You’re driving around with hardly a care in the world when you glance at your car’s dashboard and realize that the little battery icon is illuminated. There are a few different reasons why it might have suddenly clicked on.
Your Battery is Faulty
A faulty battery will cause the dash icon to light up, but it’s actually an extremely rare reason. Car batteries are really well made these days, and it’s unusual for one that’s not high quality to be installed in your vehicle. Unusual but not unheard of. If the light clicks on shortly after you’ve had a battery installed, it could be a faulty battery, bad installation, or the battery could have someone been damaged after it was installed in your vehicle.
Your Alternator is About to Die
If your vehicle’s alternator is about to die, your battery light will come on. In fact, this is one of the main reasons the battery light suddenly lights up. The odds are pretty good that as long as your steering and brakes don’t feel strange (if they do, it means your serpentine belt is also bad), you should be able to drive. What you probably won’t be able to do is get your car to start after you shut it off.
If you suspect your alternator is a problem, keep your car running until you can get to a shop and have the alternator replaced. Choose to replace the alternator with one that has a lifetime warranty.
Problems with the Battery Cables/Clamps
Sometimes, when the battery light comes on, it means that there is something wrong with your battery’s clamps or cables. It’s a little unusual for this to be an issue in the middle of a drive, but it does occasionally happen. A far more common sign that you’ve battery cables/clamps are bad is that your car has a really hard time starting. It usually sounds like it’s turning over just fine, but it takes a long time before it finally catches and the engine clicks on.
The good news is that this is usually an easy problem to fix. The problem is usually caused by corrosion. Simple cleaning is all that’s required.
If your battery light is on, and you’re not sure exactly what to do, your best recourse is to bring your car to us. We’ll run a diagnostics test to identify the problem and then replace any damaged or broken parts.
