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Service Charging System Now


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So, getting this message randomly. Not persistent and battery voltage is fine. Scenario goes as follows, get in Edge, drive to work, 3 miles into drive, “service charging system now!” Pops up and battery icon stays lit on dash. I start to monitor battery via obd device and all is good. 15 miles down the road “service charging system now!” Pops back up and battery icon on dash goes away. This does not happen every trip and the vehicle has shown zero issues starting or functioning. I’m leaning towards changing the alternator since I am at 104,000 miles. Just wondering if anyone else has run into this or if there is something else I should look into.

 

 

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I have not heard of this on a Gen 2 yet for any reason other than the battery.

 

I would check cold cranking amps first.  i assume no codes are read by a scan tool.

 

the "smart system" will automatically regulate how much it is charging based on what the battery will accept.  that could be one problem.

 

are you anywhere in the recent snowstorm/deep freeze areas?  that will affect battery ability to accept charge.

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Based on the troubleshooting omar302 posted, it makes sense to check the alternator connections for corrosion. 

 

Corrosion or a poor connection can definitely cause an intermittent fault condition. Wouldn't hurt to pull the connector and spray out with some electronics cleaner.

 

(This is my goto):

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BXOGNI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_71AA7AFNDSCMFCNT55GJ

 

How's the condition of the alternator belt and tensioner? Reason I asked is, if loose or weak, may not be holding when the system is calling for a heavy load (like cooling fans and the like). 

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Since CCAs are determined at 0F, 50F is a good ways away from testing the battery SoC.  I would still get a tester for the battery like the Solar BA9 and have at it.  the only way to test the alternator is on the bench.  you could make do with an amp meter that has bluetooth and measure it actively while driving with different loads on it.

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On 2/21/2021 at 7:58 AM, WWWPerfA_ZN0W said:

Since CCAs are determined at 0F, 50F is a good ways away from testing the battery SoC.  I would still get a tester for the battery like the Solar BA9 and have at it.  the only way to test the alternator is on the bench.  you could make do with an amp meter that has bluetooth and measure it actively while driving with different loads on it.


I got this thing, now how do I use it

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there may be PIDs for Gen 2 to monitor battery charging, as there are for Gen 1.5.  If the SoC PID shows less than 100%, you know you have a problem.  I do not recall if amp flow is also available as one of the PIDs.

 

I use this basic amp meter w BT to measure on our vehicles.  I have to yet to do it while driving/putting different loads on the vehicle, but it works.

https://smile.amazon.com/Multimeter-HOLDPEAK-Auto-ranging-Resistance-Capacitance/dp/B08HLPHG8Z/

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