How To Test A Car Battery Using A Volt Meter

Showing what a bad battery looks and how to know when you need a new one. Not everyone has all the tools and gadgets but if you have a simple volt meter you can easily and accurately check to see if your battery is up to par. Ive been using this method for years and its never let me down.

[bkul]

this guy should be one of the popular video hosts !! very informative .

[direvosabostien]

Great, this is how videos should be made, Straight and to the point.

[breakerbarranch]

Thanks for saving me umpteen more headaches trying to figure out why my truck wouldn't start!
Battery would take a full charge 12.60 and even held it over night, but no start. Hooked up the
Volt Meter like you show in your video and the voltage dropped to less than 5 when trying to start !
BINGO...you saved the day. New battery, problem solved!
Also checked out your video bypassing the starter relay which saved me pulling the starter which was
the next thing I was gonna do.
Thanks from a new subscriber.

[notfound.....]

Great video!! Anything at or over 9.6 amps at start up...ya good to go. Below 9.6 replace!

[dtnel]

Picked that booster pack up at Menards. Great pack I take with for boost jobs all the time. Boost pack even works good for providing power for a LED light plugged into the 120VAC outlet for quite awhile. LED draws little to no power so go figure on that one.

[newmoon]

Good job! Good video all around! Thoughtful explanations and info! Thanks much!

[rizwanmeah]

Fantastic video. Thank you, I will try this.

[HostileHST]

My GF left here lights on for 4 hours today, took the battery all the way down to 1.8 volts. Also found that both ground and positive cables were very loose in the new terminals she had gotten. Realized that i had to add a 4 guaghe nub of wire on each terminal so they would tighten properly (I did have both bolts on each terminal tight and cables could be easily pulled out. Clearly the new terminals are designed for much thicker guage wire than what Jeep's use in there older models, 1997). LOOONG story shortened, put a new battery in, fixed the terminals and WOOP, the Jeep starts like a champ again. Moral of the story, shut ur lights off and don't let boyfriend fix ur rig, even though I did figure out the mistake I had made.

[bigphat]

I did an oil change and it seem to run and start easily. But after watching this I don't think I need to fool myself into thinking it's all good.

[patgar]

excellent keep up the good work. Thanks

[mplscarsales]

Man this might have just answered my battery saver light coming on a 2013 Cadillac ATS

[deedee_]

hey nice video so i did this with my jump box it read at 7.6 and it had an egg smell as well meaning my battery i thought it was my breath i know i didnt eat any eggs for months i loooove hard boiled egss and i didmt have any at all for a while so i did a goole search and before i can type out the full question about the egg smell it finish the question for me lol i didnt know that was a thing to watch out for leason learned glad it wasnt my breath now i have to get a new battery that egg smell was the sulphric gas leaking plus i did leave my dome lights on twice i was able to jump it off then park it but didnt drive it for the time it needed to fully charge i had no gas yes i know i was really going through it plus the temps did drop so i guess that made it worse so i had gas bought to me and we tried to jump it from another car still no go and thats when i saw that the voltage was at 7.6 so im praying it is the battery sorry for the long reply im just lookn for reassurance

thnx
stay safe

[mohammadalshaikhhasan]

Great help,
Sometimes i get confused wither its a battery or alternator or the starter motor. How to decide?

[ampthegamergod]

Would this test work on a car that wont start?

[tjsworld]

I have a xs d4800 agm battery it reads 12.3 with vehicle off. Is this a bad battery

[abimariavargas]

What If starter pulls more current than normal will it cause voltage to be lower in a good battery

[ronnydisalvo]

Mine hits 11.9 then 14.2 upon first start up. As it’s warmed up it’s at 13.8. BUT when I turn my stereo on it drops to 13.2. Is that bad? I have a car audio system. Only 2watts. And that’s with the volume all the way down. Just turning my head unit on it drops .5

[garycarroll]

Battery voltage suppose to be constant 14.0 not 14.3 or higher witch means over charge

[Pinkielover]

depends on make of car or truck .. When I start my car from a cold start its 13.8 volts For a few minutes then it goes down gradually to around 13.2 V after about 40 mins.. Sometimes I can go down to 13.0 if it's been running for a couple hours. The other day while I was driving it went down drastically so I pulled over and checked my alternator wire they're starting wire for the alternator popped off I was driving the car down the street with lights on and the car only had 9 V as I was driving it... but yes my alternator is fine because I ran it for a good hour and the battery came back to life now it's staying around 12.6 with it off.. batteries about four years old and optima red top .. Great battery by the way.. Me I always carry an extra fresh battery in the trunk ..

[derekbatten]

Or the starter motor is knackered and pulling high power and knackering the battery