July 31, 2016
Hello, welcome to Tuffy Tire & Auto Service Aurora. Today's focus is batteries. It seems like everything in Aurora runs on batteries. Of course, the batteries we're most concerned with here at Tuffy Tire & Auto Service Aurora are those in our customer's vehicles. Just like the batteries in our smoke detectors or TV remote, they wear out and need to be replaced . This can be thought of as the power output used to start a cold vehicle engine. The number of cold cranking amps you need depends on your vehicle and where you live in Illinois, specifically how cold it is. (Many Aurora drivers have first-hand experience trying to start their car on a cold winter morning.) The two factors are that the colder your vehicle's engine is, the more power it takes to turn the engine over to get it started. It has all that cold, sluggish oil to contend with.
The other factor is that the chemical reaction in the battery that creates electrical energy is less efficient when the temperature dips. Let's say it's 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees C) in Aurora. At that temperature, 100% of the battery's power is available. At freezing, only 65% of battery power is available, but it requires 155% as much power to start the engine as it did at 80 degrees F (27 degrees C).
As you can see, the colder it gets, more power is needed, but the available power drops.
So if you live where it's cold in Illinois, you need a battery with more cold cranking amps than you do where it's moderate or hot. The battery that originally came with your vehicle was based on averages. At Tuffy Tire & Auto Service Aurora, we like to remind Aurora drivers that they should always get at least as many cold cranking amps as their vehicle manufacturer recommends but may want to upgrade if they live where it gets real cold.
Tuffy Tire & Auto Service Aurora
3190 N. Aurora Rd.
Aurora, Illinois 60502
630-898-6688
December 1, 2024
See if any of these are happening to your vehicle. You feel it vibrating excessively underneath when its running, or you hear strange clunking, grating, or grinding sounds coming from beneath. Maybe its hard to turn your vehicle, or you can hear squeaking when youre going slow. Perhaps you fee... More
November 24, 2024
Sometimes the movie is better than the book, sometimes it's the other way around. But when it comes to your vehicle, the best book of all is the owner's manual. The plot is simple: Owner wants long life and dependable performance from the vehicle, manual has the way to achieve that long life and... More
November 17, 2024
Youve probably already heard that regular oil changes are extremely important for the health of your vehicles engine. Thats sound advice. But what you might not know is when it comes to motor oil, the real thing may not be the best thing for your engine. There are different types of motor oil: ... More