Check charging system message

[Demonic]

Guys, remember these cars use the smart charging system. The voltage will not always be at 14V. In certain conditions the car will intentionally only charge the battery at around 12.6V. When the engine is under heavy load, such as accelerating at high rpm's, the car will actually start pulling power from the battery instead of the alternator to decrease load on the engine, leading to an apparent drop in voltage. Given the algorithms it can be difficult to diagnose from looking at voltage alone.

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[altjx]

Yeah my car hesitates to even start. Pretty sure mine is going out. Sucks

 

[EF300]

Update, after much back and fourth with the dealer the ultimate solution to my problem was to have the charge side harness replaced under warranty. Before that, they changed the PCM and the alternator but the problem persisted. Been a few months since the harness swap and I have had not problems.

 

[altjx]

Update, after much back and fourth with the dealer the ultimate solution to my problem was to have the charge side harness replaced under warranty. Before that, they changed the PCM and the alternator but the problem persisted. Been a few months since the harness swap and I have had not problems.

Are you in NOLA as well?

 

[EF300]

Are you in NOLA as well?

No im in Central FL. I used to live in NOLA, love that place, especially port of call cheeseburgers followed up by beers @ the Bulldog on magazine !!. One night I was at the bulldog, saw some blond girl, closed the deal now I got 3 kids WTF NOLA !!!

 

[altjx]

No im in Central FL. I used to live in NOLA, love that place, especially port-o-call cheeseburgers followed up by beers @ the Bulldog on magazine !!. One night I was at the bulldog, saw some blond girl, closed the deal now I got 3 kids WTF NOLA !!!

Gotcha, LOL.

I might just have my dealership change out the harness to see if that'll do it, especially if it's cheaper. I'm outside of warranty and would much rather try the cheap stuff first, lol.

 

[EF300]

Gotcha, LOL.

I might just have my dealership change out the harness to see if that'll do it, especially if it's cheaper. I'm outside of warranty and would much rather try the cheap stuff first, lol.

Yeah there was no price on my work order for the charge side harness. It is gonna be plug and play, prolly you could do it yourself cheaper.

What specific problem are you having again ?

Aslo how r u out of warranty already ?? Shouldnt that fall under power train components ?

 

[altjx]

Yeah there was no price on my work order for the charge side harness. It is gonna be plug and play, prolly you could do it yourself cheaper.

What specific problem are you having again ?

Aslo how r u out of warranty already ?? Shouldnt that fall under power train components ?

I have 41.5k miles and don't have an extended warranty. Apparently it's not covered under the powertrain warranty. My ford tech guy checked yesterday.

For me, I get the "Charging System Service Now" battery light after going high in RPMs. Today, it came on and I was just driving normal speeds even. Sometimes the car won't start for a sec, and then trying again in a few more seconds it'll start.

 

[EF300]

I have 41.5k miles and don't have an extended warranty. Apparently it's not covered under the powertrain warranty. My ford tech guy checked yesterday.

For me, I get the "Charging System Service Now" battery light after going high in RPMs. Today, it came on and I was just driving normal speeds even. Sometimes the car won't start for a sec, and then trying again in a few more seconds it'll start.

Yeah my issues were intermittent as well. Wouldn't be surprised if it isn't the harness. I am not sure if this is the part but the charge harness seems to be around $300 - 400. Verify the part #'s with your dealer obviously.

 

[Demonic]

Gotcha, LOL.

I might just have my dealership change out the harness to see if that'll do it, especially if it's cheaper. I'm outside of warranty and would much rather try the cheap stuff first, lol.

Something simple to try first - you can unplug the hall sensor plug on the positive cable next to your fuse box. It'll look like a plastic loop with a plug on it encircling one of the red cables. That will throw an internal BCM code but should disable the smart charging and lead to the alternator outputting 14V+. If with that unplugged, the voltage goes to 14V+, then it may help you isolate the problem.

 

[torque124]

Looks like I'll be needing a new alternator as well. But I'll definetely check under the hood to see if any cables are loose. This only happens to me when I get higher in the RPMs. Can't imagine that cables would get loose only temporarily for me unfortunately. :(

....but the vibrations from higher RPM's could shake them loose if not tight.. Check nonetheless.

 

[altjx]

....but the vibrations from higher RPM's could shake them loose if not tight.. Check nonetheless.

Yeah my tech checked to see if anything was loose when I brought it to his house for an oil change, and he didn't see anything. I can't believe the damn harness is $300-400? Isn't that the same price as the alternator itself?

 

[EF300]

Yeah my tech checked to see if anything was loose when I brought it to his house for an oil change, and he didn't see anything. I can't believe the damn harness is $300-400? Isn't that the same price as the alternator itself?

Not sure but in general harnesses are expensive.

 

[altjx]

Not sure but in general harnesses are expensive.

Damn!

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