Was just starting a drive tonight and of course it's dark, noticed my dash lights were slightly dim and sure enough two seconds later the little red battery icon came on. I pulled over and checked the connection they seem OK. This is a side post battery in my Buick, an autocraft gold about 1.5 years old under warranty.
I drove back home got my digital multimeter and after shutting the car off and sitting for a second the charge is 12.6 which is full if resting for 6 hours but not ideal for just shut down.
Unfortunately I had to head to the ER which isn't far away so I pressed on. I tried keeping it in second gear to see if the increased rpm would help and it seemed to put the light out but not instantly. It seemed to go out faster when coasting down from 45 mph but when sitting idle at stop light it came back on. I put it in neutral and held at 2,500 rpm which may have helped but the light went off just not right away.
It seems to go away when accelerating faster than 2,500 in neutral.
Now It's late at night and hoping that it restarts after I get out of the ER, will have to figure out if it's the battery or alternator. I plan on fully charging the battery tonight if I make it back home and taking it to where I bought it to get everything tested.
Kind of leaning towards alternator but not sure. If it is the alternator I need to decide where to purchase one. Had bad luck with Autozone lifetime warranty alternator on my Taurus, took 4 bad ones to get a good one. I have an alternator shop I am going to call in the morning or I am leaning towards Ultima new units from O'Reilly. My choices are Autozone, Advance, O'Reilly, Kentucky motors or Parts Plus.
If it's the battery it has a 3 year warranty. Just had both tested less than 6 months ago working fine too with the aap tester on vehicle.
I drove back home got my digital multimeter and after shutting the car off and sitting for a second the charge is 12.6 which is full if resting for 6 hours but not ideal for just shut down.
Unfortunately I had to head to the ER which isn't far away so I pressed on. I tried keeping it in second gear to see if the increased rpm would help and it seemed to put the light out but not instantly. It seemed to go out faster when coasting down from 45 mph but when sitting idle at stop light it came back on. I put it in neutral and held at 2,500 rpm which may have helped but the light went off just not right away.
It seems to go away when accelerating faster than 2,500 in neutral.
Now It's late at night and hoping that it restarts after I get out of the ER, will have to figure out if it's the battery or alternator. I plan on fully charging the battery tonight if I make it back home and taking it to where I bought it to get everything tested.
Kind of leaning towards alternator but not sure. If it is the alternator I need to decide where to purchase one. Had bad luck with Autozone lifetime warranty alternator on my Taurus, took 4 bad ones to get a good one. I have an alternator shop I am going to call in the morning or I am leaning towards Ultima new units from O'Reilly. My choices are Autozone, Advance, O'Reilly, Kentucky motors or Parts Plus.
If it's the battery it has a 3 year warranty. Just had both tested less than 6 months ago working fine too with the aap tester on vehicle.