Greetings everyone , need some help ...

After discovering the alternator was no longer supplying enough power to the charge battery , etc. ,on my Focus CC ,  I looked online and found a replacement. Halfords UK had one , so I called them and after asking several times if it was compatible , was assured yes , paid for it and arrived a day late.

A friend helped change it and the car started first time .

When I took a closer look at the one that was knackered , it said 12v , but the one Halfords UK lists and sold me is 14v. The battery is 12v. 

With the new alternator ( 14v ) , all sorts of warning lights and messages are appearing. Including battery , which under tension , reads 18.5v.

Will this be dangerous to drive or damage the car ???

Should I contact Halfords and see what they playing at ???

Most important, is safety at risk ? ... mine but first and foremost, others , if a system was to fail and I could loose control of the car ...

Any advise would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

 

Stop using it immediately, there's a big risk of damage.

When the alternator is not running a fully charged 12v battery should be reading around 12.6v. With the alternator running it should read around 14.4v.

I can't say whether or not the alternator is actually the wrong model, the 12v vs. 14v label may just be one manufacturer indicating the battery voltage it's designed to work with, whilst the other manufacturer decided to indicate the level of voltage expected to be output by the alternator itself.

A reading of 18v at the battery indicates a major malfunction. It may just simply be that you got a duff unit, new does not always mean good.

7 minutes ago, rd457 said:

Stop using it immediately, there's a big risk of damage.

When the alternator is not running a fully charged 12v battery should be reading around 12.6v. With the alternator running it should read around 14.4v.

I can't say whether or not the alternator is actually the wrong model, the 12v vs. 14v label may just be one manufacturer indicating the battery voltage it's designed to work with, whilst the other manufacturer decided to indicate the level of voltage expected to be output by the alternator itself.

A reading of 18v at the battery indicates a major malfunction. It may just simply be that you got a duff unit, new does not always mean good.

Thanks rd457 ... the malfunction messages and lights come and go , if that means anything ... 

A voltage of 18.5 volts I think could be terminal for the battery and other electronics if ignored. Should not be any more than 14.7 v unless on a smart charge system with efb or AGM batteries which yours wouldn’t be. Even then 15.2 is the limit where stop/start technology is involved.

messages given or diagnostic trouble codes through the obd socket can help determine the issue.

where all of a sudden multiple issues from what appears to be unrelated components, there are two common issues to check.

The instrument cluster solder issue and dampness in the Fusebox behind the dash.

I've no idea sorry, I've never experienced it, I just did a quick bit of googling. There seems to be a lot of confused info on the subject. One suggestion I came across was to check the battery in the multimeter to double check that it's not actually just a false reading, but you're getting a bunch of warnings, so something probably really is up with your system. Also there was a suggestion that a malfunction in the alternator;s voltage regulator is to blame and may or may not have overcharged the battery.

I'd disconnect that battery and either get advice from a mechanic on how best to proceed, or wait for members with much more knowledge on power issue like this than me to come along. Hopefully it's not destroyed anything.

Looking at your earlier posts, I see you’ve had power steering issues. My son’s 2008st had engine malfunction and power steering failure messages and limp home when his cluster joints failed. A slap on the dash above the instrument cluster (many times) enabled him to drive it 300 miles home.

As far as the alternator is concerned, I wonder if the 14v is a smart alternator for the stop/start vehicles and requires a battery monitor control to regulate the voltage which yours does not have.

not sure but worth considering

15 minutes ago, RL123 said:

A voltage of 18.5 volts I think could be terminal for the battery and other electronics if ignored. Should not be any more than 14.7 v unless on a smart charge system with efb or AGM batteries which yours wouldn’t be. Even then 15.2 is the limit where stop/start technology is involved.

messages given or diagnostic trouble codes through the obd socket can help determine the issue.

where all of a sudden multiple issues from what appears to be unrelated components, there are two common issues to check.

The instrument cluster solder issue and dampness in the Fusebox behind the dash.

Tx RL123 ... no error codes reported on a obd  machine . The different lights ( battery , lights , etc. ) come on than off .

The older alternator was tested by pro mechanic and he said was the alternator had gone.

 

3 minutes ago, RL123 said:

As far as the alternator is concerned, I wonder if the 14v is a smart alternator for the stop/start vehicles and requires a battery monitor control to regulate the voltage which yours does not have.

not sure but worth considering

No stop/start button . its a 2009 Focus CC .

 

7 minutes ago, Thee Weeder said:

No stop/start button . its a 2009 Focus CC . 

tx ...

 

 

21 minutes ago, RL123 said:

Looking at your earlier posts, I see you’ve had power steering issues. My son’s 2008st had engine malfunction and power steering failure messages and limp home when his cluster joints failed. A slap on the dash above the instrument cluster (many times) enabled him to drive it 300 miles home.

Great that you found that ... Im still a bit not used to this site .

the steering malfunction message comes and goes but the steering itself is working has it should .

After changing the alternator , it corrected itself .

That was the main reason that triggered the alternator change . Also had a pro guy tested the old alternator and said it eas gone . Did make a lot of noise and did not charge the battery .

tx for your help.   

