marcelo Posted July 28, 2011 Report Share Posted July 28, 2011 Hi All, This is my first post here and unfortunately it's not for a good reason. I just bought my Edge SEL 08, with 39500 miles on it. Around 4 days after I bought It, I start seeing the battery light goes on and off. Thought I couldn't identify a pattern or reproduce the problem I'd say the 3 times that happens was when not using the car for long periods of time, like 8 hours or more. After 5 min driving, it goes away. I started to carrying a multimeter with me and whenever the light lit (or not), I measure the battery and alternator voltage. The reading results: With the engine off, battery voltage is around 12,84V. With the engine on(idle), goes from 13,9 ~ 14,4. Either with the light lit or not. Does anybody have a clue whats going on? Worth to say I went to Autozone and they did that alternator/battery check and no problem was found. Regards, Marcelo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hunter306 Posted July 28, 2011 Report Share Posted July 28, 2011 (edited) Hi Marcelo, My last Mustang exhibited the same symptoms and the fix was to replace the main 12v battery. It was performed under the 3year warranty, so if you're not out of your warranty yet-- that might be worth looking at. In addition to the battery light flashing, the initial low-voltage problem (like you said 5 - 10 minutes after you started the car) would trigger other idiot lights on the dash as well. The problem of course being sensors getting out-of-spec readings due to low voltage. Interestingly, when we did a test on the battery -- we came up with the same result (tested ok). I'd look into getting a new 12v battery installed, FWIW - 12.4v is the low limit for an auto battery in good shape... 12.84 seems good in theory - at rest so some more investigation may also be prudent. Edited July 28, 2011 by hunter306 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted July 28, 2011 Report Share Posted July 28, 2011 Hi Marcelo, My last Mustang exhibited the same symptoms and the fix was to replace the main 12v battery. It was performed under the 3year warranty, so if you're not out of your warranty yet-- that might be worth looking at. In addition to the battery light flashing, the initial low-voltage problem (like you said 5 - 10 minutes after you started the car) would trigger other idiot lights on the dash as well. The problem of course being sensors getting out-of-spec readings due to low voltage. Interestingly, when we did a test on the battery -- we came up with the same result (tested ok). I'd look into getting a new 12v battery installed, FWIW - 12.4v is the low limit for an auto battery in good shape... 12.84 seems good in theory - at rest so some more investigation may also be prudent. I agree. Just get a new battery. Mine never last more than 3 years. You might also check to see if it's low on fluid. Mine was almost dry when we had to replace it earlier this year. And no - they're not maintenance free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcelo Posted July 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2011 Thanks hunter306 and akirby! I definitely didn't know the battery wasn't maintenance free so I never considered as a possible cause. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcelo Posted August 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 1, 2011 Battery replaced under warranty and after 2 days, the same behavior occurred. I'd say it's likely a bad alternator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcelo Posted September 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2011 Battery replaced under warranty and after 2 days, the same behavior occurred. I'd say it's likely a bad alternator. In the end, the battery light turned on two times right after replacing the battery as I mentioned above. Since then, never turned on again. Thanks hunter306 and akirby! They were right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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