Anticipating the cold morning: 5 tips to start your car without problems | car

To start smoothly, the battery must be at least 70% charged. This is often the problem. After all, frost has a negative effect on your car battery. Therefore good battery management on the weekends before nighttime frosts is crucial. We’ve included some tips.

Your car battery is charged while you drive. But during short trips he does not have time to do this. The battery does not reach operating temperature and comfort functions such as air conditioning require a lot of energy. A few short weekend trips often lead to a low battery level, with serious consequences.

A car battery lasts 5 to 6 years on average. Having it checked by a specialist before the winter of that fifth or sixth year is not an unnecessary luxury. After all, a warned man deserves two.

Diesel in particular suffers from the cold. The latest generation diesel engines are virtually insensitive to frost, but only on condition that they are regularly checked and maintained by experts. Please note that petrol stations will switch to ‘winter diesel’ from November. This is a generation of fuel with additives that remain active down to -25 to -30 degrees Celsius. Filling your tank at the beginning of November certainly isn’t a bad idea.

Being able to start your car, but unable to escape because the handbrake is frozen, can also happen. It is better not to use the handbrake on the eve of a cold night. Put your car in gear (P for automatic) and use wheel stops if necessary.

Then limit it to a short “start attempt”. If you try for too long, the battery will run out quickly. You can also “wake up” the battery by briefly activating the headlights, but it’s best to turn off all other comfort functions until all the power has gone to the starter motor. If you can, it is best to depress the clutch pedal, so that the engine has the least amount of resistance and the battery is put under the least amount of stress.

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