How accurate is the battery gauge?

kennyz · 12-22-2015, 10:47 AM

So long story short, woke up this morning tried starting my car , it wont turn on , nothing work , car won't unlock or lock. At first I thought it was steering lock failure since I haven't had a chance to pull my fuse BT from reading on the forum , it says it should still unlock and lock , lights should work still if is steering lock failure. Fortunately j was able to jumpstart the car so it definitely wasn't steering lock. I was driving my car perfectly fine yesterday and I always see my battery gauge above 12 and close to 14 if I remember correctly. So my question is how accurate is the guage? If my gauge is reading at like 14 .. My battery shouldn't have died so easily?

TerribleONE · 12-22-2015, 10:58 AM

Battery gauge??

Assuming you are talking about the volt meter, which I would assume is pretty accurate.

Also, when the car is running it will show around 14 volts if the alternator is doing its job.

barncobob · 12-22-2015, 11:04 AM

how old is battery? anything over 3 years is a candidate for replacement

Ghostvette · 12-22-2015, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennyz

So long story short, woke up this morning tried starting my car , it wont turn on , nothing work , car won't unlock or lock. At first I thought it was steering lock failure since I haven't had a chance to pull my fuse BT from reading on the forum , it says it should still unlock and lock , lights should work still if is steering lock failure. Fortunately j was able to jumpstart the car so it definitely wasn't steering lock. I was driving my car perfectly fine yesterday and I always see my battery gauge above 12 and close to 14 if I remember correctly. So my question is how accurate is the guage? If my gauge is reading at like 14 .. My battery shouldn't have died so easily?

Quote:

Originally Posted by barncobob

how old is battery? anything over 3 years is a candidate for replacement

Voltmeter in car shows alternator output only.

What barncobob says is mostly correct. I replace wet cell batteries every two years regardless of warranty. I've never had a 'failure to start' due to battery since I started this practice.

Now for the inevitable question: "What battery do I get?"

AGM... whether it is an Optima or any other AGM, it doesn't really matter. An AGM battery will likely be the last one you put in your car. Just my

Chan Chee Hoe · 12-22-2015, 05:23 PM

Cold start in the mornung,it will show 14.3v,after warming up,it will dropped to 12.7v..

Spooler · 12-22-2015, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chan Chee Hoe

Cold start in the mornung,it will show 14.3v,after warming up,it will dropped to 12.7v..

Ugg, you have a problem. The minimum voltage should be 13.8 volts. If you don't see that you have a problem.

Z_ealot · 12-22-2015, 11:20 AM

yeah if car is running you wont be able to tell if it's a low battery as the alternator is pushing most of the electrical equipment at that point. turn the car off and just set it to the ON position to get a reading off of the actual battery itself, anything below 12 is a candidate for replacing your battery.

kennyz · 12-22-2015, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Z_ealot

yeah if car is running yhou wont be able to tell if it's a low battery as the alternator is pushing most of the electrical equipment at that point. turn the car off and just set it to the ON position to get a reading off of the actual battery itself, anything below 12 is a candidate for replacing your battery.

Thank you

TexasChuck · 12-22-2015, 03:59 PM

U got water in the battery?

kenchan · 12-22-2015, 06:01 PM

if the car is running should show about 14v as TerribleONE mentioned above.

i suppose if you kinda want to read your battery volts, just turn the car in the ON position with the a/c and stereo turned off. it's still draining power though with the ECU and pump and stuff running..

but it's really the cca dat will tell you if ur battery is good or not.. you need an ammeter for dat.

Spooler · 12-22-2015, 09:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenchan

if the car is running should show about 14v as TerribleONE mentioned above.

i suppose if you kinda want to read your battery volts, just turn the car in the ON position with the a/c and stereo turned off. it's still draining power though with the ECU and pump and stuff running..

but it's really the cca dat will tell you if ur battery is good or not.. you need an ammeter for dat.

Yeap, sounds like no wawa (water/acid) in the battery.

kennyz · 12-23-2015, 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenchan

if the car is running should show about 14v as TerribleONE mentioned above.

i suppose if you kinda want to read your battery volts, just turn the car in the ON position with the a/c and stereo turned off. it's still draining power though with the ECU and pump and stuff running..

but it's really the cca dat will tell you if ur battery is good or not.. you need an ammeter for dat.

