

If the battery is continually going flat, it could be because of a 'parasitic loss'. What do I do if the car battery is repeatedly going flat? Bear in mind that when a battery goes down to 12.2V it's actually only 50% charged, and below 12V it's classed as discharged.


The resting voltage should ideally be no lower than 12.6V. If you're getting a reading with a minus in front of it (-12.6 rather than 12.6) you've got the probes the wrong way round. The terminals will be marked '+' and '-'. Hold the red probe to the positive terminal and the black probe to the negative terminal. This will allow you to accurately measure 0-20 volts. Using your multimeter, you want to measure DC voltage (this is indicated with a solid line and a dashed line above a letter V). Once the car battery is exposed be careful that nothing metal touches the terminals, so don't rest any spanners or other tools on it. There may also be a cover over the positive (+) terminal, which usually lifts off. The first thing to do is make sure you can access the two terminals on the top of the car battery.Ĭar batteries are commonly located in the engine bay to one side of the engine, and often have a plastic cover which will unclip, lift off, or occasionally require the removal of a couple of bolts. Testing a car battery with a multimeter is a simple process. How do I use a multimeter to test a car battery?
#12 volt car battery voltage manual
