Hello All,

Been an eventful week. Popped the right front tire on Monday headed home from work, had to get flatbedded home due to a lack of a tire repair kit. Jacked the car up on Monday and removed the wheel. Had to order a tire and find a ride so didn't get the wheel and new tire back on the car until Thursday afternoon. Checked the oil (I saw something leaking under the car after I got the flat and assumed it was from the A/C but just wanted to make sure), started the car and went for a 2.5 mile drive. Noticed the right turn signal was blinking faster than the left (and come to find out the front bulb is out).

This morning I turn on the car and the battery light stays on. I turn off the car and turn it on again, no light, drive to work about 15 minute drive. Leave work and start the car, battery light stays on. Turn off and on, light stays on. Drive home, 20 minute drive with some traffic. I haven't noticed any dimming and the connections to the battery seem tight and clean.

So a few questions:

The service manual spells doom and gloom from that light.. belt issues, pump issues, etc. It calls out a loss in power steering which I have not experienced. Should I, as the manual says, immediately stop driving the car? I was planning on a 4 hour round trip tomorrow...

Could something have come loose or shifted from the car being tilted on jack stands for 3+ days? Didn't notice the light yesterday at all.

I assume next step would be to get the battery tested (its not the original, I estimate maybe 1.5 years old). Are there any other signs I would be experiencing if its the alternator?

Or by some miracle could the turn signal out somehow be causing the battery light without any actual electrical issues that I'll need to take care of?

Unfortunately, the new tire put a dent in my funds and its a pretty financially inconvenient time to be having problems.

Let me know your thoughts. Thanks!

 

Hmmm.. perplexing.. $150 for a startech spoiler?



Cheap walmart - Auto zone plug in (cig lighter) volt meter to make sure?

The battery light is an indication of charging problem isn't it? Didn't go look in the manual but it used to.. LOL

 

The threads I've found seem to point to the alternator but I'm just wondering why now, why after this series of events? Bad luck? Bad things happen in 3's (flat tire, blinker, alternator)?

I may have to sell a kidney. And hold on to the Startech spoiler for dear life while I'm knocked out in surgery so no one gets any ideas.

 

Take off and clean the terminals and the battery posts. I think that if the ECM doesn't see good voltage through the battery, it will trigger the light. Check the water level in the battery. Should be able to see the acid when you remove the caps. If it's low, fill it with distilled water. Worth a shot. Good luck

 

^^^ ^^^

 

The posts look clear and all but I might as well clean them while I'm under the hood. I don't see where I can check the water level but I'll look around more once the posts are off.

But here's the big question... How long does it take for the battery to get fully charged from the alternator?

I brought the car to an Autozone and they tested the battery, said it was good but it was at 60% which isn't enough charge to test the alternator. I have it hooked up to my battery tender currently to get the charge up and then try to test the alternator again.. Is it possible that some parasitic drain over the 3 days it was sitting brought the battery down and the alternator hasn't had enough time to recharge it? I haven't had the car running for more than, say, half hour on any of the trips I've been since getting it back on the road? Would that be long enough to charge the battery back up to full?

 

A "battery tender".. output what 1 amp/h ? Gonna be there a while I do believe.. As a reference , New motorcycle battery is about 5 hours at 6 amps..

 

I have 3 battery tenders - they are all 4 AH .......

 

Good to know.. never felt the need for one and just put my money in a full fledged charger. Just always had the mindset of "if it wont hold a charge..it needs replaced.." LOL.

 

Rayth, I always test the voltage at the battery posts with a decent-quality voltmeter. With the car running, you should see 14.1-14.6 VDC.

Off, you should see 12.3-12.6 VDC.

 

The battery tester said it was good and getting the 12ish volts it needed while off... will it still show the 14.XX while running if there is an alternator is having problems?

My question about charge times wasn't so much for the battery charger/tender but for the alternator... could the battery by at 60% because it was much lower from parasitic drain and the alternator just hasn't had time to charge it back up yet? I'm really hoping and praying its a simple issue and that I don't need a new alternator or belts

 

The alternator should put out 14.X at all times when running, even with all accessories on.

