why does ford do it this way? alternator died. 07 focus. the idiot light for battery is NOT on at this point. no volt gauge either. battery eventually ran down and car died. THAN batt light came on. after you are 20 miles out in the country and just passed the nearest exit ramp. well tht is hypothetical, car was on city street but it could have been out in the country. still, it was not running now. i removed battery and charged it for 6hrs. put it back in car, starts fine. volt meter says 12.3 volt at battery. not good. i drove car about 10 miles to my house. still no light. removed battery terminals and battery reads about 11.9 volts? so why doesnt the idiot light illuminate immediately when the alt dies to warn the driver that you are living on borrowed time? battery is 12.7 volt fully charged. life is good according to car computer. but alt is not working . nah, no worries
Around 1982, driving a new rental Grand Prix north of Philadelphia, midnight, January, 20 degrees, on the Schuylkill Expressway (aka, sure-kill expressway), headlights got dim and car died…never a battery light! Luckily, a motorist responded to my “thumb” and drove me to a quickie mart to call for another car.