135000 miles. Battery died yesterday, was a 2 year old Duralast Gold from AutoZone, free replacement. My wife did the swap so I am not sure what the tech checked but he said the Alternator is not giving the proper voltage and gave a number of 12.84 but gave her the new battery. No issues starting.
Have Scotty's tool TopDon ArtiBattery 101 and checked the battery this morning, tested at 98% and labeled good. Did the charge test. First test came back No Voltage Output, 2nd test came back Charging Voltage Low.
Drive belt has 20k miles and OEM.
Hooked it up to my slow charger that reads a % of battery and it was between 25-50% but not sure if that was due to the car starting for just a couple of minutes for the charging test.
Not sure what to think. Thanks for any help
I feel like battery aren’t lasting as long as they used to?
Her car is 7 years old and on the 3rd battery.
The alternator should be putting out about 12.5 volts at idle and around 14 or so volts when you rev it up. If this is not happening, your alternator needs replacing.
Just ordered a voltmeter. Do I test it with the car running with the probes on the battery?
Yes, set the ohmeter to 20 volts DC and put the positive (usually red) on the positive terminal of the battery and the negative (usually black) on the negative terminal of the battery. With engine running, the voltage should be a little over 12 volts. Hold the throttle open a little and it should go a little over 14 volts. If it doesn't, you need a new alternator.
Tested battery this morning after it rested for about 30 minutes after a 10 minute drive. Was 12.76
Started the car and was high 12.9 to 13. Turned on radio, lights, AC and fan on high, read 14.01-14.10. From what I read and videos, I think I am good.
Any other thoughts?