Car Charging at 15.2 Volts With New Battery
Asked by biull3022 Jan 25, 2016 at 06:25 PM about the 2013 Chevrolet Malibu LS FWD
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
My car is exactly 3 years old. Yesterday my car didn't start, battery low, 15 degrees outside. Called AAA and they checked the charging system and didn't see a problem but suggested the battery be replaced. Happen to notice that the "battery voltage" on my display was reading 15.2 volts while driving around town and highway but did see it go down as low as 14.5 after restarting the car. Is this high charging voltage ok? It just seems that in the past it basically stayed in the 14 range but never kept track of it. Checked all the lights and didn't leave anything on that would have drawn down the battery.
9 Answers
15 volts is a bit high but I would check that against another tester. Is your battery boiling dry? In any case clean up the battery terminals and cable ends to make sure you have a good connection.
This might help you ----- http://www.aa1car.com/library/charging_checks.htm
They are right, alternator is trying to charge a bad battery, and everything is running off of just the alternator. Battery voltage may be fine, but I bet the cranking amps are not even close. Replace the battery and the alternator will settle down to the 14.7 Charging volts.
I had the battery replaced by AAA yesterday. Today is when I noticed the 15.2 volts that the car display is showing. When AAA checked the the new battery after it was installed it showed everything was good.
New batteries are not necessarily fully charged. The charging voltage may drop down after a while. Cold weather can also play a factor in charging voltage.
My battery died yesterdwy, jump started and put on charger. Load test said battery was good . Complete caharge test showed th alternator or regulator is bad. My warranty is still good thank god! My voltagevon dashboard yoes from 14 volts to 16 volts then drops to 10.
What makes the battery not charge on 05 malibu
Nathanautoguy85 answered 5 years ago
P.c.m or your G.B.C.M can cause your altornator to not charge. Back probe the orange wire with key on engine off. U should have 0 volts. Now start it and recheck same wire, it should b 5 volts. If volts are presents at all with key on engine off go to the p.c.m and use a wiring schematic to find your pin out. Orange wire at black connector at PCM and back probe it and see what your volts are. If volts still remain above zero key on engine off then replace the p.c.m
All I know is the alternator now has the solenoid build inside it now. They burn up and you can’t tell. Sometimes the car starts sometimes it does. So people start buying batters and starters cause the alternator puts out over 14 volts when it gets started. Bingo you need a alternator cause the solenoid is intermittent. Built in the alternator.
