Q: Charging system warning light.
I was driving to work when the service battery system came on the indecator about 15 min later it was saying battery saver active.. I looked at the voltage that the battery was giving it was reading at that time 11.7 after about 30 min it was now reading 11.3 what could the problem be and how much will it cost to fix?
My car has 120700 miles.
My car has an automatic transmission.
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Hi There, This indicates you may have a faulty alternator that is not properly maintaining the charge in your battery. 11.7 and 11.3 are pretty low and definitely suggest that either battery is bad or the alternator is not charging properly. When the charging system is functioning as it should, your gauge should read at about 14.2 volts. As you may know, the alternator charges the battery while the engine runs by generating amperage and recharging the battery while the engine turns the alternator pulley. The voltage regulator is a unit that regulates the charging of the battery by the alternator and maintaining a certain amperage while the engine runs. When the alternator is not working properly, this may result in the battery quickly losing charge and the car losing all power. You may also notice a whining sound as a result of the bearings inside the alternator begin to fail. I would recommend having an expert from YourMechanic come to your location to diagnose and inspect your charging system.
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