grrrrrrr check charging system

[willy85]

i checked countless grounds replaced my alternater, changed my belt, and searched around on here and my check charging system still pops on and off, over bumps cold warm doesnt matter and the battery is fine. i have an 05 4.0 xlt. its driving me nuts any advice?

 

[jakedrew]

still on the original battery? Look to see if the little window on the battery has the green ball showing or red(bad).

 

[willy85]

ya the battery is fine its the original but it is in the green. im sooo stumped on this, the damn stealership couldnt even figure it out, they gave me the ole its your belt its your alternater after i just changed both out lol. help help SOS lol

 

[rrocke17]

I'm having the same issue. Get any resolution?

thanks

 

[willy85]

Nope nothing yet and it piss's me off lol! Still happens periodicly rain or shine, let me know if you find anything out and ill do the same. Sorry I couldn't help

 

[rrocke17]

My nephew just started working for Ford recently. He has never heard of this.
His best guess is something in the harness connector at or near the alternator that is intermittent when the engine kicks, like when it's shifting.


??????

 

[willy85]

Hmmm ya because I have a brand new battery and alternater and new belts, I wonder if we have to change out the whole harness because all my connections are tight n secure

 

[imp]

........ all my connections are tight n secure

That does not guarantee they are electrically good though. This sounds like a problem, if it is in a connector, with one of the connections which carries low current, not the main Alt. feed, which would quickly get hot and worsen it's own condition if it were opening and closing it's circuit periodically. One thing you could try would be to disconnect connectors and squirt some NoAlox into the female parts, then re-connect them. This stuff is not a conductive material, but "lubricates" connections to prevent oxidation and subsequent huigh-resistance connections between the pins. It's original purpose is to provide lubricity for aluminum conductor connections, and prevent oxidation.

How long does the charging system remain inoperative (light on)? Just seconds at a time? imp

 

[willy85]

yes it just flashes

 

[Ronin8002]

I got this too yesterday...it just flashed at me a few times and beeped after driving on the highway...no rain.

After parking the car for a few hours...started up and it did it again soon after.

Oddly enough my "change oil soon" alert came up, which was weird because I just changed it last week and made sure to reset that function.

It also turned off my backup sensor.

Battery is fine...12.5 volts with the engine off....13.6-14 volts engine running.

 

[willy85]

Hmm funny you say that because it is making my cruise control work only when it wants to, I even wrote a post I think about why my cruise didn't work. But on saturday my check charging system flashed a few times then stayed on then off again and I decided to try the cruise again and whala it worked. So makes me a little more angy lol, sprayed my connections and still no luck what's next?

 

[rrocke17]

isuue and warning lights got worse.

Changed battery and alt. Car happy again!

 

[willy85]

alternater is new have the stock battery from 05 but the indicater is still in the green

 

[Fragger]

Well darn....was hoping to find some answers in this forum, but I see everyone is having the same problem with no resolution.

Just to add a little bit to the conversation. I have '05 Explorer. The alarm would "blip" once every 6 months or so. Now it comes on every other time I drive the vehicle. I too have checked the battery and alternator and everything checks out fine. Plan on checking all the wiring next, but it sounds like some have tried that already.

 

[waskly]

ya the battery is fine its the original but it is in the green. im sooo stumped on this, the damn stealership couldnt even figure it out, they gave me the ole its your belt its your alternater after i just changed both out lol. help help SOS lol

the eye ball is one of 6 cells in the battery, which means that cell is good not the battery. get the battery tested.

on a side note. check charging throws pcm codes what codes does the car have.

 

[Ronin8002]

That's the odd thing...at least in my case I have no codes at all!

Just getting the alarm flashing intermittently from time to time...the alarm and message itself flicker on and off...almost like there's a loose or corroded connection somewhere.

 

[waskly]

That's the odd thing...at least in my case I have no codes at all!

Just getting the alarm flashing intermittently from time to time...the alarm and message itself flicker on and off...almost like there's a loose or corroded connection somewhere.

pull the ic out, behind it check the connector, i seen a few turn green...

 

[Ronin8002]

IC is what part?

 

[jrford]

i think he means the silver thing on the back of the alternator, not 100%.

When you guys replaced the alternator was it a Reman or New?

Several months ago the battery failed several months back so i replaced it. A couple of weeks later it acted like it was going out again. Dash, radio would turn off etc. But never a 'check charging' light. So i checked the voltage 11.8v running, 12.2volts off. Figured it was the alternator so i bought a Re-man, which worked fine for several months

Then about two weeks ago on a trip up north, of course the 'check charging' message started flashed, of course at the end of the 3 hour trip. It would flash on for a minute or two then always turned off for an hour or two, then flash again, bumps seemed to turn it off for some reason. I figured it was the reman alternator, so when i got home i replaced it with a new one and all was fine.

What i guess is happening is during the re-manufacture process they normally only replace the brushes and bearings and if the output is correct that's it. Only if it fails the voltage/load test is the voltage regulator replaced is my guess. Since is seems intermittent they may miss the faulty one, perhaps, with a new one its less likely to happen. After replacing over a dozen or so alternators over the years i've had to return the Re-Mans 30% of the time.

 

[waskly]

IC is what part?

ic == instrument cluster.