When it comes to car problems, nothing is ever convenient. It seems like your vehicle plots the perfect moment to give you grief, and the majority of the time it involves a dead battery. While it’s true the starter motor, alternator, or spark plugs could be behind your vehicle’s refusal to start, it’s most likely that your battery is zapped. In this article, we’ll cover how to test a car battery, specifically its voltage, and also break down what each reading means.
Diagnosing a car battery is a breeze, but you will need a piece of equipment called a multimeter. You can find a cheap one either at your local auto parts store or online. It will quickly tell you whether or not your battery is out of juice. Though you can buy an analog multimeter, we’d recommend spending a little bit more in a digital unit so there’s no misinterpreting the readout.
Finding your vehicle’s battery should be a cinch, but some automakers put them in odd places such as the trunk, under the floor, or under the rear seats. You can find the vast majority under the hood, however, to the right or left of the engine. You can identify the battery by the positive (red/plus sign) and negative (black/minus sign) terminals that either route to a rectangular housing box or directly to the exposed battery. Keep in mind that, in some cars, the battery is tucked under a plastic cover. Refer to your owner’s manual if you can’t find it.
Once you’ve located the unit, make sure your vehicle is turned off. If you’re using a digital multimeter, set the dial to DC voltage. Next, take your multimeter’s black lead to the negative battery terminal and the red lead to the positive terminal. Hold each one firmly until the multimeter provides a voltage readout.
Here are some guidelines, courtesy of yourmechanic.com:
If you’re seeing 12.45 volts or higher, your battery is in good shape and it’s time to check other common culprits. If you’re below a 75% charge, your battery might still bring the car to life, but not reliably. Below this threshold, your battery may need recharging or even replacing depending on its age.
If you struggle with any part of this process, take a trip to your local auto parts store and ask for help. Most shops are happy to help test, remove, recharge, and replace your car’s battery. You get a free hand, and they will (hopefully) earn your business in the future.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.