failing batteryIf you have ever come across the red battery signal while driving down the road, then you must have faced battery issues in the past. Most people believe that the red battery shaped indicator shows something wrong with your battery. However, this is not the case most of the times. About 90 percent of times, the battery light illuminates due to the faults in the alternator.

If you spot the red battery light, then this indicates that your battery may not be charging. This can mean that your car is solely functioning on the battery power outage. Since batteries tend to die without chargers, this means that your time on the road is limited to the leftover battery capacity. The first thing that you need to do in this situation is to check the drive belts.

Failing Battery Signs

Make sure that the engine is driving the alternator. You can find the alternator in mostly the front-end part of the engine if you are driving an inline engine. On the other hand, if you have a horizontally opposed engine, then you are likely to spot the alternator on the passenger end of the car.

Once you have spotted the alternator, you want to go ahead and locate pulley. This is a component on the side of an alternator. Once you can visually spot the pulley, you will have to ensure that the belt is in optimum working condition. The belt is what drives the pulley and makes it spin around the side of an alternator.

You will have to replace the alternator belt if you find that it comes off easily because it is stretched out. You may find that the belt is completely removed from alternator slot. Additionally, also look for any signs of wear on the alternator belts. Replacing an alternator belt is the simplest and most affordable battery repairs that you can perform.

Checking Voltage Using Multi-meter

If you find that your alternator belt is intact, and there is nothing wrong with the charging capacity of the battery, then you should check the voltage. To check the voltage, all you need is a multimeter. You can find this at any local store, and it helps you measure AC and DC current.

Set the multimeter setting to 20 volts and get a reading. If you hold the terminals on the battery and get a reading that is either, lower than 12 volts, or decreasing as you hold it for longer time, this indicates a faulty battery.

Check Voltage Using Scanner

You can also check the failing battery voltage using any type of OBD scanners. All you have to do is connect the scanner to the OBD port and set up the scanner. You will then have to look for any codes on the scanner that relate to the battery and charging system.

There are many methods of diagnosing an issue with the car battery. Since the battery’s charging system may undergo numerous faults and inconsistencies, the diagnosis is very extensive and time consuming. Therefore, it is best that you take your car to the technician to get proper diagnosis and solutions for a faulty electrical system.