Battery on my car keeps going flat. I charge it up and next day it's flat again. How do I check if it 's the
Answers:
check the fluid in its cells it sounds like they or some are empty. if there is not enough fluid then top it up
It's the alternator
You can take your car to an auto parts place like auto zone or to a walmart that has an auto center and they can test your battery for you.
not sure how to check yourself. u could take it in to a mechanic or walmart mechanic place. might be ur alternator..mine did that on my car and i ended up on the side of the road. had to replace the alternator too b/c i waited too late to get it fixed.
Simple
Charge it up, disconnect the lead to the positive on the car, leave a day and see if it has flattened itself.
If flat - then battery is dead
If ok, then connect a bulb in series between positive terminal on battery and battery lead. If bulb comes on, then something in the car is drawaing power. If it can only dimply light a tiny bulb (3 watts or so) then it seems ok, (clock, alarm etc), if it can light a bigger bulb (21 watt) then you have a fairly high drain going on.
@ anyplace that sell Batterys, they will check it for free to see if it the Battery or alterator, or whats causing it.
It's most likely the altenator. You can take your battery out and take it to a garage where they can test it. It could be in your cable or post also.
IT ALL DEPENDS HOW LONG THE BATTS IN THE CAR ,IF ITS ON the car for 3/4/5 yrs its probably the battery.any shorter than that you might have a dodgy altenator.then again . if the car only gats a low amount of mileage the batt might not get enuff charge,,,,take it to an auto electrician
A couple of answers here, either the battery is dead, then it might be easier (and safer) to just get another.
It may not be the battery, might be something wrong with a starter motor or another engine part.
Something wrong with your cars immobiliser?
Is there anything that stays on when the car goes off? Anything in the cigarette lighter?
How long between using the car? Is it used everyday?
Hope that helps.
the first thing is to check the age of the battery, then check the alt. then make sure there isn't any lites that stay on. if the battery is newer and it goes dead over night you probably have a lit staying on. make sure you check the trunk lite also.
go to a electrician
not really sure but my dad had this problem.
In the end we found out that it was the aerial which was stuck and was not going up which was the problem. The aerial was constantly trying to come up but was stuck and was draining the battery. Have i just said that...
If over 2.5-3 years old it could be knackered, and not holding a charge.
There could be a bare spot in a cable or wire that makes it drain off, or a similar condition in the starter or alternator.
You can check for wire or similar problems by disconnecting the negative cable and letting it sit overnight. Reconnect, and if the battery is okay, then get to an electrical expert.
Also, if you take battery to an auto parts shop they can test it, probably for free.
check your alternator. start your car and let it run for a couple min. then disconnect the bat. if your car dies its the alternator. if it keeps running you probably have a bad battery.
You need to change your battery. If the battery doesnt retain the charge that is a sign that it has come to the end of its life. It cant be the alternator cos if it was the alternator the battery wouldnt charge at all and you would have to keep accelerating in order to keep the engine running.
turn everything off in the car, then disconnect teh earth lead it doesnt really matter which one..if its a faulty component staying on, when you remove the cable with arc. (only a little bit)
if teh red dash light is on, then its either your battery or alternator. pray its the battery..alternators aent cheap, but second hand ones are around 15 quid.
faulty alternator,
it could be one of many things.it could be battery,alternator, bad earth.
1st id check the battery if its not a sealed unit take the caps off check water level, if water is low top it up and charge it .get an altimeter and check alternator charge with car running it should charge at about 12 amps.check all leads on battery and where the earth straps mount the body of the car clean of any corrosion and debris.
The simplest approach would be to connect a DC voltmeter across the battery terminals and get some one to rev up the engine. If the voltmeter reading increases as the revs increase, then the alternator and charging circuit are OK. Therefore your battery almost certainly requires requires replacing.
However before taking that expensive step, you should also check that there is not some huge drain on your battery when the car ignition is switched off (the best way is to use a 'clip on' ammeter on the positive battery lead). If there is, then you can isolate the cause by removing a fuse at a time until the ammeter stops reading - then look at what component/s the fuse protects and locate which is draining the current.
If you go to your local tool shop Draper make a battery/ altneator tester which will cost you about £10 this will test both the components and tell you whats wrong, you dont say what car it is but the replacement battery will be between £25 - £50 if thats the case
Two things – (1) If the batteries not charging, i.e. Alt/Reg, you will have the bat warning light on. (2) To drain a fully charged car battery in the time implied you would need to have left something like your headlights on.
Run your car, switch on your blower motor and full beam. Now rev the engine, if the lights brighten with high revs, and dim with low revs, you need a new alternator.
Its your alternator!
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