For those who may not too familiar with the workings of an alternator, it’s basically a dynamo or an electricity-generating engine.
There are a variety of ways to detect if your alternator might be in trouble. One of them is to look for “warning lights” on your dashboard, which indicate that there is an issue with your alternator or battery problem, amp or voltage. Okay, we’ve discussed the most obvious aspects above, But are there other difficult indicators we should be looking for? A majority of motorists don’t connect a problem with their alternator to the warning light for batteries as well as the warning lamp for amps. This is why we’ll begin. We’ll begin by diagnosing the problems with your car’s alternator, without the need go to an establishment to check the current generated. The most obvious indicators of a problem with charging are dead batteries or a battery that has been running low on power and last but not least, a sluggish engine’s starting.
Troubleshooting Alternator Problems
One of the easiest methods to test your alternator is to start your car and following by… turning on your headlights. When you observe that the car’s headlights appear dimmer than they normally are it is a sign that your headlights are operating on the car’s battery and not enough power is produced by the alternator.
However when the light becomes more intense, this is another indication that the alternator isn’t producing sufficient current. If, however “the brightness stays normal” then the charging system is in good shape and you needn’t be concerned about it. A side note: One of the most beneficial investment to invest in (for less than $5) is to buy the voltmeter which connects to the cigarette lighter in your car’s socket. It will show you what the reading is currently.
Get yourself an odometer and keep track of it while driving. Also, you can do this under different circumstances. If the meters is reading higher than 12 and it reads under 12 then your alternator may be functioning well. There is also tips and advice on the indicators of troublesome transmissions.
