Intermitant battery indicator light

[oae1993]

Hi All.....
I have an 2011 expedition EL.... recently the battery light next to the odometer started coming on... just for a few minutes, then it would go off again. I went to O'Reily and they checked the battery and the tester said it was a bad battery so I had it replaced. Now here a few weeks later, it's still coming on and off intermittently... anyone have this happen to them? Any ideas what it could be? I'm thinking maybe a bad connection somewhere or alternator.... the charging gauge reads normal all of the time. Thanks for any thoughts on this.

 

[DetroitDarin]

my vote is alternator - put multimeter on the battery while running; should see 14v or so.

 

[EliteFord]

Hi folks, had the battery light come on last night, then other dash lights starting coming on, pulled into a gas station, checked battery connections, seemed fine, pulled off to the side of gas station and let run in park while i called around on batteries. Went to buy a battery, which i knew was several years old, and would not come out of park. Had no choice but to turn off to try and start, and just clicked. Got a ride to get a new battery, came back and installed. Fired right up, still fired up today, seems to run fine, but battery light is still on.

So, i see multimeters from $10+. Can i just have a parts store test the alternators, or do i need to buy a multimeter of a certain quality to make it worth it?

thanks.

 

[Bedrck47]

EliteFord.

1st you posted in a thread that is almost 2 years old. You also didn't mention what year your expy is.
Yes you can just take it to a parts store and have the Alt. tested or you can purchase a decent multi-meter and test it yourself. If you use a meter connect it to the battery and you should see 12 plus volts then run the engine up to about 1500-2000 rpm's and you should see around 14 volts That would show that the Alt is charging the battery.

But since you didn't post the year of your expy we have no idea how old the Alt is or how many miles are on the expy. I would also say that if your over 120000 miles on the expy it may be time to consider replacing the Alt.

 

[skeeter]

I would check connections on the alternator and battery for being loose or corroded. Don't just inspect one end, check both sides.

 

[EliteFord]

ok, good thought. drove for most the day, started to see the battery indicator drop. rushed home and died going up driveway. I will check for loose connections. thanks.

 

[The Swagonmaster]

Also check your fan belt tightness, if the belt tensioner isn'the doing it's job the alternator will slip.

 

[EliteFord]

thanks for the tip. it feels tight, and will try and remember to check it again when installing. so the alternator just came in from rock auto, it is crazy cold out, but going to attempt the install the tomorrow. the shop says it is a one hour job. so...i will block out four hours lol.

I might be asking for help, keep those ears tuned lol.