This problem has finally got me. Immediately the car is started from cold the battery light comes. The battery discharges completely and the car does not start. This happenned yesterday on my way to work. I started the car in the morning, the light came on and I decided just to drive. After a few kilometres the the car shut down, the battery completely discharged. Put another battery and drove the car back home and the light was still on.

Is this the sign of a bad alternator or the notorious battery cables?

2.5L X type auto

 

I would say alternator. If you are comfortable with taking out the alternator, you can take it in to autozone or a similar place and have them test the alternator. I would point away from battery cables because these are normally an all or none type of thing. Aka, you either get power through them, or you don't. Sometimes with cables, you get a reduced current, but they tend to throw the dtc fault and other system faults if they are half way out.

When you were driving home with the second battery did you have any problems with it? This also could be your battery. I would test the battery that is currently in it just by driving with it for awhile with a backup battery just in case. If it dies, I would go to alternator and then power cables to be cheap, but if cash isn't the problem, it never hurts to replace the cables to get away from future problems

 

Thanks for the detailed info.

The battery light was still on with the other battery. I will have the alternator removed and tested this weekend.

 

You were spot on. Its the alternator. I had a Mechanic check it today and he confirmed our doubts. Thanks again.

 

Thanks guys for your interaction