Why Do I See The Battery Discharge Warning Kia?

You are hoping for a nice and trouble-free ride. But as soon as you enter the car, there’s a flashing notification on the dashboard. It says “Battery discharge warning kia.” And, you know the ride isn’t going to be as smooth as expected. But, why is that?

Well, the battery discharge warning in your car’s dashboard indicates that the battery is running out of power. In simple terms, you need to recharge the battery as soon as possible. Normally, it occurs when the car parts consume battery power faster and more frequently.

Now, you can’t avoid a problem if you don’t go to its root. That’s why we will dissect this issue and find every possible reason behind it in this article. So, stay with us till the end.

What Does the Battery Discharge Warning Mean In Kia Car?

The battery discharge warning is normally shown on the dashboard or the screen. Normally the car recharges itself as you drive. There’s nothing extra to do. However, you have to make sure that the battery is 100% charged before stepping out of it.

Moreover, we keep adding more elements to our cars for our comfort and ease. For example, fans, heaters, voice-activated Google assistants, and so on. All of these features need constant electricity to be on standby mode. So that, as soon as you turn on a switch, it can serve you.

Now, if the battery has a hard time providing electricity for all these features, your car will show a warning sign.

Why Do You See The Battery Discharge Warning Kia?

We know what the warning sign means. But, which specific issue caused it is still not clear. That’s why we have listed down the 5 most common reasons behind it. Take a look.

1. More Power Usage

Do you have electronic components in the car that can drain the battery? If yes, they are your first suspect. Modern cars come with so many features including wind wipers, seat adjustment, seat heater, power window, GPS, radio, air conditioning, music system, etc.

Guess what? All of these components depend on the car battery for power supply. It’s not a burden if your engine is running. That way, the car can recharge itself continuously.

However, the problem arises when you use all those features by keeping the engine off. For example, the car is in the garage and you forgot to turn off the lights, radio, or whatever.

Those elements will keep consuming the battery percentage. However, without a working alternator/engine, there’s no way to recharge the battery. As a result, your Kia car battery will be in deficit mode.

Try to turn off all power-draining components before getting off the vehicle.

2. Damaged Battery

If the battery has an internal problem, it won’t receive power from the alternator. In that case, you will face an unusually low battery percentage. However, not all kinds of damages require a replacement. Here are the three basic types of battery damage along with their solutions.

Expired

Car batteries normally have a lifespan of 3 to 5 years. Depending on the number of cycles the years can increase or decrease. That means, after a certain point, the batteries can’t be used anymore. If you don’t remember changing the battery within 3 to 4 years, it’s time to replace it.

Too Dry

If the battery comes with a lithium/lead cell, it can dry down. You see, the battery cells contain liquid substances. The cell only produces electricity if the ratio of these substances is perfect. But the continuous cycle can reduce the level of liquid within the cell.

As a result, you might encounter battery-related issues. In that case, the battery won’t require a replacement. You simply need to fill up the cell with the designated liquids.

Needs Repairing

Apart from these two types, the battery’s inner electrical parts can be damaged. You don’t have to replace the whole battery most of the time. Just call a local mechanic and ask for a thorough repair. It will cost far less than buying a new unit.

3. Faulty Alternator

Alternators affect the well-being of the battery. You might already know that a car’s battery gets all the power from a running engine. But the engine produces mechanical energy. Whereas the battery only receives electrical energy.

So, there must be a middle point where the form of energy changes. The alternator works as that particular middle point. That means if the alternator becomes faulty, the car battery won’t receive the necessary power from the main source.

The signs of a bad alternator are: a dead battery, dimmed lights, interruption in the radio signal, or other digital aspects. If you notice such symptoms along with the battery discharge warning, it’s surely due to a bad alternator.

Alternators fault due to a damaged or rusty belt attached to it.

4. Poor Ground Connection

Does your car have a bad ground strap? If that’s the case, all the power would drain due to the bad connection. To ensure the smooth transportation of electricity, the circuit needs to be completed through proper grounding.

With a broken or poor ground connection, the circuit will face blockage while passing electricity to components like the headlight, wind wipers, and so on. One way to identify this issue is by testing the voltage. If the result is 12.6V, the ground strap is not at fault.

However, if the number is lower than that (such as 11.6 V), it might be bad grounding. We suggest you remove the negative wire from the battery first. Then, pull out the positive wire. After that, inspect and replace the ground strap. Hence, it’s important for every car owner to know where to connect ground wire properly for smooth transportation of electricity.

5. Unfavorable Temperature

If none of the above reasons resonate with you, it might be bad weather. It sounds silly. But your car’s battery is quite sensitive to the weather temperature. Let’s see how its mechanism gets affected during different temperature levels.

