Check Charging System message & Battery light lit

[Brian Gray]

I'm having a similar problem, battery light came on yesterday( 04 Expy, 5.4l ) stopped at O'Reilly auto, they tested battery and alternator output, all good, said battery (2 yr old Napa )needed a good charge. Put it on charger over nite, battery light still on, drove 18 miles to work, by the time I got to work lights were very dim, volt gauge bottomed out.
Had it towed home, started right up, put it back on charger, reads a full charge.
Now I'm scratching my head, battery connections tight and clean, nothing looks out of place.
Drive it for 10 minutes, lights go dim, Windows barely go up, wipers don't work..gauges stop working but engine still running, then everything brightens up , gauges work but tranny kicks in and out of drive....wth? If I turn off overdrive it shifts like normal , volt gauge back up to over half battery light not on.
This really has me stumped

I'm not sure on the shifting problem but in the process of trying to determine what was causing the check charging system error I blew two fuses.

Did you pull the body ground bolt and clean it? It may look clean on the outside but the part actually making contact may be corroded.

Did you check the positive and negative leads at the starter? Before I broke the post(it was really rusted) the starter was hanging up, sometimes it would start the truck, other times it would just "click"

I would just pull every connection and clean it regardless of how it looks and check all the fuses. That's the least expensive place to start

 

[Tazmangk]

I do have a multi meter and test light, looking at the alternator harness I discovered this....wondering why there is black tape here?? Maybe some corrosion underneath? Will look closer tomorrow after work....

 

[Adieu]

Yeah clean and sand connections to battery and body ground first

 

[stamp11127]

Nothing wrong with the idea of cleaning all the connections - but it doesn't tell you if you have a resistance problem with the cable.
With voltage drop testing you don't disturb any of the connections. The reading on the meter will tell you how resistive the connection is. Total circuit vd should be less than .5v

 

[NaviGatorHunter]

I'm having a similar problem, battery light came on yesterday( 04 Expy, 5.4l ) stopped at O'Reilly auto, they tested battery and alternator output, all good, said battery (2 yr old Napa )needed a good charge. Put it on charger over nite, battery light still on, drove 18 miles to work, by the time I got to work lights were very dim, volt gauge bottomed out.
Had it towed home, started right up, put it back on charger, reads a full charge.
Now I'm scratching my head, battery connections tight and clean, nothing looks out of place.
Drive it for 10 minutes, lights go dim, Windows barely go up, wipers don't work..gauges stop working but engine still running, then everything brightens up , gauges work but tranny kicks in and out of drive....wth? If I turn off overdrive it shifts like normal , volt gauge back up to over half battery light not on.
This really has me stumped

Im having th eexact same issue... 04 Lincoln Navigator

 

[Yupster Dog]

Im having th eexact same issue... 04 Lincoln Navigator

Old thread you should start a new one.
This might help,
https://www.expeditionforum.com/threads/correct-way-to-start-a-thread.47954/

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