newyorkcbs2-15751042/car-frozen-in-place-23949191