What Happens If You Put The Wrong Size Battery In Your Car

The manufacturers of today’s cars impose extremely strict specifications on their vehicles. The wrong battery size can cause a wide range of problems, just as it can with any other part or accessory. The manufacturer may not always recommend you replace your battery with the brand and size that they recommend, but you should always be sure that you have the right one for your device.

Drawbacks of using Undersized Battery:

It is natural to experience starting problems with an undersized battery in a car.

Life of Undersized Batteries:

It is important to consider both the battery’s life expectancy and its CCA (Cold Cranking Amperes). The Cold Cranking Ability of a battery defines its ability to start your engine in cold temperatures. A battery that is too small may not have the capacity to run your car’s accessories, especially while it is turned off.

Long-term damage may occur:

Small batteries are even more vulnerable to frequent short trips, which tax every kind of battery. Your battery doesn’t get a chance to recharge if you run around all day, starting and stopping your car frequently. This battery continues to draw a charge instead of sharing the load. Due to this fact, alternators could overheat and suffer long-term damage.

Drawbacks of Oversized Battery:

The use of batteries that are larger than what is recommended by your manufacturer may lead to several problems.

The size may not fit:

You may find that a battery bought off the shelf at a big box store will not fit in the battery compartment of your car. Batteries for automobiles are also available in a wide range of physical sizes and top-mounted and side-mounted configurations, along with power ratings and CCA ratings.

Battery life may be limited:

In addition, even if the battery physically fits into the compartment, it could present other problems. Manufacturers match the alternator and battery power requirements of their vehicles very precisely. Your alternator’s life can be shortened if your alternator is overheated from a mismatched battery or alternator combination.

Problems with wrong sized batteries in cars:

You may encounter issues with the performance of your car if you use the wrong battery size. Performance of a car is negatively impacted by the wrong size of the battery. Below are a few of the most frequent problems you may encounter if you use a wrong size battery.

Cranking strength is weak

When batteries are smaller in size, they have poor cranking power. Winter and summer are extreme weather conditions that require a reliable battery so that our engines can start regardless of the drop and rise in temperatures. Batteries with the wrong voltage are weak enough that they can crank the engine to a good start. The extreme weather condition froze the battery and the car could not start due to the cold weather.

Life expectancy of batteries varies

Batteries that are frequently used on short trips tend to have a lower lifespan. Some battery types are not suitable for short trips. In contrast, when you use a much smaller battery, its life will be shorter. To heat the glow plug, the battery required tremendous amounts of power. A large battery is able to store massive amounts of power like this.

The loss of power

Batteries of the wrong size may eventually cause your car to lose power. There is an apparent lack of power in your vehicle. Unfortunately, your air conditioner will not work because there is not enough power to power the machine. You may notice that your headlights do not shine as brightly as they once did. An even smaller battery size could have an adverse effect on the following. You won’t be able to power your accessories fully, as your battery will be unable to provide enough energy.

Blow Your Fuses

Your fuses can blow if you use a small battery. Each of your electrical loads wishes to perform the task for which it has been assigned. In the case of a 50W bulb, it would like to consume 50 Watts of energy. A fuse would eventually blow if you used a voltage below the minimum.

Damage caused by alternators

It takes quite a bit of energy to start a car’s engine from a small battery. The alternator will wear out too soon if you repeat this startup routine daily or regularly. The alternator in some vehicles is small, and the battery is all that is needed to run the vehicle. You will eventually have the alternator working overtime in order to provide current to your battery as you use your vehicle if the battery is used for a startup.

People Might ask

Could the performance of my car be affected by a smaller batteries? There is no way that a weak battery can directly impact the performance of a car, but it certainly affects some car and engine components in negative ways, which consequently reduces efficiency. The alternator is charged after the engine starts.

What is better, a higher cranking amp or a lower cranking amp? A higher CCA and RC is usually better than a lower one. When choosing a battery, remember to check the CCA rating if you reside in a cold climate. In contrast, when you live in an area where there is a lot of heat, you don’t need as much CCA.

What are the risks of a bigger battery? The size of batteries in cars is usually limited, so a larger battery may not be necessary in most cases. Usually, the problem is that either the terminals would short out when the battery contacts the hood, or the physical dimensions simply would not fit.

Does the wrong battery damage the alternator? The alternator won’t be affected by a dead battery but a broken alternator will rapidly drain the batteries. It has no effect on the alternator if the battery is dead. Increasing the power taken from the alternator by a dead battery causes it to draw more power.

Conclusion

In general, it’s not a good idea to change your car’s battery if it is recommended by the manufacturer. The cost of repairing a battery that is undersized could wind up being much more expensive than the savings on an oversized battery. Additionally, although it may sound appealing to get more starting power, installing an oversized battery comes with its own set of issues.