Battery light comes on when car stopped and idling.

Asked by LewisArthur Oct 10, 2009 at 07:59 PM about the 1994 Nissan Sentra XE

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I have a 1994 Nissan Sentra (automatic with 77,000 km.)and just replaced the battery and alternator this week.  Problem is, when I'm stopped and the motor is running, the red warning battery light comes on.  Once I accelerate, it goes off.  What could be the problem?

2 Answers

205

Voltage Regulator. I don't know what it looks like on an 94 Sentra, but you should replace that. They are not too expensive. If you have a voltmeter you can test it. Check the battery voltage when the engine is not running. The voltage should be a little over 12 volts dc. Start the engine. If it isn't real hot outside, the voltage should go up to between 13 and 14 give or take. If it stays close to 12 your voltage regulator is bad. If that doesn't fix it then maybe you have a bad connection in the charging system. Check the following for corrosion and or damage: 1) alternator positive to battery positive, 2) battery negative to chassis, and 3) engine ground to chassis. If none of that works, well, brand new alternators have been known to be bad right out of the box.

6 people found this helpful.

see if you can raise the idle a little bit, the engine isn't spinning fast enough.

3 people found this helpful.

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