battery light

Alternator? YES, It very well "could" be.

There is no clearing of the red battery light.
It is giving you a warning something is wrong with the system. Usually insufficient charging

This guide can help us

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-check-a-car-alternator


If you have a Advance Auto Parts near you they will check the alternator free of charge.
Good Luck;
Rick

all the gauge lights came on and it completely drained my battery but the next day the car started without a battery jump but the battery light came on again and all the gauge lights started flickering again?

Hello,

It sounds like your battery is going bad here is a guide to help check it.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/car-battery-load-test

Please run down this guide and report back.

I had this problem, it was the battery FYI

driving home today the picture of the battery light was flasing on and off. looked in my book it says the battery is not charging correctly. What does this mean and whay should i do?

Have the charging system checked out could be the alternator on its way out

2003 Ford Explorer

This morning the charging system light came on in my 03 Explorer Sport when I was at a stop light. The light only comes on when I'm stopped. When I hit the gas it goes off. The battery is 3 years old and te gauge shows the charge to be low. Is this just time to change out the battery? Thank you in advance for any insight

Hi there, i would first have the alternator charge rate checked, this light is indication low battery charge rate.

mark (mhpautos)

The battery light is actually your charging indicator. It comes on when the electrical current coming from your charging system drops below the minimum required to keep everything running and keep your battery charged.
In most cases it is due to a bad alternator, but it can also be due to wiring or a bad connection. Usually your local parts store can run a charging system test for you, but taking the alternator off and having it bench tested is more accurate.
If the light is staying on, I wouldn't drive it. You are usually running only on battery power when this happens and, at best, a fully-charged battery will only get you about 30-40 minutes of drive time before it leaves you stranded.........

"S" & "I" CIRCUIT TEST Unplug regulator 3-wire harness connector. Connect jumper wire from harness "A" terminal to regulator "A" terminal. See Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 . Connect another jumper wire from regulator "F" terminal screw to generator housing. With engine idling, connect voltmeter negative lead to battery ground terminal. Connect voltmeter positive lead first to "S" terminal and then to "I" terminal of regulator harness connector. See Fig. 2 . Voltage at "S" terminal should be about 7 volts and about 14 volts at "I" terminal. If "S" terminal and "I" voltages are okay, replace voltage regulator. Repeat LOAD TEST. If "S" and "I" circuit voltages are not as specified, go to next step. If voltage is present at "S" terminal, but not 6-8 volts, replace generator. If no voltage is present at "S" terminal, disconnect one-wire connector ("S" terminal) on back of generator. Check voltage at single "S" terminal. If about 7 volts are present, repair "S" circuit wiring. If no voltage is present at single "S" terminal, replace generator. If no voltage is present at "I" terminal, repair indicator light wiring circuit. Restore wiring connections and repeat LOAD TEST. Fig. 2: Identifying Regulator Harness Connector Terminals

My battery light came on last night on my drive home. I had the lights on, and was listening to the radio. By the time I got home, the instrument panel was black and my lights and radio had shut off. Is this a battery problem, or something else?

Hi Jeff;
There is a very "high" possibility you have a problem with your alternator. Your ride home was solely dependent on the battery. Running lights, radio, etc. completely depleted the energy out of your battery.

Your alternator should have been supplying the needed power to the components instead of your battery.

If you have a Advance Auto Parts near you, the will check your alternator and battery free of charge.

I hope this information helped;
Rick

RickMar,
Same thing happened to me last night, but when I tried to start the car a little while later everything worked fine for about 10 minutes. The battery tested good . I left it overnight and and it started fine but then it sounded as if the electrical was cycling and the lights were going off and on and the dash insturments were not working.
Any idea's?

mxbrand

2002 Ford Explorer XLT 79,000 miles.My battery light was on this morning and I drove around 5 miles and all my electrical started failing. I drove as far as I could and it finally went totally dead and unable to restart. We replaced the altenator and battery and everything "seems" fine except the battery light won't go off. No codes showed up using a scanner. I have only driven 4-5 miles at a time with no problems and I'm afraid of a repeat if I go much further.The battery was only 2 years old and was not tested but was fully replaced under warranty.Did not have the altenator tested before replacing either.Also,is there a chance I damaged anything else? (fuel pump etc...) Do you know where my fuel filter is located?Two lube shops could not find it. Great forum, Thanks.

