Source: Times Union, Albany, N.文件倉Y.Jan. 04--COLONIE -- Andy Breen, the Battery Man, cometh with a fresh delivery of cold, cranking amps.The current stretch of subfreezing weather has been sucking the juice out of old, weak batteries and killing them off for good.Motorists waiting at auto repair shops to replace dead batteries were happy to see Breen roll up in his bright green Interstate Batteries truck to replenish parts stockrooms with gleaming 40-pound cubes of raw power."Unfortunately, I can't give people a jump on the side of the road, but I tell them I'm bringing new batteries and direct them to the nearest repair shop," said Breen, a driver for Interstate Batteries for 18 years. He covers a territory from Glens Falls to Selkirk and Amsterdam to Greenwich, Washington County.On Friday, when temperatures hovered in the single digits and dipped well below zero overnight, many motorists awakened to that sickening sound of a staccato click-click-click coming from their frigid dashboards. It's the last gasp of a dead battery.As of midafternoon, AAA Hudson Valley had received 452 auto-related emergency calls, about 300 of them requesting a jump-start for a dead battery, said spokeswoman Nancy McMahon. AAA's entire fleet of emergency trucks and additional contract vehicles were extremely busy Friday providing roadside assistance across the Capital Region, she added.A jump-start is usually a final warning for procrastinators and a sign that the battery should be replaced immediately, Breen said.Weakened batteries that respond to a jump-start typically won't hold a full charge and will fail to re-start in temperatures this cold, he said."A lot of people know they need a new battery, but they put it off and then when it gets this cold their car won't start," said Adam Dion, manager of the Firestone auto care store on Wolf Road in Colonie.He put in his order for a stack of new batteries that Breen wheeled into the stockroom with a hand truck. His mechanics had installed seven new batteries in the past couple days.Those who don't replace weak batteries after being informed often compound the problem by tacking on a tow truck charge to the cost of a new battery, Dion noted.David Bogdan, an apprentice studying auto mechanics at Hudson Valley Community College, replaced a battery in Steve Correll's 2006 Ford Fusion at Firestone on Friday. Correll was told in September when he brought the car to Firestone for an oil change that his battery should be replaced.His battery's 590-amp c存倉pacity had drained to a paltry 245 amps, a diagnostic test showed, which explained why the car groaned and took several tries to start the last few mornings."I put off replacing the battery, but I decided I better get a new one today so I don't get stranded somewhere in the freezing cold," said Correll, of Albany, who works for the state Department of Taxation and Finance."In the automotive business, we like this kind of weather," said Kyle Benecasa, manager of the Sears Auto Center at Colonie Center. Most motorists got a jump-start and managed to drive their vehicle in, although about 20 percent arrived by tow truck and faced a much higher bill, he said.Benecasa's shop was doing a brisk business in DieHard batteries, the Sears brand, which range from $90 for an entry-level to $229 for the top-end platinum series. The installation fee is $19.99.He recommended having a battery installed by trained professionals because improper installation can lead to serious consequences for a vehicle's electrical system.At Firestone, a new Interstate battery ranges from $114 to $250 and the installation fee is $15. "It seems simple enough, just a couple bolts, but you can really mess things up if you don't install it right," Dion said. He has seen do-it-yourselfers gone awry electrocute themselves and burn out entire computerized electrical systems, which can cost thousands to replace.The brutally cold weather is also causing headaches for motorists who need replacement wiper blades and a tire top-off after low tire pressure sets off a dashboard diagnostic light.In addition, he's been getting 30 or 40 people a day coming in with the low tire pressure light on in recent days, said Dion, who typically inflates tires as a courtesy free of charge. "Within reason," he added.The cold snap also has spelled trouble for old antifreeze that had lost its potency, resulting in radiator hoses splitting or creating radiator leaks due to freeze-ups.The lesson of battery-killing cold was driven home for Dion. His mother called him Thursday to say her car wouldn't start. It was dead in her driveway. He drove up to Clifton Park that night in a snowstorm and installed a new Interstate battery.The car engine turned right over on the first crank and roared to life.A dutiful son's work was done.pgrondahl@timesunion.com, 518-454-5623, @PaulGrondahlCopyright: ___ (c)2014 the Times Union (Albany, N.Y.) Visit the Times Union (Albany, N.Y.) at .timesunion.com Distributed by MCT Information Services儲存
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