How to check if my alternator is bad

Asked by Guru9WQGJF Mar 03, 2021 at 05:55 PM about the 2004 Buick LeSabre Limited Sedan FWD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

Battery light stay on, just put new battery in
November of 2020. My idiot light doesn't
come on, the radio where it shows it's on or
off there's nothing on that my power
windows won't work, and my security light
stays on.

2 Answers

41,160

You'll want to start the engine and open the hood. Then probe the battery terminates, both negative and positive with a multimeter set on volts. A properly charging alternator will register around 14V. Anything less than 13V is not good. With the engine off the battery should register 12 to 12.6 volts.

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