I had the battery light illuminate when I started the car this evening. I shut down and restarted and the battery light then stayed off. Should I be worried - or was the illumination just a glitch? Anyone else has this happen and have problems later?

 

It most likely means that your battery is getting weak and the voltage was low when you started the vehicle. Have the battery load tested to find out it's condition.

 

Had the battery load tested - thanks for the advice Avern1,
Test Result:
Rated: 910 SAE
Measured: 583 SAE

"Bad and replace"
State of health : 64%
State of charge: 100%.

The technician said I might be able to improve things with a battery charger (which I can't use in my communal carpark) or a long drive.

I have booked her in for replacement battery on Saturday - the current one should last until then. Cost $295 AUD. A little expensive but cheaper and more convenient than doing it at the side of the road...

 

 

You don't need to pay a mechanic to change the battery.
Take the old one out, put the new one in.
Just make sure that you have the radio code if it is needed; mine didn't need a code.

 

Thanks for the tip. I will watch out to see what happens with the new battery. It's possible for me to have internal corrosion of the cables but I would think it only a slim chance in my environment - but I could be wrong...!

 

Fitment of the battery is included in the purchase price - I'd save nothing by fitting it myself....

 

Yes, with respect, you are wrong about this. I live in a "no winter" , very temperate-climate area - many years not even a frost- so the issue of road salt in the environment and subsequent corrosion simply does not exist (and the car has never been out of this environment since the first day in service).. Yet the + battery cable did present with very high internal resistance (the sign being the battery warning light and the tes being the too-hot-to-touch cable end). Replacing the cable cured the issue.

 

My understanding of how battery cables corrode mainly is this. As your battery functions normally it releases hydrogen gas from the sulfuric acid inside (yes, even "sealed batteries release the gas). This causes corrosion.

Battery terminal corrosion is easy to identify. It’s the white, green or bluish stuff on your vehicles battery posts, battery terminals or battery cables. The white substance which you see around battery terminals is either lead sulfate or anhydrous copper sulfate. Anhydrous copper sulfate changes to blue color when exposed to moisture. The bluish material which you see around corroded battery terminals is hydrated copper sulfate and typically experience with copper connectors.

This corrosion even if not optically noticeable, "wicks" into the battery cables (think a lantern wick) causing failure.

When you wait way longer to do maintenance on your battery and the corrosion is optically visible on the negative post, this indicates undercharging. The main culprit in undercharged batteries is that fact the alternator is not given sufficient time to replenish lost battery capacity due to the electrical load demand of the vehicle, and relatively short uses of the vehicle.
If the corrosion is on the positive post, this indicates over charging.

 

For the record: with the + cable on my wife's X-Type being the culprit, there was no corrosion evident anywhere either on the cable end or on the battery post - yet the cable was at fault. Once replaced, there have been no subsequent issues (no battery warning ight, no issues of any kind).

 

My point was, corrosion takes place in the cable even when not optically visable. AND cause is not weather, salt, etc. As you pointed out. Those things certainly hasten corrosion, but not the only source and reason cables corrode.

 

Simular problem battery read 12.6 but had no amperage, new battery problem solved

 

Similar problem battery read 12.6 but had no amperage, new battery problem solved