Your Chevy’s battery provides the electrical charge that is needed to start your engine. The battery also provides for all of your car’s electrical needs when your engine is switched off. A battery has a relatively limited lifespan, and it will wear out and longer be rechargeable. When this happens, as your Chevy dealer, we can install a new car battery for you. These are some warning signs that your battery will need to be replaced.
Corroded Terminals
Your battery uses chemical reactions to both store energy and supply energy. As these chemicals react with each other, they slowly start to break down. This process is the main reason your battery will eventually fail. Sulfuric acid in your battery slowly breaks down, and it releases hydrogen gas as a byproduct. Hydrogen gas molecules are small enough to escape the battery, and they will float into your engine.
The escaping hydrogen will mix with other chemicals in the air to form hydrogen sulfide. You’ll know immediately if gas is escaping from your battery as you’ll smell a rotten egg smell from the sulfide. The hydrogen sulfide is drawn to your battery terminals, and it will react with them to cause corrosion. Corrosion can be cleaned off the terminals, but it will return. A corroding battery will have to be replaced.
Damaged Battery Casing
The chemicals in your battery have to be protected from the outside air to prevent contamination. Your engine also has to be protected from the chemicals. Your battery casing is made from thick plastic to prevent any cross-contamination. Although the casing is tough, it can be damaged by internal pressure and the outside environment.
Extreme heat or cold can cause damage to a regular battery. These temperatures alter the chemical reactions inside the battery, and this can cause the battery to distort due to internal pressure. Once a battery case starts to distort, this creates a weakness in the battery. Chemical vapors can escape the battery, and other chemicals can enter the battery. If your battery case is damaged, we will need to install a new battery.
Starting Difficulties
Your battery provides the electrical charge to start your engine. It sends a charge to the starter motor, which initializes the crank. Your Chevy engine should start almost immediately following the crank. If instead, your engine struggles to crank, you may have a battery problem. As your battery gets older, its recharging level drops, and it loses its ability to fully charge.
An old, weak battery can have difficulty summoning up enough power to start your engine immediately. The delay in starting can be caused by your battery struggling to build up enough charge to power the starter motor. Our technicians can check your battery and replace it if it’s failing.
A battery almost always shows advanced signs that it’s failing before it finally dies. If you suspect a battery problem, call our service department at Lithia Chevrolet of Redding. Our experts will test the battery and fix the problem.
Photo by Sergey Meshkov: https://www.pexels.com/photo/open-hood-of-a-car-8478228/
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