How do you know if a generator or battery is faulty?

It is difficult to determine which ofalternator or battery must be replaced when you encounter a failure during startup. These two parts are also closely related becausealternator supplies electrical energy to the battery. In this article, we will explain how to test the alternator and battery to easily determine which of the two needs to be replaced!

🚗 How do you know if the battery or generator is faulty?

Your car won't start? It could be a malfunction of the battery ... the alternator ... or even the starter. There is nothing definite.

Does the battery indicator light stay on in the dashboard? Same problem: it could be a sign of a bad battery or a generator failure.

There is only one solution to make sure that it is the generator that needs to be replaced: check it.

🔧 How do I test my generator?

It is very easy to check the condition of your generator.

Step 1: Connect the voltmeter

Connect a multimeter to the voltmeter position, or a simple voltmeter. Connect the red wire to the positive terminal of the battery (large output terminal) and the black wire to the negative terminal.

Step 2. Start the engine

After connecting the device, start the engine of your car without using the choke or accelerating. Then increase the speed and pay attention to the values ​​displayed by the multimeter.

Step 3. Make sure your generator is supplying 14 to 16 volts.

Your voltmeter should read between 14 and 16 volts. If not, your alternator is defective and needs to be replaced.

🇧🇷 How to check the battery?

There are several methods of checking a car battery: using a voltmeter, using a probe, or even using a probe, but starting the car. Here we will explain how to start your car using a voltmeter!

Required material:

• Voltmeter
• Protective gloves

Step 1. Stop the car

To start this test, you will need to turn off your vehicle's ignition. After turning off the ignition, locate the battery and remove the cap from the positive terminal of the battery.

Step 2: Connect the voltmeter

To check the battery, take a multimeter in voltmeter or voltmeter mode and select the 20V position. Then connect the red cable to the "+" terminal and then the black cable to the "-" terminal.

Step 3. Start the engine and increase the speed

Once the connections are complete, start the engine and increase the speed to 2 rpm. If the voltage measured by the voltmeter is more than 000 V, the battery is working normally. If this is not the case, you will have to go to the garage to check the battery!

If your car won't start

If your car does not start and therefore you cannot perform the previous operations:

• Park another car nearby;
• Keep it on;
• Make connections using the jumper cables: the end of the red cable (+) to the positive (+) (thicker) terminal of the discharged battery, the other end of the red cable to the positive (+) terminal) of the donor battery. and the end of the black cable to its negative (-) terminal.
• Start the car for repair;
• Disconnect everything;
• Drive at least 20 minutes or XNUMX kilometers to fully charge the battery;
• Perform the two tests described earlier.

That's it, you know the difference between generator problem и battery failure... Getting better acquainted with these parts and understanding how they work and how to test them will help you get out of any situation! If all these manipulations still seem too complicated for you, make an appointment with one of our Reliable mechanics.