Q: Battery light, steering wheel, rattling noise, and emergency brake
I just went to turn my car on just to move it to another spot and it made this weird rattling noise when I went to start it. After it was started, my steering wheel felt really tight and I couldn’t move it without a lot of force, my battery light was on, and the emergency brake light was on. I don’t know anything about cars, like literally nothing, and I have to drive far for work tomorrow. I just want a sense of what is potentially wrong with it and is it safe to drive?
My car has 120000 miles.
My car has an automatic transmission.
Hi There, It sounds like you may have a weak battery, a failing voltage regulator or failing alternator which may be causing the battery light to come on. If the voltage in the car is weak and it is not able to maintain at a certain level, this can also cause many other lights (such as the brake light) to come on. As a result of this, if the engine RPM’s decrease, this will also cause the power steering to reduce the amount of power it puts out as well making the steering more stiff as you describe. I would recommend having an expert from YourMechanic come to your location to diagnose and inspect your charging system.
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