This morning, the battery on my 97 Grand Am failed. Driving in to work, I noticed the batter light on the dashboard was on. Figured I could safely make it to work and back, then look into it afterward. I was wrong.

While on the freeway, the ABS light came on. Then, my radio went out. Then all of the dashboard light started to come on. The car was no longer running. I managed to coast up an exit ramp and get myself out of traffic. I happened to have a voltage meter in the car, so I measured the battery at the terminals, and it read 6 volts. I had my wife come pick me up and we went out and got a new battery, installed it, and everything seems to be working fine.

However, the battery light still comes on a few seconds after ignition. I measured the voltage at the terminals, and at the cigarette lighter port, and both read 12 volts

Is it possible that the battery light will go off after a few ignition cycles, or will I have to go to a dealership to have them clear it? ...or, could there still be a problem?

Any advice is appreciated.

 

Sounds like your alternator is shot, take it to an autozone or some similar shop where they will test it for you.

 

What does the battery read with the engine running?
Sounds like the alt to me too

 

A coworker mentioned the alternator also.

Thanks for the replies. I will get it checked out.

 

test the voltage at the battery posts while the car is running it should read somewhere around 14 volts.