So I went to autozone, they checked my battery. They told me everything is good, alternator and starter as well. So today so far so good no dead battery until one hour ago. I parked somewhere turned car off, then I tried to turn on my dome light, I then realize it was dead again.. As I walked out trying to get a parking ticket. My car worked again, battery came back which is just ******* wierd

Ghostvette · 12-24-2015, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennyz

So I went to autozone, they checked my battery. They told me everything is good, alternator and starter as well. So today so far so good no dead battery until one hour ago. I parked somewhere turned car off, then I tried to turn on my dome light, I then realize it was dead again.. As I walked out trying to get a parking ticket. My car worked again, battery came back which is just ******* wierd

First problem: You went to AutoZone.....

After you do what SouthArk said to do (clean terminals), did you ever answer the question of how old the battery is? If it is over 2 years old, I don't care that AutoZone said it was okay, replace it. You are on borrowed time. Is the car MT or AT? If it is AT, try putting the selector in "N", if the car starts, you have a bad selector switch on the trans. If the car is MT, then you might have a bad clutch safety switch. The FSM in SouthArk's signature, along with a good multimeter, will help tremendously.

vtec to vvel · 12-22-2015, 09:54 PM

get a new battery. problem solved.

90 ST · 12-22-2015, 10:48 PM

More accurate then the gas gauge...lol

12-22-2015, 10:47 AM	#1 (permalink)
kennyz Base Member Join Date: Dec 2015 Location: ny Posts: 64 Drives: 09 370z Rep Power: 10	How accurate is the battery gauge? So long story short, woke up this morning tried starting my car , it wont turn on , nothing work , car won't unlock or lock. At first I thought it was steering lock failure since I haven't had a chance to pull my fuse BT from reading on the forum , it says it should still unlock and lock , lights should work still if is steering lock failure. Fortunately j was able to jumpstart the car so it definitely wasn't steering lock. I was driving my car perfectly fine yesterday and I always see my battery gauge above 12 and close to 14 if I remember correctly. So my question is how accurate is the guage? If my gauge is reading at like 14 .. My battery shouldn't have died so easily?

12-22-2015, 10:58 AM	#2 (permalink)
TerribleONE A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Socal Posts: 10,203 Drives: WOT Rep Power: 5851	Battery gauge?? Assuming you are talking about the volt meter, which I would assume is pretty accurate. Also, when the car is running it will show around 14 volts if the alternator is doing its job. kenchan, FPenvy, Ghostvette and 1 others like this. __________________ 638WHP 541WTQ @ 13.5PSI Build thread

12-22-2015, 11:04 AM	#3 (permalink)
barncobob A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: hangtown, CA Posts: 1,164 Drives: 16 370Z auto Rep Power: 590	how old is battery? anything over 3 years is a candidate for replacement Ghostvette and wanker like this.

12-22-2015, 11:20 AM	#7 (permalink)
Z_ealot A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Albuquerque, NM Posts: 2,045 Drives: 09 370Z Touring/Sprt Rep Power: 10091	yeah if car is running you wont be able to tell if it's a low battery as the alternator is pushing most of the electrical equipment at that point. turn the car off and just set it to the ON position to get a reading off of the actual battery itself, anything below 12 is a candidate for replacing your battery. wanker likes this. Last edited by Z_ealot; 12-22-2015 at 11:23 AM.

12-22-2015, 03:59 PM	#9 (permalink)
TexasChuck Track Member Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: SE Texas Posts: 556 Drives: 2014 Black Cherry Co Rep Power: 14	Battery U got water in the battery?

12-22-2015, 05:23 PM	#5 (permalink)
Chan Chee Hoe Track Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Singapore Posts: 861 Drives: 370z,Yellow,7sp A Rep Power: 18	Cold start in the mornung,it will show 14.3v,after warming up,it will dropped to 12.7v..

12-22-2015, 06:01 PM	#10 (permalink)
kenchan A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: N/A Posts: 76,801 Drives: N/A Rep Power: 141521	if the car is running should show about 14v as TerribleONE mentioned above. i suppose if you kinda want to read your battery volts, just turn the car in the ON position with the a/c and stereo turned off. it's still draining power though with the ECU and pump and stuff running.. but it's really the cca dat will tell you if ur battery is good or not.. you need an ammeter for dat.

12-22-2015, 09:54 PM	#14 (permalink)
vtec to vvel A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: 813 Posts: 3,957 Drives: 13 Z Rep Power: 502910	get a new battery. problem solved. __________________ Don't like what I post? Too bad. I really don't give a sh!t

12-22-2015, 10:48 PM	#15 (permalink)
90 ST A True Z Fanatic Join Date: May 2010 Location: Calgary Posts: 1,861 Drives: 90 and 15 GMC Sierra Rep Power: 421	More accurate then the gas gauge...lol Z_ealot, 2011 Nismo#91 and DarkJak like this. __________________ Not driving your car to keep it in nice shape, is like not wanting to smash your girlfriend so she stays tight for the next guy.

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