High Temperature

During hot summers, the ionic mixture within the battery cell loses its density. It becomes thinner. You might know, for the battery to work smoothly, the electrolytes and liquids need to have a perfect ratio.

The high degree of temperature messes with this ionic state, making the whole battery unit disoriented. That might be the reason why you are facing a bad battery.

Experts suggest you keep the car under a cool shade when the temperature is unbearable.

Low Temperature

The problem is not gone during winter or snowfall. Instead, you come across a fully different issue. For example, low temperatures can cause liquid substances inside the battery cell to freeze.

This will reduce the active state of the ions which can only perform well at a given heat level. Experts suggest you use a heater in the garage to eliminate the harshness of cold.

2 Easy Ways To Fix Battery Discharge Warning Kia

Now that we are done with all the reasons, it’s to jump into the fixing procedure.

1. Jump Start The Car

Jump-starting your car will help you get over this situation. Especially if the battery is too low to start the car, you have no other way to recharge the battery. Because you need a fully running engine.

That’s why jump-starting seems to be the ideal trick as long as you are confident. Here’s a brief explanation of how you can do that safely.

Step 1: Collect Jumper Cables

Of course, you need jumper cables to jump-start the car. Plus, there must be another car/van that has a fully functional battery. The new battery will help your dead battery. Make sure both vehicles are pretty close to each other. So that, you can actually connect them using the jumper cables.

Step 2: Connect The Cables

The jumper cables are red and black. The red side goes into the positive node of the battery. While the black one is for grounding/negative sides. It’s safe to start with the problematic vehicle.

So, connect the red cable to the positive side of the battery. Leave the black one for now.

Next, join the other ends of the cables into the new vehicle’s battery. Make sure the copper cases don’t touch each other. Otherwise, there can be a spark or even an explosion.

Step 3: Find A Grounding Point

Once the initial connection is done, look for bare metal. This will work as the right grounding point for your experiment. It shouldn’t be close to any inflammable component or the battery itself. For example, you can use a spare strut tower. Attach the black wire on that part.

Step 4: Jump Start The Car

Turn on the new car that’s working and let the engine run for 2 minutes. Now, go to your Kia car and see if it works or not. At this point, the alternator of the other car is charging your Kia car’s battery. So, let this continue for five minutes at least.

2. Replace The Battery

If you don’t want to deal with this particular battery anymore, we suggest replacing it with a new one. Here’s how to do that.

Remove The Old Battery

First of all, locate the battery inside the car. Then, check for the black and red terminals. As we already know, red means positive, and black means negative. It’s safer to start with the negative side first. Use a deep well socket to loosen up the negative terminal and then the positive one.

There will be two more nuts holding up the unit. Make sure you loosen them up. Now, lift the battery up and keep it aside.

Insert A New Battery

Grab the new battery unit. It’s most probably stored in the trunk. Also, we highly recommend cleaning up the battery tray before placing a new one. It will help you get rid of any dirt or corrosion.

Next, put the new battery on the tray. Make sure the “+” sign on the battery is aligned with the positive terminal and vice versa. Clamp down two nuts to hold the unit in place.

And, that’s all. Your trouble with the old battery is over.

FAQ’s

We have prepared this small FAQ section for more in-depth questions about the Kia car battery. Hopefully, you will find some value here. Have a look.

How Long Does A Kia Car Battery Last?

Typically, you can expect a Kia car battery to last as long as 6 years. It all depends on how much you maintain it. There are some external factors too including the temperature level of your area. If the area is too hot or too cold, your car batteries might die sooner than expected.

Can You Bypass The Battery Discharge Warning Kia?

 You can bypass the warning by changing the setup on the dashboard. But we highly discourage you. Just turning off the warning alarm doesn’t mean the problem would be gone too.

The warning points toward a serious battery issue. If you disable the alarm and carry on usually, you might face bigger issues like an interruption in Google map tracking, flickering headlight, wind wipers not working, and so on.

Can You Remove The Positive Terminal First?

It’s advisable not to remove the positive side first. There is a chance of an explosion if you do so. The correct or safe way is to remove the negative terminal first.

If you are jump-starting the car, start with the dead battery first. And then move on to the working car/van. Also, the metal side of the cables shouldn’t come into contact. The consequences can be really bad.

Conclusion

Having the battery discharge warning means you have to pay immediate attention to the battery. For whatever reason, the battery can’t carry the load to operate all the electronic components in the car. And, displaying the warning notification is a means to notify you of that situation.

Hope that instead of bypassing the warning, you would take the time to identify the real issue. If you are a little short on time, just jump-start the vehicle for now. Later, inspect the battery for any damage. If you find one, don’t hesitate to replace it.

And, that’s all we had to say on this topic. Enjoy your ride!