[quote:a326fc225f="luckeytango"]2002 Ford Explorer XLT 79,000 miles.My battery light was on this morning and I drove around 5 miles and all my electrical started failing. I drove as far as I could and it finally went totally dead and unable to restart. We replaced the altenator and battery and everything "seems" fine except the battery light won't go off. No codes showed up using a scanner. I have only driven 4-5 miles at a time with no problems and I'm afraid of a repeat if I go much further.The battery was only 2 years old and was not tested but was fully replaced under warranty.Did not have the altenator tested before replacing either.Also,is there a chance I damaged anything else? (fuel pump etc...) Do you know where my fuel filter is located?Two lube shops could not find it. Great forum, Thanks.[/quote:a326fc225f]

First off, with the battery light, I think you did everything correct. It sounds like the altenator you installed is not turning off the battery light. According to the diagram, power is supplied to the charge light from the hot bus thru the ignition switch. It gets its ground thru the Altenator. When the altenator produces power, the internal logic removes the ground for the charge light indicating the system is charging normally. I would have the altenator and battery tested at your local parts store, and if they check normal, replace the altenaor with your warrenty.
On a side note, I woudl check all of the connections including the grounds for your battery, and engine ground for corrosion and tightness. Some times when things are not grounded properly, weird symptoms do occur.
Looks like the filter should be located near the tank on the side of the aft support beam.

i have replace alt battery light still on.charging 110 amps 14.79 volts battery tests good.have P1246 code.possible pcm not turning on ???

We need to test a few things. 1) Turn the ignition off. 2) Disconnect alt connector 3) With the engine running, check voltage between harness ( I ) and ground. See picture:

Is the voltage between 8 and 10 volts? If yes, the alt is bad. If no, do the following: 1) Turn the ignition off. 2) Disconnect PCM connector A 3) Measure the resistance between alt connector I and the harness side of the PCM connector A terminal 8.

Is the resistance less than 5 ohms? If no, repair the light green / red wire. If yes, do the following: 1) Measure the resistance between alt connector, I, harness side and ground. Is the resistance greater than 10,000 ohms? If yes, replace the PCM. If no, repair the circuit. Let me know if this helps. Joe

Electrical problem
2000 Ford Explorer 6 cyl Two Wheel Drive Automatic
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has new alt. new battery why is light still on

Check fuse no.15 7.5amp and alternator system fuse 30amp. and double check all connections-also see below

Recently took a trip to visit the family and was towing a small trailer. No problems getting there but on trip back the charge indicator started to drop and finally hit bottom, battery indicator light came on then all gauges dropped, radio and lights stopped working. Stopped and bought new battery and replaced the altenator. Started up fine but battery indicator light kept blinking. Made the trip back (3hours) started doing the same thing all over again 2 miles from home and made it to the driveway before explorer completely shut down. Don't know what to do or check next. Thanks.

Do as the following.
Start the vehicle and wait for the engine warm up a little bit, then remove the possitive terminal. If the engine stops instantly, you will know for sure that the altenator you have been replaced is still bad. The other way you can check while the engine is running is if the altenator voltage is reading at 14v-14.5v with the battery terminal on the battery. If the charger voltage is dropped down below 14v, you know for sure that the charger is bad.
The problem you have seem to be a bad charger problem.
Good luck,
Tran

I was driving in a parking lot last night going about 10 mph, when all of a sudden my car just shut off totally. lights and radio stayed on, but the engine just turned off. on the dash i had an orange check engine light and a red battery light on. I put it in park and it started up strong as usual. but then the rpms began to flutter in the low range ( below 2000 rPm) the lights flickered also, not off, but like they werent getting as much power as usual. when I keep the rPms above 2000, the the truck runs like normal, it is just when i dont that it will shut itself down.

Any ideas? thank you

check for vacuum leaks
check pcv valve vacuum line by the throttle body
check and make sure battery terminals tight and clean

I replaced battery and belt and alternater [2] and checked wire from alt. and all fuses light stays on. Alt. is putting out 14.5 volts. How do I get light out?

Could be a problem with the powertrain control module field generation circuitry-see below