I am having a dispute with my dad. He says he can keep his battery charged 9doesn’t drive often) by just running the car in park at a high rpm. I say you actually have to drive the car around in gear for a while. i need a technical explanation to the answer, if I am right, or he will just deny the …

I’m not sure about the charging question, but I have other comments. First, idling a cold engine at high RPMs is causing a lot of engine wear. Second, not getting the car up to full operating temperature frequently is leaving moisture in the oil and the exhaust system, so he should follow the seve…

Yes, of course the battery will charge with just the engine running. Being in or out of gear has nothing to do with it.

This time your Dad is absolutely correct and you are dead wrong. Where did you ever get the crazy notion a car must be in motion for the electrical system to work?! Your instruments should show the battery is charging even when the engine is at idle.

The alternator current output capability is dependant on RPM. However, the alternator is fully capable of producing enough current at engine idle RPM to charge your battery. The reason people rev the donor engine during a jumpstart is to make the donor alternator capable of supporting both the runni…

Ok, we have two sides, why cant both be right? I am getting a sense that the battery is not keeping a charge. If the alternator is working properly, it will charge the battery at idle speed. If it is not working properly it will not charge adequately and may work properly when the engine is at a hi…

Other posters have mentioned how the alternator works so I will only state that it isn’t a good idea to run the car to charge a low battery. It puts needless stress on alternator and wastes fuel. Get a battery charger to charge the battery. I also suggest you get a low powered solar panel that can b…

First, idling a cold engine at high RPMs is causing a lot of engine wear. Says who??? You can run at higher RPMs within seconds after the car warms up without doing any damage what-so-ever.

It will be done either way, but I would rather drive it. There are other parts that should be driven just to keep them from rusting in place.

Using the cars alternator to bring the battery to a fully charged state when starting from a low charge state(10.0V) is not cost/time effective.The car doesn’t have to be moving,the idle does not have to be high,just “off idle”.A loaded charging system test is done with the engine at 1500-2000 rpm (…

Charging a Dead battery - can you do it without driving?

Maintenance/Repairs

Joseph_E_Meehan August 11, 2008, 5:22pm 8

Yes it will charge the battery. No it will not destroy the car, but it will add some extra wear and with the price of gas (even the price a couple of years ago, it is an expensive way of recharging the battery. A cheap battery charger will do the job for much less. It will pay for itself in a short time.

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Charging a Dead battery - can you do it without driving?

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