Weak Car Battery Must Be Replaced Before Mudik Travel

SOLO, KOMPAS.com - Signs of a weakened car battery can be detected by dimmed lights, a weaker horn, and a starter that feels heavy. Although still usable, a battery that is already weak should be replaced before using the car for Mudik.

There is a risk the battery may be unable to function at all during a journey. This could disrupt smooth travel during Mudik and make the trip less comfortable.

Iwan, owner of the Iwan Motor Solo workshop, says that a car battery that is already weak is always advised to be replaced, even if at the time it is still strong enough to start.

Using this equipment, the battery’s condition will be determined by several parameters relating to the battery’s health. Such as what percentage of its service life remains, its standby voltage, starting voltage, and so on.

‘The equipment will detect the current battery condition, then correlate it with standard parameters for certain conditions,’ said Iwan.

‘We recommend replacing every battery with a remaining service life of only 40 percent, even if it is still strong enough to start,’ Iwan said.

From his experience, a battery is no longer able to be used for starting when it reaches 25 percent remaining service life. Therefore, before that happens and to avoid the risk on the road, a weak battery must be replaced.

‘Make sure no complaints arise, before going to a healthy workshop, but after returning from the workshop the battery ends up dead, and so on. So we implement our SOP as well as possible,’ Iwan said.

Imun, owner of the Ford Trucuk Klaten Specialist workshop, says the health of a car battery in modern cars is not just about starting strength, but about the electrical system.

Electronic devices can overheat when the power supply is unstable, such as when the battery is already weak but is still being used.

So a weak battery should be replaced, especially as the car is to be used for a long Mudik Lebaran journey.