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BATTERY CHARGE?

Carter99

New Member
Joined
Aug 3, 2014
Messages
6
Car
C180 Avantgarde Estate Automatic
Will the battery charge if the engine is switched on, with the gear stick in the Park position? Or should it be in neutral?

The car is a C class automatic estate 2004.
 
It will charge as soon as the engine is running, in any gear. At idle though the charge rate can be quite low, in fact if you have a lot of electrical stuff on (lights, aircon, heated seats, etc.) the battery may even be discharging. In the 'old days' it was common to have a 'centre zero' ammeter in the instrument cluster so you could actually see whether the battery was charging or discharging, and at what rate. Modern alternators and batteries are better so there's less need to know nowadays.
 
Many thanks, I was just doubting my own mind.
 
Haha - we all do that sometimes! The alternator is bolted to the engine - if one is spinning then the other is too :)
 

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