 

Yes, this is very possible. But it's hard to say how long it should take for you to fully charge w/ your generator(alt.)because there are many variables. Get it fully charged and then monitor your voltage closely for awhile to see what's up(both batt. & alt. output). Here is a very detailed writeup of battery charging, etc. that is pretty good. SmartGauge Electronics - A simple explanation of "Surface Charge"

 

Thanks guys, it seems to be somewhat intermittent which makes it all the more frustrating..

I had to unplug the trickle charger after 12 hours or so because the car was outside and it was suppose to rain overnight. The charging light on the tender was still on red which indicates it was still charging and not yet at 80%. The car sat overnight, went out the next morning and started it with no battery light. Left it running for an hour, still no light... was hoping this would help with the theory that the alternator just hadn't had enough time to recharge the battery.

This morning started the car and the battery light is back on.

So I'm assuming the battery still hasn't been charged to full and/or there is in fact an issue with the battery even though Autozone read it as "good"... Or its the alternator... Is there a way to test the alternator at home (without a volt meter)? Starting the car and taking the terminals off the battery or something?

 

That worked on older cars.. don't think our electronics are going to play nicely when you try that though. My understanding is the battery helps stabilize the voltage.

Equus Innova 3721 Battery Charging System Monitor - Walmart.com

 

So a development this morning:

Thus far I haven't had any issues while driving the car even with the batter light on. I noticed today it went off and on a bit when depressing the clutch and shifting gears. However, a mile or so from work, my radio cut out, the spoiler light blinked and my ABS and BAS ESP lights came on then went off. I turned off the radio and AC, put down the windows and proceeded to pray for the next 10 minutes while I was stuck in traffic. Mechanically, everything seemed to run fine and the car did not sputter or die. However, the windows wouldn't go up and the ABS/BAS lights kept coming on and my spoiler is now up. I know the spoiler is a classic sign of a bad battery, but my question is this:

Are the "accessories", i.e. windows, radio, spoiler powered by the battery or the alternator while the car is running? Specifically, I'm wondering if maybe my battery was indeed bad and not charging correctly. OR is the alternator dead and thus not able to charge the batter?

Basically, I'm going to run to the auto parts store on my lunch today but I don't know if I should just buy a new battery, or if I should jump my car (assuming it won't start, though I haven't tried), try to drive it there and see if they can recharge the battery and test the alternator. Long story short, I don't want to buy a new battery if I don't have to, but if its just the battery that is the issue I would love to just get a new one and be done with it!

Need some advice. As previously mentioned, I'd rather not spend money on the wrong thing.

 

The alternator supplies charging power to the battery. period.
It does NOT power anything in the car, the battery does that.
If the battery reading is above 12v with everything off, then check it with the engine running.
It should then read 13.5 to 14.5 volts, if not then the alternator is not doing it's job.
If the battery reads below 12v, but will take and hold a charge from a battery charger, then that again points to the alternator, if not then you have a bad battery.

 

Since you have charged the battery..and run the car.. "apparently" the battery is holding a charge. Alternator time would be my guess. Especially with the fact there was enough juice to start..ac..etc. till depleted.. no juice being put back to compensate.. My "dead" battery took a jump and performed fine with windows etc.

I won't mention the easily affordable alternator route..(SPOILER).. LOL.

 

That is saying that someone emptying the pool with a bucket takes out none of the water that has just come in through a hose that is filling it.

With a big enough bucket the hose will not be able to keep up, so the water in is less that the water out. Unless of course there are a lot of kids peeing in the pool.

 

Thanks guys, I was under the impression that the alternator kept things going. After reading up on batteries in general, it looks like I hit the "reserve power" portion of the battery and that's why the car kept running. I'm upset that I trusted Autozone to read the battery and didn't ask what the volts where when the car was running. It was at 12.xx when the car was off but I'm not sure what it was at when the car was running, though the device said it was "good" but at 60% and not enough power to test the alternator.

I know its been said multiple times to check the voltage with the car running but without a meter of my own, I trusted Autozone's reading of the battery. I'm taking it to another parts store at lunch to charge the battery and double check it, hopefully the car doesn't die on the way there.

Thanks again guys