battery checks at kwik fit etc

-Laser- · 21 Nov 2006 at 14:52

what exactly do they check? anything that i can't do myself with a multimeter?

happytechie · 21 Nov 2006 at 14:58

stick a volt meter across the terminals when the engine is off , should be 12.5 volts or thereabouts, if so the battery has charge. I think you should do this while the engine is being started as well and get another reading to see what the volts drops to under full load.

start the engine and use the volt meter again, it should now be 13.5 or so, if so the alternator is working and the battery is charging.

AA vans have the kit in them to do akll this for you as well.

That'll be £35 + VAT please oh and by the way your exaust needs replacing and you could do with 4 new tyres, disks and 4 sets of brake pads, would you like me to fix those things while you're here?

Paul

-Laser- · 21 Nov 2006 at 15:22

hehe yeah, not gonna be talked into buying any of those things, most of them are quite new anyway!

so is that all they check? bah i'll just do it myself if i can find my multimeter!

moss · 21 Nov 2006 at 15:24

happytechie said:
stick a volt meter across the terminals when the engine is off , should be 12.5 volts or thereabouts, if so the battery has charge. I think you should do this while the engine is being started as well and get another reading to see what the volts drops to under full load.

At work we dont test the battery voltages, we test using a proper battery tester which tests the ampage, voltage is better for checking the alternator.