How to Spot the Signs Your Car Battery is Dead

Your car's ability to function depends on the life of its battery. If the battery goes bad, the car may not start or it might work with reduced performance. Just because your car won't start though, doesn't necessarily mean the battery went dead.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Keep an eye on your car's performance. As your battery loses power, you may notice that your headlights look dimmer or the car changes pitch when you turn on your air conditioner. Another sign could be a reduced airflow when you turn the vent on.
2. Attempt to start the car. When you turn the key you may hear a repeated tick or no sound. Your battery works if the car tries to turn over.
3. Turn on your headlights or radio to check the battery. A battery needs more power to start the car than to power these auxiliary parts. You can also check if your clock shows on the panel or if your interior lights turn on. If these all work, you may just need to recharge the battery.
4. Open the hood, locate your battery and check for other causes. Corroded battery posts and poor connections prevent the battery from functioning properly.
5. Test the charge of the car battery with a multimeter. If you don't have a multimeter, take it to a place that sells batteries. Generally the store offers to check this for free.
6. Transfer the batteries from one car to another. Attempt to start both cars and see what happens. If the other person's car starts with your battery or your car won't start with theirs, you need to keep looking for the source of your problem.