Check charging system fault

[CoryP.]

Hey yall!

I have a 2013 Explorer 3.5NA with 192,000 miles. Every morning when I start it up cold I get the check charging system indicator on the dash. Sometimes if I sit there in the driveway for a few minutes it will go away after working the wheel back and forth. Possibly just a coincidence with turning the wheel. Other times I will just muscle it and get on the interstate and the indicator will go away after about 10 miles. After the indicator goes off I have zero issues. The car runs great. Get to work and shut it down and when I go out about six hours later for lunch the light comes on for about 2 minutes and then goes away. I've brought it to the dealer. They replaced the battery under warranty. But they told me that they can't troubleshoot the issue if the indicator is off. By the time I get to the dealership the indicator is always off. Does anyone have any experience with this or any thoughts?

 

[blwnsmoke]

Why aren't you leaving it with them if it does it every morning and everytime it sits for a day?

Rent a car for $35 if you need to for a 24 hour period.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! Remove the alternator, and have an auto parts store check the alternator when the part is cold. It seems like it has to reach a certain temperature to work correctly. Maybe it has an issue with the voltage regulator or an internal diode.

 

[boominXplorer]

Replace the belt, others have had this same issue when raining or cold. With 192k mi the belt probably wants to be replaced anyway.

 

[peterk9]

Welcome to the Forum Cory.
If you don't know what the issue is and don't want to just start changing parts, I would go along with the suggestion made by blwnsmoke. Good luck and please don't forget to report back. Thanks.

Peter

 

[Sixonemale]

Hey yall!

I have a 2013 Explorer 3.5NA with 192,000 miles.

Cory, Wow, 192,000 miles, that's a lot for this generation of Explorer. Assuming you owned it for 6 - 7 years, that's about 32,000 miles per year for 6 years and 27,400 miles per year for seven years, certainly some highway miles. With that many miles which is the most I've seen in this forum, what kind of big ticket maintenance issues have you experienced? Water pump, timing chain or transmission replaced, etc.? How often have you replace your coolant, etc. I'm simply curious what kind of maintenance issues you experienced in your journey to 192,000 miles if you are the only owner. TIA

 

[peterk9]

Cory, you want to consider posting in this thread; enough doom and gloom, lets hear some high mileage, reliable 5th gen. stories.

Peter

 

[Sixonemale]

Cory, you want to consider posting in this thread; enough doom and gloom, lets hear some high mileage, reliable 5th gen. stories.

Peter

Peter, Before Cory post in your suggested thread, it may be prudent to understand if Cory was the only owner, in addition to what type of maintenance was done on his 3.5 NA Explorer.

 

[CoryP.]

Im the second owner. I purchased it from my company who was using it as a corporate vehicle. I have complete maintenance records on It from the date it was purchased. Nothing major has ever been done to the vehicle aside from basic maintenance and replacing the belt and Battery.

 

[Sixonemale]

Im the second owner. I purchased it from my company who was using it as a corporate vehicle. I have complete maintenance records on It from the date it was purchased. Nothing major has ever been done to the vehicle aside from basic maintenance and replacing the belt and Battery.

Albeit lots of highway miles in generally a warm climate, that's a lot of miles. If it were me, I would proactively change out the water pump and at the same time have the timing chain and accessories inspected, in addition to replacing other components like the the spark plugs, serpentine belt, etc., since they will be easily accessed due to the other work.

 

[CoryP.]

Water pump is internal. Not an easy job lol.

 

[RickMD]

So I just started getting this warning, but the battery is only 2 years old. Originally thought it could be the alternator, but the AC and power steering goes out with the warning, so that has me a bit stumped. Any ideas?
Thanks guys!

 

[peterk9]

Did you happen to have it scanned for a possible trouble code? That code might help in determining the problem. Haven't heard of the power steering going out before with that particular warning. I could see the A/C being cut off if indeed it is a low battery situation but then you should also get a low battery type of warning on the MFT screen when you shut the ignition OFF. BTW, it seems that the age of a battery with these vehicles doesn't really mean that much. It is always a good place to start looking.

Peter

 

[RickMD]

Did you happen to have it scanned for a possible trouble code? That code might help in determining the problem. Haven't heard of the power steering going out before with that particular warning. I could see the A/C being cut off if indeed it is a low battery situation but then you should also get a low battery type of warning on the MFT screen when you shut the ignition OFF. BTW, it seems that the age of a battery with these vehicles doesn't really mean that much. It is always a good place to start looking.

