30 Car Mysteries Solved: Getting Better Car Battery Life - Popular Mechanics
The thing that kills batteries is heat, because it boils off the water in the electrolyte and hastens the sulfation process. That's when some of the lead on the plates of a partially discharged battery oxidizes into lead sulfate. The lead sulfate interferes with the normal charge-discharge chemistry of the battery, reducing capacity until finally you can't start your car. Here are my suggestions to make your next battery last longer: Use a conventional battery, not a maintenance-free one. Maintenance-free batteries have no filler caps. They generally do have more standing electrolyte above the plates to compensate, but when they're in service a lot of water boils away, so they can't last as long as conventional batteries that can be topped off every few months. Be sure the dealer has reinstalled any battery heat shields that the manufacturer installed at the factory, to keep the battery temperature down. Be sure the car is driven regularly for enough distance to keep the battery charged. Vehicles with short driving cycles may very well not ever charge the battery completely, hastening its demise. If this is your problem, you may need to use a small battery maintainer plugged into the wall, or at least try to. Source: www.popularmechanics.com
