# battery voltage question (16 vs 14)



## au201 (May 18, 2013)

Brand new battery and I'm sure much larger due to having stop start - won't be discharged nearly as often as the older and smaller battery in the 14. 


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## chevrasaki (May 1, 2015)

When the voltages get into the 13-15 range it means the alternator is charging the battery. I'm sure soon you'll see the voltage increase once the battery drained down to a certain point.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

I see 14.xV on my '16 when it's charging. 12.xV in auto-stop mode, which I believe restarts the engine when it dips below 12.0V.


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## neile300c (Jul 8, 2014)

Ok, I thought that the higher the number, the better.


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## Chevy_Country (Oct 16, 2015)

neile300c said:


> Ok, I thought that the higher the number, the better.


My cruze reads 13.8 100% of the time, I seldom drive it, even more seldom use my electronics and it's an '11 ltz without the start stop, my 04 pickup with no power option reads 12.7 all the time, alternator or not, I think the ecm has certain formulas for alternator charge to battery discharge rates, it's a different car after all lol so maybe simply a different tuned formula for charging 

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## Vetterin (Mar 27, 2011)

I'm pretty sure I've seen 15.3 more than once with 13.8 - 14.0 being pretty normal on my 11 Eco.


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## pontiacgt (Jan 12, 2011)

The Higher reading is when its charging. The battery is 12 volt so it will always have about 12v. Much over and it can fry electrical components. Some cushion is built into electrical components to handle a little spike here and there. However a continuous higher voltage can cause issues.


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## Chevy_Country (Oct 16, 2015)

Vetterin said:


> I'm pretty sure I've seen 15.3 more than once with 13.8 - 14.0 being pretty normal on my 11 Eco.


I think that's a sign of an alternator going, is when they over charge batteries like that, happened to my 98 regal and 07 impala

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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Chevy_Country said:


> I think that's a sign of an alternator going, is when they over charge batteries like that, happened to my 98 regal and 07 impala
> 
> Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk


15.3 usually happens on really cold days. My '12 Cruze showed that a couple times as the factory AC Delco battery was about to give up the ghost and couldn't hold much of a charge (kept falling into the 11.x range when the car was shut off).

Anywhere in the 13-14V range is normal for a Cruze alternator when charging, and you'll see 12.x under acceleration, cruising along at a constant speed when electrical load is low, or when the 16+ Cruze goes into "auto stop" mode.


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## Chevy_Country (Oct 16, 2015)

jblackburn said:


> 15.3 usually happens on really cold days. My '12 Cruze showed that a couple times as the factory AC Delco battery was about to give up the ghost and couldn't hold much of a charge (kept falling into the 11.x range when the car was shut off).
> 
> Anywhere in the 13-14V range is normal for a Cruze alternator when charging, and you'll see 12.x under acceleration, cruising along at a constant speed when electrical load is low, or when the 16+ Cruze goes into "auto stop" mode.


Hmm, good to know !

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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

jblackburn said:


> 15.3 usually happens on really cold days. My '12 Cruze showed that a couple times as the factory AC Delco battery was about to give up the ghost and couldn't hold much of a charge (kept falling into the 11.x range when the car was shut off).
> 
> Anywhere in the 13-14V range is normal for a Cruze alternator when charging, and you'll see 12.x under acceleration, cruising along at a constant speed when electrical load is low, or when the 16+ Cruze goes into "auto stop" mode.



Your new Cruze does not use the battery for a restart.......it uses what Chevy calls a 'Super Capacitor'.
It gets 'reloaded' as soon as the engine restarts and discharges for the next restart......this is so the battery doesn't have to continually support the starter during stop/go around town driving.
It is located in the same box as the battery on the left side with all the other electrical gobbly **** in there.

Rob


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## Chevy_Country (Oct 16, 2015)

Robby said:


> Your new Cruze does not use the battery for a restart.......it uses what Chevy calls a 'Super Capacitor'.
> It gets 'reloaded' as soon as the engine restarts and discharges for the next restart......this is so the battery doesn't have to continually support the starter during stop/go around town driving.
> It is located in the same box as the battery on the left side with all the other electrical gobbly **** in there.
> 
> Rob


Does a 2011 cruze without start stop have this super capacitor? No right? 

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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Robby said:


> Your new Cruze does not use the battery for a restart.......it uses what Chevy calls a 'Super Capacitor'.
> It gets 'reloaded' as soon as the engine restarts and discharges for the next restart......this is so the battery doesn't have to continually support the starter during stop/go around town driving.
> It is located in the same box as the battery on the left side with all the other electrical gobbly **** in there.
> 
> Rob


I was wondering what that was, but didn't look too closely. That's pretty nifty! 

It does seem to restart when the accessories pull the juice down below 12.0, though. Given that it sat there for a while in the showroom and I don't do many long trips with it yet, I suspect it needs a good road trip to charge back up into the mid-high 12s where my other Cruze kept the battery. 

2011-16 Limited didn't have that capacitor, no.


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

jblackburn said:


> I was wondering what that was, but didn't look too closely. That's pretty nifty!
> 
> It does seem to restart when the accessories pull the juice down below 12.0, though. Given that it sat there for a while in the showroom and I don't do many long trips with it yet, I suspect it needs a good road trip to charge back up into the mid-high 12s where my other Cruze kept the battery.
> 
> 2011-16 Limited didn't have that capacitor, no.


The capacitor 'reloads' almost instantly when the car restarts.

And, yes, as the various other accessories draw the battery down, the system will restart and reduce or disable start stop till the battery is returned to a target voltage.

Rob


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