Peter

Just got it home now. Going to put the code reader on it and will update

 

[RickMD]

Just got it home now. Going to put the code reader on it and will update

Also, the power save mode does not come on when shutting off the ignition.

Did you happen to have it scanned for a possible trouble code? That code might help in determining the problem. Haven't heard of the power steering going out before with that particular warning. I could see the A/C being cut off if indeed it is a low battery situation but then you should also get a low battery type of warning on the MFT screen when you shut the ignition OFF. BTW, it seems that the age of a battery with these vehicles doesn't really mean that much. It is always a good place to start looking.

Peter

started in the driveway and put the code reader on. As I did the serpentine belt shredded. I’m assuming now that it was slipping causing the warning to come in, and the AC to go out. Still not sure why the power steering was quitting too. Just glad it happened in the driveway and not highway.

 

[Snoopyto]

Also, the power save mode does not come on when shutting off the ignition.

started in the driveway and put the code reader on. As I did the serpentine belt shredded. I’m assuming now that it was slipping causing the warning to come in, and the AC to go out. Still not sure why the power steering was quitting too. Just glad it happened in the driveway and not highway.

Venting here:

I got the charge light and when it happened, the BMS started shutting things down, to include radio, climate, and the Electric Assist on the steering. I replaced the alternator with reman, but ended with a bad one. It would output voltage and then stop. So now I get the. Check charge system light, but it doesn’t start shutting stuff down as the battery is not being significantly depleted.

My 2.0 explorer has 312K on it. Biggest issues has been replacing the Turbo twice and harmonic balancer going out. I am hoping to get to 500K and then maybe the Expeditions will improve mileage and I can make the wife happy again with another land tank.

 

[Vicsan8045]

Anyone have any advice for a 2012 Ford Explorer have the “check charging system” light on comes on immediately after a start maybe 10-20seconds sometimes the lights go crazy already replaced alternator (oem) battery , belt, circuit breaker assembly on positive terminal and nothing seems to work

 

[peterk9]

Welcome to the Forum.
Judging by previous posts, if the dash lights go crazy, the problem is usually the battery. Have you checked the connections of the battery cables to ensure they are tight and that the posts are clean?

Peter

 

[Fungus88]

2012 Ford Explorer XLT 171,000+ miles

Two weeks ago, I started my car in the morning (temps were cooler low 40s) and immediately upon starting the "Check Charging System" light comes on. It started right up, no hesitation, headlights appeared to be normal, radio didn't cut out, etc. So I proceeded down the drive way & within maybe a minute or so, the light went off. Subsequent starts that day did not replicate the problem.
However, everyday (except two) it has done the same thing every morning. The two days that it throw the dash light, I unplugged my phone charger, that I admittedly always leave plugged in. I thought I was on to something. Then one morning the light comes on, doesn't immediately go off & I noticed my power steering had went out. Drove it about 30 yards and the light went out & power steering went back to normal. This morning the same thing happened, except the light stayed on for about 10 minutes & the power steering was out as well - I decided to just park it and take a different vehicle.

Things I've done within this two week timespan - originally I stopped at Advance Auto & had the battery tested. Reading was normal, per the employee.

Went to the shop where I purchased the battery because I couldn't remember when I bought it. It's less than a year old. They also tested the battery/alternator - he said he would assume it's an alternator issue but recommended taking it to the Ford dealership.

I had a friend take a look... Readings were slightly low but within parameters. Also tested with the radio, AC/heat, seat heaters, flashers, headlights on - same result. He said the belt looks fine (that was replaced about three years ago). Put it up on the lift and nothing jumped out at him that could be the issue.

My dad checked it because that's what dads do. Same result.

I'm not looking to dump endless money into the vehicle, I'd prefer not to replace part by part hoping to find the issue. If that's the case, I'll just get rid of it. I'm taking it by a shop that specializes in electric work, he wants to test it & go from there. I also scheduled something for Thursday, he's going to hook it up and see if there's anything in the history but he isn't hopeful. He said the next step would be leaving it overnight and he would test it in the morning when the problem is actually happening.

Ideas? It's beyond frustrating & I really don't know **** about cars.

 

[Sixonemale]

Water pump is internal. Not an easy job lol.

Fully understand, hence the reason I mentioned getting other things done at the same time since majority of labor has already been paid for. I'm sure you are aware of the potential consequences should the water pump leak internally into the engine oil.