SMART DRIVER
Easy check & using a £10 gadget can make your car’s battery last TWICE as long – you could save hundreds in the long run
Forgetting them could see your car lose vital data
DRIVERS have been urged to make an easy check and invest in a £10 gadget to make their car batteries last twice as long.
Expert mechanic Scotty Kilmer showed some electrical hacks on his YouTube channel that could save you big in the long run.
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In the video, Scotty explained that modern cars are much more complicated than they used to be, with basically everything now being controlled by their computer units.
This means that more strain is put on the battery and dealing with it incorrectly can cause big trouble for your motor.
Scotty said: "Batteries are a lot different than they used to be.
"If your battery does go bad...you have to register it in your vehicle.
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"If you don't your computer will think your battery is old and an old battery need to be charged more so it will overcharge the new battery.
"I've seen in nine to 12 months that new battery go bad because it wasn't registered."
Unless you are a real tech whizz, it is quite hard to check this at home without investing in a scan tool.
However, Scotty advised motorists to take their car to a garage as soon as they can after getting a new battery to have this done for them.
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Many major garages, such as Halfords, offer free battery health checks and this may be included under those.
If not, it will still likely be very cheap and quick to have done professionally.
According to Scotty, this could improve your battery's lifespan by almost double.
Likewise, he urged car owners to pick up a memory-saver cable to use when changing batteries.
Because of how vital the computer is to modern cars disconnecting it from the power can cause important systems to reset and have to be recalibrated.
This, Scotty added, can affect all sorts of things including how well your car idles and its performance.
Thankfully you can pick up a memory-saver for as little as £10 online.
All you have to do is plug one end into the data port, usually found under the steering wheel, and connect the other end to a working car battery - so it's a good idea to keep a spare one around.
This will then keep your computer running on a temporary power source while you change the battery in the engine bay.
Social media commenters loved the handy tips.
One wrote: "I'm always learning from you Scotty."
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Another added: "Another good reason to own an older car."
It comes after a mum revealed what a little-known dashboard symbol actually means, to the amazement of viewers.
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