Why is my car battery light on with a new battery and alternator is charging?
It could be an issue with wiring. How old is your car?I had a 1995 Century that had the exact oposite problem (Battery light stopped coming on wgen you turn on the key). I never had any problems with drivability or anything like that, and drove the car for months without that light. I did eventually troubleshoot and I found that the small wire going to the voltage regulator on the back of the alternator had come loose - I had repaced that pigtail a year prior, and just didn't do as good of a job as I should have done. After fixing the wire, the battery light was working again.It could be a loose connection at the battery or alternator, or even a bad ground somewhere. Check that your battery cables are clean and tight, check that your negative cable between the battery and the car is clean and tight. Check that your ground cable (or grounding strap) between the body and the engine are clean and tight, and make sure the bolts on the alternator are snug as the alternator grounds to the engine this way. While you're there, make sure that your battery cable coming from the back of the alternator is snug (it will be the large red cable, usualy connected to the alternaot with a bolt), and the other connector is not loose. Look for any damage to the wires that could be shorting out against the body or engine. You don't have to pull the wiring loom apart, since usually, if the loom isn't damaged, the wires inside should be ok (not always, but you're pretty much just doing a visual check of everything). If you cannot find anything, or find something that you do not feel comfortable fixing yourself, take it to a mechanic you trust.
How long will a brand new battery last if the alternator is bad?
Until you start the car the battery will stay strong. Starting and running the engine and lights will use up the battery and you might make it 10 miles before there's not enough juice left to keep going. A new battery might rejuvenate a bit after resting several hours, but that's nothing to depend on. Before you buy a new alternator, if you have a Ford, check the charging system fuse and replace it if it's blown. When that fuse blows, the alternator cannot charge the battery even if the alternator and battery are strong. However, if the alternator warning light on the dash comes on , have the alternator checked for output.
My battery light came on, the alternator tested fine, replaced the battery, still doing same thing?
The exact same thing happened to me about a week ago with my 2000 Dodge Neon. In my case one of my wires that went from the alternator to the battery was loose. Take it to the mechanic and it should be a cheap fix, mine was only $30 to fix it and it only took 10 minutes. Basically what is happening is that it's only lasting as long as the battery is charged, so since the alternator isn't charging it the battery doesn't last long. You should be able to jump start it though to make it a couple of miles to a mechanic.
If the car is idling, will it charge the battery?
Almost all cars can charge the battery at idle.There are some who remember the days before they could so there are still some who worry about that. Car electrical systems used to have several shortcomings. They used a 6V system with a generator instead of an alternator. An alternator can provide much more power to charge at slow speeds because of the adjustable armature voltage. All the electrical system parts improved, and the design improved, so now we don’t have to worry about the battery charge.There are still many motorcycles that are not able to charge the battery at idle. This is mostly due to the desire to keep the headlamp on, improving visibility. The start-charge system was designed well before this rule so the alternator is just sized too small for the task.Because the battery is being discharged at idle, the battery can drain completely in a slow moving parade, or a traffic jam. The easiest way out of this problems is to unplug the headlamp when in a parade and drive on the stripe in through a traffic jam.
Battery light just came on in my car and steering wheel tightened up...?
I waS on my way home and my battery light came on so i turned off the air and the radio (thought maybe it would conserve some of the energy if the battery was dying. everytime i tried to turn a corner the steering wheel was sooo tight i had to force it to turn. I got home and turned the car off and back on a few times, turned the radio and the air back on to see if they still worked...everything was still working but the battery light was still on and the wheel was still locking up...does anyone know what would cause both of those things to happen at the same time?
Why does the battery light on the dashboard in my car illuminate when I allow the engine to slow down?
When the battery light is ON on the dashboard, it means that the battery is not getting charged. When the engine is running, all the electricity requirement of the vehicle i.e. head lights, battery charging cooling fans etc should be fulfilled by the alternator.The battery lights comes ON when the voltage generated by alternator is lesser than battery voltage, resulting in current drawn from battery instead of alternator. Alternatively it means that the battery is not being charged when the light is ON.So in your case, at low RPM, the alternator is not able to charge / provide voltage. There a small electronic equipment in the alternator called Regulator, which controls the output voltage of an alternator (approx 14.5V for 12V vehicles) at any rpm of alternator / engine.So if the output at low rpm is reduced, most likely the regulator has a fault and it is not repairable component, it is replaced (not talking about very old vehicles). You can check your alternator's performance if you have a multimeter / tong tester. Thanks for A2A.
My car's battery light came on and my car is struglling to go does anybody know what it could be?
When your battery light comes on and your battery is good, check your alternator. When the alternator is bad, it will drain your battery really quick. In the end your car will not start. To be sure check with your local autoparts store, some do free alternators test.
When i turn on my car, the battery light turns on and stays on for a few mins then turns off?
the battery light is never the battery it is the light that tells you the alternator isn't charging the battery it sounds like a loose belt to me as if it were the alternator the light wouldn't go back off now if it were a 1996 or newer car the alternator may be controlled by the computer as well NEVER DISCONECT THE BATTERY ON A RUNNING CAR IF THE ALTERNATOR WAS WORKING IT MITE NOT WORK NOW and it may deploy an airbag
What does it mean when a car's battery light turns on while the car is moving (eventually car decelerates and stops)?
The alternator is failing or has ceased functioning. Whereas the engine's torque is usually giving your car constant electricity using the alternator, when it fails to do so the battery's reserved power is then used. Usually the battery is only used to start the vehicle. It obviously has enough power to spark the plugs, but only for so long, especially if you are also running your radio, A/C, headlights, etc. Once the battery is dead, the car is dead.This happened to me more than once. The alternator has a finite life in every car, so there comes a time when it will die, and it will almost certainly not be at the most opportune moment. Recognize signs of this happening before it is too late. Mine was failing for months before it inevitably gave in and I finally figured out what was wrong. A similar issue is if your serpentine belt snaps, the engine is no longer running your alternator, whether it's in good shape or not. This will cause more issues than the car just dying in five minutes- the water pump will cease functioning to cool your engine down and you will eventually overheat it and perhaps irreparably damage the vehicle.There are possibly other things that can cause this issue but this seems by and large the most likely.