Bought a Focus back in November, but in the past few months I’ve been getting a “Charging System Fault - Service Now” message. 

This message seems to appear very randomly; might go a few days without this alert showing up and then sometimes it will happen multiple times in one day. 
 

Ive plugged an OBD2 reader in and checked the voltage level when car is started etc and it always seems to be a good level (somewhere between 13-14V).
 

I’ve taken the car into the dealership and was told that they “Re-tensioned the multi plug at the alternator.” I’m assuming they believed this plug was loose, but even since then I’ve still been having the alert showing up.

Does anyone have any experience with this or have any idea what could be causing this? My thoughts are that there’s something that’s causing this sensor to set off the alert even when there is no problem, maybe a loose connection or bad ground somewhere?

Bumping thread

The SOC state of charge sensor connected in the negative lead just before the battery is known to cause issues on 2019 models. There is a replacement sensor available which seems to sort the problem. 

See also this video on the sensor 

https://youtu.be/t0PAZMsK9Go

 

*UPDATE*
 

So I had car booked in to be diagnosed at Ford Garage this morning, and just so happens that today of all days I’ve also had a solid Check Engine light come up alongside my Charging System red battery light...🤣

 

I plugged OBD2 reader in and got the following error code: P0131 - O2 Sensor Circuit Low Voltage, Bank 1 Sensor 1

 

Also, my Ford Pass app alerted showing 4 different errors:

1. ‘Engine Control System detected issue with one of the exhaust emission sensors and assosciated wiring.’

2. ‘Engine control system has detected an internal fault with modules ability to properly control the fuel injectors.’

2. ‘PCM has lost communication with vehicle active grill shutter module for a period of time. Additional alerts may accompany this alert when fault occurs.’

4. ‘Powertrain control system detected it is unable to move the active grill shutter.’

I wonder if it’s likely that all of these issues could all be related. Bad wiring somewhere has been causing the Battery Light to come on, and now another wire or sensor has become faulty and caused the Engine Light to come on? 

I will update post again later when I hear something from the Garage.

 

On 5/30/2021 at 12:28 AM, unofix said:

The SOC state of charge sensor connected in the negative lead just before the battery is known to cause issues on 2019 models. There is a replacement sensor available which seems to sort the problem. 

See also this video on the sensor 

https://youtu.be/t0PAZMsK9Go

 

Interesting, I wasn't aware of that.

I have just checked and I have the old version SOC sensor and wondering if its worth changing.

Out of interest what version do you have on your vehicle ?

 

Hi, I also have the old version. These days my Stop/Start system no longer works which is fine by me so I will keep the old sensor. 

I had this problem on my Focus Vignale it started the day after I picked the car up NEW in Sep 2019 the car went back to my local Dealership on quite a few occasions but  nothing was ever sorted long term and the Charging System Fault message would always come back sometimes within a week or less and as you say very random in frequency I think the most I had in one day was 8 times. I had more or less resigned myself to the fact that I would live with it until I could realistically let the car go when it was 2 or 3 years old as it was not stopping me using the car it was just annoying that the Start/Stop would not work (no big deal) the keyless locking on the passenger door would not work and the Radio would only stay on for a few minutes without the engine running.

I had thought for a while that it could be the Sensor on the Negative Battery Lead that was causing the problem and so in April this year I had a chat with Nick at my local Ford Dealership's Parts Dept and told him what I suspected and asked if he could order me a new one which was about £78.00 he did check the system to see if there had been a Recall for this part but nothing was showing but he did confirm that if a new part was ordered it would be an updated one so this made me believe that I was correct about this Negative Battery Lead causing the problem however Nick convinced me not to spend my own money but instead to book the car into Service again as it is still under warranty and insist that they get to the bottom of the problem which I did and it finally got fixed.

I WAS WRONG it was actually the Positive Battery Lead which contains a Fuse Block which had destroyed itself and in doing so had got hot enough to melt a hole in the Red Battery Terminal Cover.

Since April everything seems to work as it should and no Charging System Fault Message  when I say everything the Start/Stop works perfectly some days after less than half a mile and other days not at all but I can live without it anyway so here's hoping its fixed for good 🤞 

15 hours ago, Midgeman said:

I had this problem on my Focus Vignale it started the day after I picked the car up NEW in Sep 2019 the car went back to my local Dealership on quite a few occasions but  nothing was ever sorted long term and the Charging System Fault message would always come back sometimes within a week or less and as you say very random in frequency I think the most I had in one day was 8 times. I had more or less resigned myself to the fact that I would live with it until I could realistically let the car go when it was 2 or 3 years old as it was not stopping me using the car it was just annoying that the Start/Stop would not work (no big deal) the keyless locking on the passenger door would not work and the Radio would only stay on for a few minutes without the engine running.

I had thought for a while that it could be the Sensor on the Negative Battery Lead that was causing the problem and so in April this year I had a chat with Nick at my local Ford Dealership's Parts Dept and told him what I suspected and asked if he could order me a new one which was about £78.00 he did check the system to see if there had been a Recall for this part but nothing was showing but he did confirm that if a new part was ordered it would be an updated one so this made me believe that I was correct about this Negative Battery Lead causing the problem however Nick convinced me not to spend my own money but instead to book the car into Service again as it is still under warranty and insist that they get to the bottom of the problem which I did and it finally got fixed.

I WAS WRONG it was actually the Positive Battery Lead which contains a Fuse Block which had destroyed itself and in doing so had got hot enough to melt a hole in the Red Battery Terminal Cover.

Since April everything seems to work as it should and no Charging System Fault Message  when I say everything the Start/Stop works perfectly some days after less than half a mile and other days not at all but I can live without it anyway so here's hoping its fixed for good 🤞 

Oh wow that’s not good 😮

Glad everything seems to be working now, fingers crossed everything stays that way 🤞🏼

Another quick UPDATE

Dealer phoned and said problem is much bigger than first anticipated. Said that there’s a major fault with the PCM & asosciated wiring. Whether that means the PCM is faulty OR just the wiring, I’m not 100% sure at the moment.

They’ve ordered the parts required and have told me car will be kept over the weekend until Monday.

Will update again with final outcome when I find out 👍🏼

2 hours ago, Gregorb97 said:

Another quick UPDATE

Dealer phoned and said problem is much bigger than first anticipated. Said that there’s a major fault with the PCM & asosciated wiring. Whether that means the PCM is faulty OR just the wiring, I’m not 100% sure at the moment.

They’ve ordered the parts required and have told me car will be kept over the weekend until Monday.

Will update again with final outcome when I find out 👍🏼

This sounds exactly like mine as my Dealership told me it was a potentially serious problem (possible fire risk perhaps?)keep us informed.