What causes the battery warning light to come on?

The battery light on your car dashboard signals a charging problem with your car battery. If the light turns and stays on, it might be that your alternator isn’t generating enough voltage to charge it. Common causes can be a broken alternator belt, damaged battery cells or a failed alternator.

What does a red battery light mean?

The battery is charged by the alternator when you are driving. It’s when this system is not working correctly that the red battery light on your dashboard will light up to alert you to the problem.

What does it mean when your car battery light comes on?

The full answer is, “Probably not for too long.” The car’s battery light coming on generally means that there is something preventing your car’s electric system from the battery charged and thus, the car is running on battery power only.

What does the battery light on the dashboard mean?

(Dashboard Battery Indicator Explained) What Does the Battery Light Mean? It’s a pretty common horror scenario: you are driving along, minding your own business, when suddenly the battery light goes on in your car. It can be challenging to know whether it is safe to drive with the battery light on or not.

How long does it take for a battery light to go off?

The exact amount of time that your car will be able to function with the battery light on depends on many factors, but assuming that the alternator is the issue (this is the most common issue) it is likely that your car will lose battery power after 30 minutes to an hour of driving.

Is it bad to drive with the battery light on?

If it is dark, make sure to keep your headlights on for as long as possible, as driving with them off is dangerous. Understand that driving with the light on can cause issues with your battery in the long run, most notably the rapid discharging can cause your battery to also go bad, and not be able to be recharged.