![]() However, with repeated working, this alternator belt or serpentine belt can develop cracks over time and finally break. Run the air conditioning system, power steering, and other vehicle accessories.Spin the alternator which charges your car battery.Reason #3: Broken Alternator BeltĪn alternator belt (aka serpentine belt) uses the power generated by the engine crankshaft to: And this can negatively affect the proper functioning of your vehicle battery.Īs a result, the battery warning light can turn on to indicate that you’ve got a failing alternator, or worse, a wholly damaged alternator. If your vehicle has a failing alternator (or faulty alternator), it’ll probably produce a voltage outside the optimal range. In many cars, the optimal charging voltage is between 13.6 and 14.6 Volts. If your vehicle’s alternator is malfunctioning, the vehicle battery may not receive sufficient voltage for proper charging, or it may get exposed to excessive voltage. Reason #2: Malfunctioning AlternatorĪn alternator is a component that charges your vehicle’s battery. When either of these happens, your dashboard battery light activates to warn you of a bad battery or dead battery. As a result, the battery voltage (and battery power) generated will decrease.Īnd with a dead battery, the battery voltage would just drop to zero. The battery warning light on your dashboard usually gets activated due to one or more of the following seven reasons: Reason #1: Bad BatteryĪ car’s battery usually lasts between 3 to 5 years.īut, as your car battery ages, the electrodes inside it might break, or the electrolyte contained within the car’s battery may leak. What Should You Do If Your Battery Warning Light Is On?. ![]() In this article, we’ll answer those questions, cover the basics of how a vehicle’s battery system works and help you understand everything else about your car battery light. What you can buy from the dealer is a handful of the plastic push-in clips that hold the shields in place, since they're maybe $0.50 each or something like that.When you see the battery light on, it’s usually a sign that something’s not quite right with your car’s battery or its charging system.īut what turns the battery light on in the first place?Īnd is it safe to drive your car with that battery indicator light on? You'll pay a lot less for them that way, and as long as the holes for the retaining clips aren't broken, it will pop right in place and work just as well as a new piece. Find a local junkyard, which is very likely to have several Corolla wrecks, and see if you can find some intact splash shields. The shields are not cheap from the dealer (so whoever up there said they're planning to go to a dealer, don't do that or you'll be spending several hundred dollars on 2 plastic parts). To me this is a matter of safety if you need to make an emergency maneuver and the steering is stiffer than you're expecting. Even with them in place this could still happen when traveling through very deep water, but not having the shields at all you could experience this just driving through heavy rain. You will definitely want to get your splash shields back in place. I'm wondering if anyone has had any experiences like this or has any idea of what could be making that light come on! I paid good attention to it on the way home and it drove like normal. Tensioner pulley issue made worse by rain possibly? But don't Corollas have automatic tensioners? I checked the serp belt and it's in great condition as well. No loss of power.įrom what I can read on other sources, I understand that the serp belt could be slipping due to moisture getting to it. I then turned on everything in the car that I could - radio, a/c, wipers, headlights, defrost - just to see if I noticed a loss or dimming of power. Turned it back on and it cranked up just fine. ![]() The battery is close to new and I don't think it's the alternator - once I got to work, I parked the car and turned it off. At one point while this was happening, I heard a high pitched whine/grind which I assumed to be a belt. When conditions were dry, everything was normal. ![]() This happened when I was either driving in torrential downpour or through standing water. So this morning, while I was driving to work in what seemed to be a monsoon, a noticed that my charging system indicator light/battery light would come on for just moments at a time and then go back off.
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