| Get a volt meter. Turn it to measure volts. With the car off, put the red lead to the + and the black lead to the - on your battery. Record the voltage. Start the car. Now measure the voltage again in the same way. If the voltage is the same or lower while the car is running, your alternator is not charging your battery. A typical kind of reading here is that you'll see 12.x volts when the car is off, and you'll see 13.x+ volts when it is running. If you don't see 13-14 volts when the car is running, your alternator is not charging your battery. Make sure the battery terminals are tight. Make sure the battery terminals are clean. I've seen situations where the battery terminals and connectors are so dirty with build-up, that stuff creates enough resistance that a working alternator did not actually charge the battery! So you know, just make sure it's all clean and you've got the connections on the terminals tightly, etc.
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14:00:25 07/05/11
