Hey all, Merry Christmas!!!,

I have been experiencing an issue with my SRT6 in the last few weeks which is becoming REALLY bizarre.

Everything runs normally until my engine RPM rapidly goes above 3,000. Then I get a charge/battery indicator on the dash. Sometimes it goes away, sometimes it stays on.

I had O'Reilly test the charging system and they found the battery capacity was only about 200 amps. Could not find anything wrong with the Alternator during the test.

I have replaced the battery due to it being the factory unit (nearly 7 years old now). I also replaced the serpentine belt as it had nearly 40,000 miles on it. Probably due.

Now... I still have this issue. I have tested the vehicle with my own meter. I get 12.7VDC with the engine off and 13.85-13.87VDC with the engine running. Just now, after the new battery on my way home from dropping off the old one for the core charge, when I used a lower gear to ramp it up quickly and the charge/battery indicator lit up.

I tested it in the driveway just now and with the car in park and revving quickly to 3,000+ RPM... No change, no indicator. Of course, when I WANT it to misbehave.

So, the question remains, if this continues to occur, would the Generator/Alternator be suspect or possibly the belt tensioner?

Maybe I should wait a day or two for consistent results?

I look forward to the knowledge flood...

p.s. - Last radiation treatment tomorrow and I'm done! YAY!

 

If it's only doing it above 3,000rpm it sounds more like the belt might be slipping. Have you checked the belt tension?

 

I really can't see it being your belt or tensioner unless you could hear the belt squealing at times. If possible, you need to hook up a volt meter while driving and see what voltage you are at when the light comes on. Even then, a good reading wouldn't rule out a bad diode in the alternator at high rpms.

James

 

I'm assuming you had the charge/batt indicator happening before the belt change.

It's always possible the belt was the fix, but maybe it's starting to slip at the higher rev's.

Couldn't hurt to go back in and check, or re-tension.

Not sure about the alternator, but I'm guessing if borderline, you might see some indication when toggling power for things like high beams, or windows.

I hate when crap like this is intermittant, fixing is so much easier when it fails hard...

 

My guess is that the voltage regulator is faulty, as you know this is bolted onto the back of the alternator/generator and can be replaced separately.

 

^^^ I agree with 180 on the possible voltage regulator..... running on a bad battery can take out the regulator.....
though the belt could be slipping at high rpm....and not necessarily squealing that you could hear... look for black dust around the pulleys from the belt...

 

Please be sure to keep us posted and best wishes and prayers for completing the treatments.

 

Well, so far this evening's outing for dinner resulted in NO charge/battery indicator. Even under hard acceleration and rapid RPM rise above 3,000.

I DID actually notice some black dust on the engine cover and air filter covers as they are silver and show it very easily. I believe the old belt was probably silently slipping. The new belt may have been slipping until it had one or two days of hard accelerations to warm it up, seat properly and get more flexible. They are pretty stiff out of the cardboard holder.

I will continue to monitor it throughout the week.

Thanks to all for your input.

 

voltage regulator went on my Harley a month or so ago...same symptoms. If the your battery doesn't get re-charged consistantly, or if your battery is over working the alternator because it is faulty, both can cause this problem. Ruin a battery or ruin an alternator. Checking the voltage from the alternator to see if it is working is where I would start...you already replaced the belt and the battery, so that is all that is left. The battery needed replaced, and very well might be why your voltage regulator/alternator is shot. Good luck, I know you will figure it out.

And, the a slipping belt could cause all this to start with. Overworking the alternator, never really fully charging the battery. An old battery is harder for the alternator to charge to begin with....it all snow *****. I put in new batteries every couple of years in my daily driver, and a maintainer on the XF's...

 

One other thing, the last time I took voltage readings across the Battery with the engine running, my voltmeter read in the area of 14.5 volts.

Your reading across the batt indicates a high 13v when running, which looks pretty darn close to average.

Is it possible that a slight difference as this is the culprit...???

I lean towards belt slip at high rev, but the regulator is a cheap easy project, so I would certainly go there if I ran out of tricks...

 

I'm with the regulator on this one ,I have had the same situation with My Edge . finally when it went south , Ford just put a new Alt, on it. But who knows it could be the cup holder conflicting good luck and keep us posted what the final outcome is....

 

The cheap Bosch voltage regulator you see on Ebay and online stores for about $45 will not fit your SRT(Valeo) alternator. I tried, no go.
I looked and could not find a replacement regulator for under $145.
Good luck MMZ.

 

Thanks everyone,

Another update as of this afternoon. I had the SRT out for about 60 miles of driving today. Some hard, some normal. Not once did the charge/battery indicator light come on.

I'm leaning towards belt seating over a few days as the last of it.

Again, I'll keep an eye on it. If it comes down to it I'll replace the alternator. But, until it fails hard, it would have to come out of my pocket as the 7 year 100k mile warranty would probably cost me more if I can't get them to find anything wrong. ($50 deductible for the repair, IF they can find it.)

Cheers!

 

Update,

This morning the charge/battery indicator lit immediately when the vehicle was started and stayed lit. So I guess it finally failed completely.

Going to pick up a new generator/alternator from O'Reilly Auto Parts in about 10 minutes. Will put it in this afternoon when the engine cools.

Will take pictures while changing it out and start a new thread.

 

...............happens.....lol.....at least you weren't stranded...