Why is alternator light on

Other times, however, a dead battery could be a sign that your alternator is malfunctioning. One way to test whether the issue is battery- or alternator-related is to jumpstart the car.

If you jumpstart your car and it stays running, your battery may need replacing soon. As previously mentioned, trouble starting your engine might mean that your alternator is failing to charge the battery. This means that when you turn the key in the ignition, all you'll hear is a clicking sound instead of the purr of your engine. Cars make a ton of odd sounds — some are harmless while others can indicate serious mechanical problems.

If you ever hear growling or whining noises coming from under the hood, you could have alternator problems, which should be checked out by a professional ASAP. You may also hear this sound if the bearings that spin the rotor shaft are going bad. A foul odor of burning rubber or wires could indicate that parts of your alternator are starting to wear out.

Similarly, if your alternator is being overworked or if it has frayed or damaged wires, you may smell a burning odor comparable to an electrical fire. An overworked alternator tries to push too much electricity through its wires, causing them to heat up unsafely. Damaged wires also create resistance to the flow of electricity, causing the wires to heat up and emit a foul odor. However, the battery warning light indicates that there could be a problem within the wider electrical system of your car, including the alternator.

Alternators are designed to work at a specific voltage, typically between If your alternator is failing, its voltage may drop below capacity, causing the battery warning light to appear on your dash. The battery light on your car dashboard signals a charging problem with your car battery. Common causes can be a broken alternator belt, damaged battery cells or a failed alternator.

How long can I drive my car with the battery light on? How do you tell if it's a dead battery or bad alternator? If you vehicle has a dead battery, it may not start or may have difficulty starting, have dimmed or flicking lights or an issue with the sound system. How do I fix the battery light on my dashboard?

Try turning off all the lights and other systems that can drain your battery. If the problem persists, stop the vehicle and let it cool for a while. Why does my car operate with the battery light on? If your battery lights stays on and your car seems to operate normally, you need to head to a mechanic. Your vehicle is draining the energy left in the battery and it will die fairly soon.

Cite This! Try Our Sudoku Puzzles! More Awesome Stuff. Check that you have no blown fuses, and have the battery and alternator tested. There is a battery charging or voltage problem. So these signs looks like alternator or battery?

Also the car starts by pushing but when you take of the car battery Negative or Positive the engine stops straight away. You should be able to test the alternator before you swap it out. Might save you some money if it ends up not being the issue. I run the engine for an hour in the parking lot still the dashboard battery lights on… What would the fault this time? See if there are any codes to scan to give you a starting point.

Sometimes remanufactured parts come faulty out of the box. Last week my car started making whistling noise, the battery light was flickering while driving and steering got locked. With some difficulty i parked on the side and took the car by Recovery van to a mechanic.

As expected the issue was on Alternator. They changed some bearings inside the alternator and the car was fine for couple of days.

After two days again battery light was on. Once again i took it to the same mechanic. He fixed the bearings again and for two days it was okay. Today i have encountered the same issue. No noise. But battery light was flickering while driving every 30 seconds. Steering got locked and unlocked couple of times.

It was scary but somehow i drove to safety. I spoke to the mechanic. He said he has checked it twice and there is no electric issue in the car. Can you please share your opinion. I would not drive the vehicle any more until you get that issue sorted out by a qualified technician who can see the vehicle in person. Locked steering is very dangerous and has a high risk of causing an accident. If I had to guess, the alternator locking up is causing issues with the power steering pump.

If the alternator bearings failed, I would examine the other pulleys driven by the accessory belt to make sure they are functioning correctly. Perhaps the alternator belt tension is being set too tight and is causing premature bearing failure.

One of the most common causes of water pump failure is incorrect belt tension. My battery light comes on, but a few seconds later it goes off. This will happen several times during the same trip.

A friend checked my battery — it holds a charge. Alternator works. He cleaned the battery terminals. Yet the same problem — on the same trip a battery light will go off and on. It will be on for a minute, then go off for a minute. It could be a bad connection between the alternator and the battery. Perhaps the alternator is working intermittently. I think further testing will be needed to know the exact cause.

But when driving the battery light will come on for a couple of minutes then go off again, it does this intermittently but it does get better as the car warms up. You will probably have to do some additional electrical diagnostic work to find the root of the problem. Are you handy with a multimeter? If you can get your hands on a factory service manual or even a repair manual such as Haynes or Chilton , they should have some troubleshooting steps you can take when the battery light comes on.

About a month ago we had a cold snap. I live in southern AZ. My mechanic ended up changing a lot of alternators when this happened. My battery light comes on, off and on. It can be when I first start it up, or even while I am driving.

I had everything checked out by my mechanic and an auto parts store. It was fine for awhile, and now it comes on intermittently. Both places say the alternator is good.

I hate to start replacing parts to diagnose on my own. I can drive well over a hundred miles, upwards of on a trip and then back home again. Lights do not dim when battery light comes on. Turning everything off does not affect the light at all. Even though they said the alternator was fine. I would check all the grounds to make sure they are clean and tight. Clean the battery terminals as well. It could be an issue with the alternator that causes the additional power draw of the air conditioning to drop the voltage lower than expected.

I would have both the battery and the alternator tested and go from there based on those results. I have a Suzuki sx4 S-Cross. The battery light comes on while the vehicle is moving. When you turn the light off and on again, it goes out again. I already changed the alternator and battery.