My son’s st was the same, message but worked fine appart from limp home mode.

A hit on the dash above the cluster brought it back to life temporarily.

generic code readers will fail to read all dtcs on a Ford. Forscan and a laptop with a good elm327 is the best way to go.

Think you’ll need to get the correct alternator as well

Greetings everyone ... 

Yesterday I posted a help request regarding a 14v alternator . This was wrong . According to the alternator specs ***** , its 12v. My apologies for that ( specs ***** had slipped under one of the box's flaps ... someone told me about the 14v possibility ) .

The problem again :

Battery gives readings of 18v plus , under tension.

Multiple warning lights coming on , on dashboard instrument panel ( lights on flickering on/off , and others warning lights ). 

No error codes come up  on OBD .

Everything seems to be working ok.

Battery was fine , reading correct values before changing alternator.

 

When driving , everything seems fine ( even when error codes come up ) .

The battery warning light comes on , but goes off  , then on , then off ... same with other warning messages.

 

Thank you very much for any suggestions & thanks for yesterday's suggestions.

 

 

 

 

Could it be that the new alternator is faulty (voltage regulation issue) ?

If it is a smart alternator fitted to later vehicles, voltage is regulated I believe from the ecu and bms ( battery monitor sensor).

your vehicle I believe requires an alternator with rectifier and regulator built into the unit. I would Google the part number to check which unit you have.

Reply removed. I tried to reply to a new thread by this OP but the thread must have been removed as I was posting because I got an error message and my reply ended up here instead.

16 hours ago, Thee Weeder said:

Greetings everyone , need some help ...

After discovering the alternator was no longer supplying enough power to the charge battery , etc. ,on my Focus CC ,  I looked online and found a replacement. Halfords UK had one , so I called them and after asking several times if it was compatible , was assured yes , paid for it and arrived a day late.

A friend helped change it and the car started first time .

When I took a closer look at the one that was knackered , it said 12v , but the one Halfords UK lists and sold me is 14v. The battery is 12v. 

With the new alternator ( 14v ) , all sorts of warning lights and messages are appearing. Including battery , which under tension , reads 18.5v.

Will this be dangerous to drive or damage the car ???

Should I contact Halfords and see what they playing at ???

Most important, is safety at risk ? ... mine but first and foremost, others , if a system was to fail and I could loose control of the car ...

Any advise would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

 

Have you got the old alternator? If so what is the brand and part number.

What is the brand and part number of the new alternator?

If in your earlier post, you replaced the alternator because of the power steering error messages , you would have been having starting issues as well.

are you sure the old alternator wasn’t charging or was it just noisy bearings?.

 

Greetings RL123... the alternator was gone . I had tested by a professional mechanic. 

The label had fallen off , couldn't compare the two.

Did look ancient, meaning probably the original one .

The readings when measuring on the battery still very high but when .the car is running ( took it around the block to see if anything changed) this .time no warning lights ...

Thanks .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

19 hours ago, tomo2001 said:

Have you got the old alternator? If so what is the brand and part number.

What is the brand and part number of the new alternator? 

Greetings Tomo2001 ....

the label on the old alternator had fallen off ... 

Thanks for your help.

 

19 hours ago, tomo2001 said:

Have you got the old alternator? If so what is the brand and part number.

What is the brand and part number of the new alternator?

Greetings tomo2001 ... 

Part number : 401591731 brand Lucas . Found the specs sheet and its a 12v .( please disregard the original help request ... )

thanks for your help.

 

On 4/30/2023 at 11:48 AM, Jason87 said:

On an in between oil change? I changed the oil and filter in November on my mk2 tdci but wanted to treat it to some new oil soon but the filter is a bit fiddly. Is it ok to just change the oil and keep the current filter?

 

18 hours ago, RL123 said:

If in your earlier post, you replaced the alternator because of the power steering error messages , you would have been having starting issues as well.

are you sure the old alternator wasn’t charging or was it just noisy bearings?.

 

 

19 hours ago, tomo2001 said:

Have you got the old alternator? If so what is the brand and part number.

What is the brand and part number of the new alternator?

Greetings... there's no label on it . It looks like it's the original part ( looks old ) . It was tested by a mechanic and was not putting out a voltage . The battery kept on being " empty " and I wasn't able to start the car at all.

thanks for your help.

18 hours ago, RL123 said:

If in your earlier post, you replaced the alternator because of the power steering error messages , you would have been having starting issues as well.

are you sure the old alternator wasn’t charging or was it just noisy bearings?.

 

Greetings ... the alternator was dead. 

You are correct , I could not start the car at all .

thanks .

 

On 4/30/2023 at 8:47 PM, RL123 said:

My son’s st was the same, message but worked fine appart from limp home mode.

A hit on the dash above the cluster brought it back to life temporarily.

generic code readers will fail to read all dtcs on a Ford. Forscan and a laptop with a good elm327 is the best way to go.

Greetings... the error codes seem to have stopped but the high readings remain .

Car starts ok , drives ok ...

Thanks .