If you have a Kia vehicle, you must have noticed that Kia cars have a warning light. Although other warning lights may be less critical in a Kia vehicle, others could be dangerous and demand immediate attention. It all depends on how severe the circumstance is. We have been getting requests about what Battery Discharge Warning Kia is. How serious should it be taken? How dangerous it is, and how you can fix it.
If this has been your worries all this while, then you’ve got nothing to worry about again cause we are you what the Battery Discharge Warning Kia is, and a gradual steps, you can stop it.
What Is Battery Discharge Warning Kia?
A battery discharge warning indicates that your car battery is facing severe problems and is being drained faster than it is charging. You will notice this development in your vehicle infotainment or the instrument cluster touchscreen, which is located. The screen shows you the part that needs to be worked on.
There are numerous signals a Kia vehicle gives. It is recommended you pay attention to these signals. For instance, when you see the red sign, it is a severe warning, indicating that you immediately stop your car to find out the cause of such a warning.
Other minor car issues, such as the battery light alert, can escalate to colossal damage.
Battery Discharge Warning Kia: What Factors Can Discharge Your Kia Car Battery Quickly?
Faulty Alternator and Charging System
As you may have known before, car batteries run the electrical areas in a car. Suppose you have a terrible Kia vehicle alternator. In that case, it could be challenging to start your car because the alternator will not be able to provide enough power to recharge your battery.
The alternator runs almost all charging systems in a car. A faulty alternator means your vehicle will not work as well as it should.
The alternators, engines, and sensors are all parts of the automobile’s charging system. If any of these parts start malfunctioning, it will drain the battery quickly.
Bad Connections or Short Ground
A bad ground connection can drain your battery faster or damage your battery. Fire may occur when there is a small circuit which is why a ground connection is significant. Also, a bad ground connection can cause power leaks and, in the process, quickly drain your battery.
When your car wires are routed, your car’s electrical system will need enough power to enable the electrical areas of your vehicle to work correctly.
Bad Battery
The battery in the Kia vehicle powers a lot of electrical components; therefore, if the car battery of Kia is terrible, the electrical components will not perform well, which can also cause the battery to give a warning on your dashboard.
The lifespan of a Kia battery ranges from 3 to 5 years. However, other factors still determine the lifespan of the Kia battery, such as the environment, battery maintenance, your driving habit, excess heat, numerous short excursions, and frequent use of the car battery.
Other Faulty Components
Aside from those mentioned earlier, other factors could drain your Kia vehicle battery, such as the below;
- The physical state of the car battery: When the battery is in bad shape, it prevents it from performing as it should. For example, if the battery has a bad or a rusted terminal, or the terminal of covered with a white coating like dust, it will prevent the battery from charging
- The serpentine belt: The serpentine belt, when worn out, prevents the alternator from charging.
What Could Cause Battery Discharge When the Engine is Off?
You may have thought that your car battery is safe after you must have switched off your engine. Little do you know that your battery can still get drained even after shutting off the engine. Now, you need to consider that the alternator is responsible for charging and passing current to the battery.
After you must have shut off the engine, the alternator (which charges the battery) is also off, leaving all workload to the battery. Since the shut-off, what then drains the battery? Keep reading to know.
Listening to Radio
It is expected that you may shut your engine but still want to listen to the radio. When you do this, your battery begins to drain very fast. Remember, as earlier stated, electrical component like radio draws power from the car battery. Listening to the radio when your engine is shut is another factor that can drain your battery.
Loose Terminals
It would help if you always tried to check your terminal when your engine is off. Lose terminals are battery drainers. Always check out your terminal to avoid the discharging of your Kia battery.
Extreme Weather
No man has control over nature. Sometimes, you can’t control your battery from discharging. For an instant, scorching and cold weather could fast drain your Kia vehicle when it is not on or running. That is why you must park your car in the garage during winter to prevent the battery from discharging.
Old Battery
As the saying goes, nothing last forever. This goes to say that no matter how perfect something is when it is new, it will never remain the same as time goes by. Kia battery has a life span of 3 to 5 years. When a Kia battery reaches five years, it is aged already and will not be able to perform as it used to.
The best option, in this case, is to get a new one.
Chargers Left Plugged In
There are advantages and disadvantages in everything—for instance, the mobile phone charging port feature in your Kia car. If your phone is plugged for charging while the engine is off, and you accidentally leave your phone plugged in, the battery will discharge, giving you a signal on your dashboard.
Parasitic Drain
Another way for your Kia battery to discharge is called a parasitic drain. As earlier stated, the car battery passes currents to some components in your car, ranging from electronic steering, windscreen wipers, power windows, etc. If any of these parts have some problem, it is highly likely to draw a massive current from the battery and significantly drain it.
Head Lights Left On
Just so you may know, the headlight is known to be the highest component that discharges the battery. Although, it is more unlikely that you will leave your headlight on during the engine off because you will get a warning. But sometimes, you may not remember to turn off your headlight due to a hard day at work.
Climate Control Left On
You must switch on your climate control but don’t keep it on for a long time because when it is kept on for a long time, it begins to discharge your battery.
How to Fix Battery Discharge Warning Kia?
Every problem has a solution. We have given for battery discharge warning to Kia; now, let’s dive into the solution.
Jumpstart Your Car
Whether your car engine is on or off, electrical components like the radio, charging features, headlight, or even mother nature becomes your car discharging factor. When any has finally drained your battery of these, you will get the Kia Sorento battery discharge warning.
The best thing to do in this situation is to jumpstart your car. How do you jumpstart your car? It is done by connecting your Kia car battery voltage to another fully charged battery using Jumper Wires.
Once it starts, your alternator carries on with the task of charging your car power, and the notification will automatically disappear.
Reset Battery Switch
Most recent Kia cars have an energy reset button that helps curb the batter’s draining. Once the switch has been activated, the central system will disconnect the 12-volt system to prevent the car from further discharging.
You can watch how to activate it here.
Maintain Your Battery
Don’t be frightened when you switch on your car and notice the Kia battery discharge warning. You have to do a little maintenance of the battery by checking the electrolyte levels, water levels, and other elements draining the battery.
When the battery’s electrolyte is not doing its job by distributing electric power to other components, your car won’t start.
Replace Battery
As aforestated, when a device is too old, It begins to malfunction and would not be able to carry out its task effectively. The same applies to every car battery, not just Kia.
If your Kia car battery is old or has been damaged, the best option is to get a new one and get rid of the old one for the battery discharge warning to go away.
Old batteries are never reliable. You may Jumpstart a car battery or even go as far as charging the car battery, but in the end, it is all for nothing because it will get drained off rapidly.