Looking after your car battery

Summer is still lingering, but colder months are just around the corner.

Before we get there it's a good time to start thinking about our cars and take some precautions now to avoid the winter blues later on.

The component that tends to come under the most stress in winter, and usually fails first, is the battery that powers our car.

We might think it's the engine that powers the car, but it won't be going anywhere if the battery is flat. And we all know that there are few things worse than being stuck with a car that won't start on a cold morning when you're already late for work.

A first step to avoid the worry is to know how to check the battery. If you’re not sure where it’s located have a look at the owner’s manual. In most car’s it’s quite prominent in the engine bay under the bonnet, but on occasion it can be found in the boot of the car.

If your car is old, then it’s most likely that the battery will be old too. If that’s the case, i.e. three years or more, then it’s worth having it checked by your mechanic to ensure it's going to be capable of doing its job in the colder months ahead.

Once you’re familiar with where the battery is located, have a look at the state it’s in.  It's quite common to find the build-up of corrosion on the terminals (terminals are hard to miss once you’re looking at the battery); it's a white crystalline substance that can affect the battery's performance.

Pouring boiling water over the terminals is enough to clean the corrosion off the outside of the terminals, but to clean them properly it's necessary to disconnect them. To disconnect the terminals loosen the terminal clamps, negative first and positive last, and then wash the corrosion away from the battery terminals and the clamps with boiling water.

Dry the terminals and clamps and reconnect the leads, positive first and negative last. To help stall the build-up of corrosion apply a smear of Vaseline or other petroleum jelly over the outside of the terminal.

Do not apply the jelly to the terminal before you connect the leads as that could affect the conductivity and lower the battery's performance.

If you’re not confident in doing any of this then bring your car in to Cooper Automotive and we’ll make sure you’ll be safe on the road this winter.

Handy hints:

If you are going to disconnect the terminals on the battery make sure you have your radio's security code as you'll need that when you reconnect the battery again. If you don't have it, get it from you dealer or manufacturer before you go any further. Without it you won't be able to use your radio!

It’s also worth noting that your engine may run rough, idle poorly or the engine may cut out at idle after the battery has been disconnected. This occurs in some cars because the car’s computer has lost its memory while the battery was disconnected. Once you have driven the car for a while the computer will re-learn and will idle normally again.

Manager Profile

Every few months we're going to be getting to know one of our service centre managers a bit better with a Q&A session.

First cab off the rank is Ben,
Manager at our Mornington Service Centre.

Favourite food:  
It would have to be a Sunday Roast.  You can’t beat roast beef and Yorkshire pudding.

Favourite football team: 

Nottingham Forest….oh you mean AFL…well Hawthorn then.

How many years working on cars: 

Since I was 16…so that’s 19 years now.

And with Cooper Automotive: 

I’ve been with Cooper Automotive for 2 and a half years. I arrived from England on a Sunday, started work on the Monday.

Best thing about the work: 

It’s the customer satisfaction which makes for job satisfaction. Really making things easy for people and doing a good job so they leave happy. And next time they come in they know your name. It’s rewarding.

What makes Cooper Automotive the place to go? 

Customer service. It makes all the difference. People love our local pick up and delivery service. Having your car serviced doesn’t need to cause any inconvenience at all.

A classic English car - the Robin Reliant!

Most interesting car ever worked on?

That would be a robin reliant. It was a quirky 3-wheeler. 

I don’t think you had them in Australia.

What car would you buy if money were no object?

 I’d love a McLaren Formula 1 car. I saw one in Melbourne…it was amazing.

Any gripes when on the road?

 Aaarrrgh…where do I start. It’s the lack of manners on the road. People don’t let you in to merge lanes, and when you let someone in they don’t wave to say thank you. And people that drive in the right hand lane all the time…don’t we drive on the left here!?

What’s your top tip for keeping a car safe on the road?

I think looking after tyres and brakes are the most important things. And regular all-round servicing of course!

Ben and colleague Andrew, front-of-house at the Mornington Service Centre.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

Cars that drive themselves

Many of us have dreamed of automated cars since watching Knight Rider in the 1980s.  But the thirst for such technology goes further back than that when a ‘drive-by-wire’ system was being tested by the UK government back in the 1960s.  See here the man reading his book at the wheel of an elegant Citroen DS19!

Look no hands!!

Now we’re well into the 21^st century and it seems that cars that drive themselves are not too far away.  Last year Mercedes-Benz and Nissan announced they will be selling a self-driven or ‘autonomous’ car by 2020. And the race to be the first is clearly on with Audi, BMW, Ford, General Motors and Toyota also developing technology that would allow cars to steer, brake and accelerate with little or no input from the driver. 

Nissan is reportedly working with universities around the world to develop the technology, and has invested in a test track in Japan that will replicate real life conditions for the self-driven cars being worked on. 

Meanwhile Mercedez-Benz stole the show at the Frankfurt (Germany) Auto Show in September last year with its S500 Intelligent Drive research vehicle. This vehicle had just retraced the first road trip of 103kms taken by the first passenger car (also a Benz) in 1888.

Watch a couple of videos here:

But it’s not just the automakers involved, as of course the need for advanced technology is a large part of the progress. Companies such as Nokia, IBM,  Continental and needless to say Google are just some of the players involved in the push for autonomous driving.

Many cars already have short and long range radars front and rear, and front-facing stereoscopic cameras to detect objects and distances.  The Mercedes vehicle seen at Frankfurt has added colour to the front facing cameras to deted traffic lights, a backwards facing camera to recognize and verify landmarks for more precise vehicle location and lane positioning, and additional front facing radars to better track oncoming traffic.

So while cars get increasingly more computer controlled and technology is advancing at a rapid pace it may just be the nervousness of authorities and insurance companies that are the largest hurdle to self driven cars.

Commuters can dream of being able to legally be on the phone or laptop while travelling to work in their own car. But will the roads be safe with no hands on the wheel?  Or will there be less accidents? What do you think?