For bat tery syst em maintenan ce schedules and
jump starting pr ocedu res, see th e owner’s manual in
the vehicle glove box. Option ally, refer to the Lubri-
cation and Mainten ance section of this manual for
the recommended batt ery m aintenance schedu les a nd
for the proper ba tter y j u mp startin g procedur e. While
batt ery char ging ca n be con sidered a main tena nce
pr ocedure, the batt ery charging procedu re an d
rela ted inform ation ar e loca ted later in this section of
this service manual. This wa s done becau se the bat-
tery must be fully-char ged before a ny battery system
diagnosis or testing procedur es can be per formed.
OPERATION
The batt ery syst em is design ed to provide a safe,
efficient, relia ble and mobile means of delivering and
st oring electr ical ener gy. This electr ical en ergy is
required t o oper ate the engine starting syst em, as
well as to operate many of the other vehicle acces-
sor y systems for lim ited du rat ions wh ile the engine
and/or th e char ging system a re not oper ating. The
batt ery system is also designed to provide a reserve
of electrical energy to supplement t he cha rging sys-
tem for sh ort dur ations while the engine is r unning
and the electrical cu rren t demands of the veh icle
exceed the output of the cha rging syst em. In addition
to delivering, and storing electrical energy for the
vehicle, the battery system serves as a capa citor and
volt age stabilizer for the vehicle elect rica l system. It
absorbs most abn ormal or tra nsien t volta ges caused
by t he switching of any of the electr ical components
or circuits in t he vehicle.
DIAGNOSIS AND TESTING - BATTERY SYSTEM
The battery, startin g, and cha rging system s in the
vehicle opera te wit h on e a nother and m ust be test ed
as a com plete system. In order for t he engine to sta rt
and the battery to ma int ain it s cha rge properly, a ll of
the components t hat are used in th ese system s must
perform within specifica tion s. It is important t hat
the ba tter y, sta rting, and cha rging system s be thor-
oughly tested and inspected any time a bat tery needs
to be char ged or replaced. The ca use of a bnorm al ba t-
tery discharge, overcha rging or ea rly battery failu re
must be diagn osed and cor rected before a bat tery is
repla ced an d before a vehicle is ret urned to service.
The service information for these system s ha s been
sepa rat ed with in t his service m anual t o m ake it ea s-
ier to loca te the specific in formation you are seekin g.
However, when attempting to diagnose an y of t hese
systems, it is im por tant that you keep t heir inter de-
pendency in mind.
The diagnostic procedu res used for the battery,
st arting, an d char gin g systems inclu de th e most
basic conventional diagnostic meth ods, to t he more
sophistica ted On-Boa rd Diagn ost ics (OBD) built into
the Power train Control Module (PCM). Use of an
induct ion-t ype milliamper e ammeter, a volt/oh mme-
ter, a ba tter y char ger, a ca rbon pile r heostat (loa d
tester ) an d a 12-volt test lamp may be required. All
OBD-sensed systems a re monit ored by th e PCM.
Each mon itored circu it is assign ed a Dia gnostic Trou-
ble Code (DTC). The PCM will store a DTC in elec-
tronic m emory for any failure it detect s. Refer to
Char ging System for the proper ch arging system on -
board diagn ost ic test pr ocedu res.
MICRO 420 BATTERY TESTER
The Micro 420 au tomotive ba tter y t ester is
designed to help t he dealership techn icians dia gnose
the cause of a defect ive bat tery. Follow the in st ruc-
tion ma nua l supplied with th e tester to properly
diagnose a vehicle. If th e instruction ma nual is not
ava ila ble refer to the st andar d procedur e in this sec-
tion, which in cludes the direct ions for using t he
Micro 420 battery tester.
8F - 2 BAT T ER Y S Y S T EM VA
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