![]() You can find the top rated car alternators on Amazon and have them shipped overnight starting at $33.92. If the voltage stays the same or decreases, then you may need to fix or replace your alternator. If the voltage fluctuates between 13 and 14.5 volts, then your alternator is working properly. Reconnect the voltmeter to the battery, being careful not to let the battery touch your skin.Ħ. This should cause the alternator to go into high gear.ĥ. You can find the top rated car battery tester and have it shipped overnight starting at $8.99.Ĥ. Test the battery. If it measures to be over 12.2 volts, then it can start the alternator. Do the same for the corresponding black parts of the voltmeter and battery terminal.Ĥ. ![]() IMPORTANT: Do not let your skin touch the battery.ģ. Put the red part of the voltmeter to the red battery terminal. The battery is responsible for initially powering the alternator, but relies on the alternator to stay charged.Ģ. But before you test the alternator, you must check that the battery can start the alternator. If you need to purchase a new car headlight bulb, you can find high quality bulbs on Amazon and have them shipped overnight starting at $6.98.Ī common reason for intermittent headlight dimming is a bad alternator. Try the following tips if your headlights dim while driving. Even if the dimming is temporary and returns to normal brightness, it is best to examine the problem now in case your headlights fail completely when you are on the road. Your headlights are not completely broken, but they do tend to fluctuate in brightness. Or the ground connection between the bulb sockets and the chassis could be corroded and failing.You are driving to a gas station when your headlights start to dim. for example, if a relay is involved in the headlight function, the relay could be bad. Other possibilities are high resistance connections somewhere between the battery and the headlights. More likely, the sockets the bulbs connect to are corroded. So if there’s nothing wrong with the battery and charging system, what’s causing the headlights lights to dim? It could be the headlight bulbs are bad. The voltage should hover around 13-14 volts with the engine running, and never go below 12 volts at all, except briefly during cranking to start the engine. So let’s make that assumption.īTW, this all could be verified if you had your mechanic hook up a voltage meter to the battery you could monitor as you drive around. Then the only conclusion possible is that battery light must be coming on b/c there’s something wrong with the light or the circuit that lights it, and doesn’t represent a problem other than that. Let’s say for sake of argument that your mechanic is 100% right, there’s nothing wrong with the charging system and/or battery. There almost certainly has to be something wrong with the charging system if the battery light is coming on in normal operation. Thank is spot on, what’s needed is to test the charging system, not the individual components. I would like to resolve this before passing it on. While the dimming lights don’t really bother me, I have a teenager who wants to inherit this vehicle. My mechanic has tested the alternator, starter, battery, and connections. I’ve had the current problems since this time. It was overcharging and I was getting all kinds of funny lights on, before replacing it February 2015. The first was installed in November 2014. Actually, it is on its second new alternator. The headlights always dim, nothing seems to make this happen more or less. And possibly more often while using the AC. The only indicator of the battery light turning on is it seems to happen more often when I come to a stop, when the fan turns on. The battery indicator light also pops on briefly, and generally unpredictably. They don’t entirely go out, but at the very least it is distracting. My 2003 Saturn Vue V-6 AWD headlights dim while driving. Greetings all, and thank you for reading this.
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