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Technical Battery Charge Indicator

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Technical Battery Charge Indicator

T

Thel

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I noticed the other day that my fiat 500x doesn't have the traditional red battery charge light when the car is not running.

It has the battery charge screen on the dashboard. Is this normal, has this screen replaced the indicator on this car?

Also what's the usual operating voltage of the battery when it's running?

Pic attached
 

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The reason I ask, is that this pic the car was idling with 3 blocks illuminated, and today it's idiling with 2 blocks illuminated. The lights work, don't dim, radio works, etc etc just seems weird.

I'm also maybe just overthinking it and being overly paranoid
 
Normal voltage across the battery with the engine running is 14.5V, best measured across the battery terminals with a voltmeter/multimeter.
 
TrevC said:
Normal voltage across the battery with the engine running is 14.5V, best measured across the battery terminals with a voltmeter/multimeter.
Click to expand...

So I checked it. Getting 12.46v when it's running.

Thoughts?
 
Someone mentioned a smart charge. When I rev up the engine it goes up to 13.94v then slowly drops when it returns to idle. It holds at 12.46v when the car is running, lights on, radio on, wipers on etc etc
 
Yes, that could be it - certain modern alternators are "smart" and will only charge the battery when certain conditions are met, but I don't know much about them. Perhaps someone else here with knowledge will chip in?
I don't have my 500X anymore to go and check, but I'll see what the Hyundai that replaced it reads later today, as that probably uses similar technology.
 
Ok, just measured the voltage on the battery of my Hyundai i30 petrol 1.4 turbo. Started from warm, so it settled to a roughly 8-900 rpm idle pretty quickly. Lights off, a/c on. Measured 14.34V at battery.

Not very conclusive for you I'm afraid, perhaps someone else on here can do a measurement on their 500X. Would be helpful if you posted which engine and model it is.

One final comment - does the stop-start cut in when expected? If it does, I would say you have nothing to worry about as stop-start is very fussy about battery state.
 
Just did something else - I remembered that I still had the electronic version of my handbook (2015 1.4 MA Lounge). There is no dedicated battery charge fault indicator under "warning lights". However, it lists loads of other fault indications that appear on the "display" - presumably the display where your voltmeter is. Included in these is one for alternator failure, which is depicted by a battery symbol. You will only have this appear when there is a problem.
 
TrevC said:
Ok, just measured the voltage on the battery of my Hyundai i30 petrol 1.4 turbo. Started from warm, so it settled to a roughly 8-900 rpm idle pretty quickly. Lights off, a/c on. Measured 14.34V at battery.

Not very conclusive for you I'm afraid, perhaps someone else on here can do a measurement on their 500X. Would be helpful if you posted which engine and model it is.

One final comment - does the stop-start cut in when expected? If it does, I would say you have nothing to worry about as stop-start is very fussy about battery state.
Click to expand...
I actually usually have the stop start system turned off. I don't like it very much and I don't usually sit in stop start traffic often
 
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