Was driving to the gym, normal pace...when all of a sudden the red battery warning light showed up on my dash. the car had been fine when I was using it earlier in the afternoon, no starting issues. No running issues.

Im assuming it's an alternator problem? Suggestions? I'm gunna call my mechanic tomorrow and see what he can do and how quickly.

In the mean time I'll go get a trickle charger to keep the battery full enough to get me to him.

Additional question: how can I put the car in neutral if the battery completely dies on me?

 

Here is the procedure:

 

Got to the mechanic. He said battery was low but the alternator was working fine. So we chalked it up to being an old battery (might even be original). Installed the new one but the light didn't go away.

Suggestions? Is there something that needs to be reset?

I left the car there overnight, didn't feel comfortable using it with the warning light

 

After a few cycles the BMS (Battery Monitoring System) should stabilise things and the warning light should disappear.
If this doesn't work then you can try a hard reset of the BMS - disconnect the battery leads and touch/hold them together for 20 seconds, then reconnect.

 

Seriously? It's that easy?

they tried clearing the codes with their tool, and they said it cleared. But then when I restarted the car the warning came back up.

I guess it wont go away after a few cycles?

 

update: mechanic said all it needed was a little code clearing

 

Not quite.

A 'hard reset' doesn't clear DTC's (Diagnostic Trouble Codes). It does reset learned settings to default values by discharging capacitors therefore losing settings held in volatile memory.

Graham

 

interesting.....because i didnt lose any of my settings. so what does that mean?