(2006 Expedition, 194K miles)
A few months ago, I got my first "Check Charging System" error. It would come on intermittently, and go away when the engine revved up.
I took the alternator to the shop, surprisingly, it tested "OK."
The problem went away for a while. Recently it came back, only worse. I had bought a voltage meter that plugs into the cigarette lighter, so I could tell the battery was not getting charged at times (was sitting around 12V and then going lower).
Finally, on a long drive, it did us in and the battery got so low that the Expy died. The next day, I got a rebuilt alternator. Installed it without issues.
Fired up the Expy, the battery is charging no problem, but the "Check Charging System" still comes on. I look at the voltmeter, it is reading 13.4. I figure all the deep discharging damaged the battery.
I got a new one. Fine, now it charges to 14.2. "Check Charging System" now comes on every time I start the engine after it runs for approximately 15 seconds. However... the battery is staying charged at about 14V and when I measure the current from the alternator it is about 25A. When I switch on the lights, it jumps to 34A. It seems like everything is in fact working, but I'm still getting the "Check Charging System."
I borrowed the scanner from O'Reilly's and it only told me that I got error P0622-FF which isn't very specific as far as I can tell.
How risky is it to take the Expedition for a long drive tomorrow, and do you have any recommendations for figuring out what the root cause is?
Photos of scanner results here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/4y4t7ax4wbcmk32/Photo Jul 29, 7 23 23 PM.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/tuk6s85ttnk5b1o/Photo Jul 29, 7 23 35 PM.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/irzfep2fn7vvirv/Photo Jul 29, 7 26 34 PM.jpg?dl=0
A few months ago, I got my first "Check Charging System" error. It would come on intermittently, and go away when the engine revved up.
I took the alternator to the shop, surprisingly, it tested "OK."
The problem went away for a while. Recently it came back, only worse. I had bought a voltage meter that plugs into the cigarette lighter, so I could tell the battery was not getting charged at times (was sitting around 12V and then going lower).
Finally, on a long drive, it did us in and the battery got so low that the Expy died. The next day, I got a rebuilt alternator. Installed it without issues.
Fired up the Expy, the battery is charging no problem, but the "Check Charging System" still comes on. I look at the voltmeter, it is reading 13.4. I figure all the deep discharging damaged the battery.
I got a new one. Fine, now it charges to 14.2. "Check Charging System" now comes on every time I start the engine after it runs for approximately 15 seconds. However... the battery is staying charged at about 14V and when I measure the current from the alternator it is about 25A. When I switch on the lights, it jumps to 34A. It seems like everything is in fact working, but I'm still getting the "Check Charging System."
I borrowed the scanner from O'Reilly's and it only told me that I got error P0622-FF which isn't very specific as far as I can tell.
How risky is it to take the Expedition for a long drive tomorrow, and do you have any recommendations for figuring out what the root cause is?
Photos of scanner results here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/4y4t7ax4wbcmk32/Photo Jul 29, 7 23 23 PM.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/tuk6s85ttnk5b1o/Photo Jul 29, 7 23 35 PM.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/irzfep2fn7vvirv/Photo Jul 29, 7 26 34 PM.jpg?dl=0