I Hate When That Happens

Wow- what a summer. It seems to me that we have not had a good rip-roaring HOT summer like this for years. I personally love hot summers. I enjoy getting out on the lake, water skiing, tubing and the like. Although I like it, I know for sure that our vehicles don’t. And specifically, our vehicle batteries and electrical systems really take a beating in the heat.

Many people think that it’s the winters that are hard on our batteries. But battery makers report that the summer time is the best time for their business. I learned years ago in Technical College that the enemies of a battery are heat and vibration. For those reasons car manufactures have done many things to help extend the life of their batteries. Some manufactures don’t even put the battery in the engine compartment. For example the battery on my wife’s car is under the back seat. The unit is securely held in a more controlled environment. For these reasons and with the advancement in battery technology, battery life has been extended. However, there are tests that can be run to determine the condition and the expected remaining life of your battery.

Another issue that can affect your battery and its ability to perform is the presents of VD. It’s not what you’re thinking. VD stands for “voltage drop”. Voltage drop occurs if there is a poor connection at any point in a circuit. You can think of a poor connection like a kink in a garden hose, you just can’t get the current though the system. If you have a bad battery connection it will affect how the starter works. It can also affect the ability of the alternator to recharge up the battery. It can actually affect any electrical component on the vehicle. Voltage drop can be present in any circuit and in different forms. The most common is corrosion at a terminal or a loose connection at any point in the circuit.

Sometimes you can’t even see the problem. I have seen a battery cable with internal corrosion cause big electrical problems. I was able to test the system and found the problem, but I had to literally cut apart the cable to see the corrosion under the insulation. Excessive voltage drop can do damage to other components as well. In the case of that bad battery cable, the vehicle ran for some time and it eventually caused the starter to burn out. Voltage drop usually causes excessive heat to occur at the point of the problem.

A common problem we have seen over the years is inoperative headlights. As we access the headlight switch we typically have found the connector at the switch melted to the switch itself. In some cases the manufacture has developed a replacement connector to eliminate the voltage drop and thus reducing the heat caused by that voltage drop.

All this may sound complicate, and in some cases it can be difficult to isolate. That is where a competent, well equipped technician will come in. Another tip off of a voltage drop issue is if you experience a repeat failure of an electrical component, perhaps there is a voltage drop problem that is not being found. I Hate When That Happens!