Calmly check the voltmeter on your dashboard to see the charge of the battery and whatever you do keep the engine running for as long as.
Car dashboard battery light.
First thing you should do is turn off anything that draws power from the battery except for the headlights if you are driving at night.
But before you break out the jumper cables or worry about possible repairs take some time to determine why your dashboard battery light is on.
Warning light on the dash flickers on alt or gen.
A dashboard car battery light could signal any number of issues under the hood from a damaged battery to a glitch in the alternator.
The battery light on in car problem is one that not everyone fully understands.
When the battery light comes on.
The battery light or charging warning light available on the dashboard of your car indicates malfunctioning or poor charging of the battery this light illuminates whenever the charging system does not charge the battery with a voltage above approximately 13 5 volts.
This part is responsible for charging your car s battery when the car is running and for providing electrical power to the rest of your vehicle.
Your car s battery juice is running low.
You can drive a short distance on the battery especially if you turn off most of your car s electrical items like the radio air conditioning etc but there s no way to know how far you ll get before it dies.
Because your car is so dependent on the battery all cars have a battery light on the dashboard that is designed to warn you if the recharging system fails.
The battery light indicates a battery charging problem.
The battery light is an icon of a battery.
It can be hard to understand unless you have a degree of knowledge about how your car s electric system works.
The car will continue running as long as some juice is left in the battery.
Key symptoms of a bad alternator are.
If the car s dashboard battery light comes on you might be able to make it home or to a service facility for a repair.
This includes the air conditioning and heating system the stereo any interior lights and any accessories such as heated seats or heated mirrors.
The exact amount of time that your car will be able to function with the battery light on depends on many factors but assuming that the alternator is the issue this is the most common issue it is likely that your car will lose battery power after 30 minutes.
This light only becomes illuminated on the dash when the vehicle s battery is low.
The alternator is generally a maintenance free unit but as with any car part it can fail.
This light is illuminated when approximately 10 percent of the vehicle s battery life remains.