Originally Posted by
chturner
I took the car to advance and they told me my battery was bad. So before I dropped $153 on it I brought it home and hooked it to my voltage tester. Voltage was 12.6 when car was off and went up to 14.6 when I turned it on (headlights on too). So im not sure where to go now. I feel like that is plenty of power to crank it (it does, just slowly). What should I do now. Im trying to get the battery situation figured out so I don't need a jump off every time I go somewhere alone. Also, thanks for the help and quick responses.
The 10,000 foot view:
You had the battery tested. Testing the battery is a waste of time, you need a new battery. Several of us have said the same thing. Get a battery.
The details:
YOu are measuring voltage, from the measurements you are getting, the system is charging just fine. The ONLY way the voltmeter is lying to you is if there is resistance in the battery connections (in the form of corrosion). If they don't look awful (either on the surface or when yanked from the posts where you can see the contact surfaces) then the battery has to be bad.
"Power":
Voltage is not power. Voltage times current is power. What is the battery voltage while the starter is cranking the engine? THAT voltage reading will tell you what is going on.
It really is as simple as that. Go get a battery.