Does anyone have experience of the above warning notification appearing randomly ?

It first appeared in December 2025 and then nothing until last week, the battery is holding a charge and the alternator is working ok.

Any ideas please on what to check ?

Thank you

Hi Mark,

As you've been on here for a while, did you ever get Forscan? That's the best way to determine the cause of this warning message. Generic OBD2 won't show it.

What's the resting voltage of the battery first thing in the morning? And how do you know the alternator is working ok? These are very sensitive to battery voltage and they use variable rate charging so the conventional tests aren't enough to confirm good order nowadays.

Good morning Tom.

Long time no speak 😀

I haven't acquired for scan, mainly because I'm a bit too old and dense to understand how to work it..🤔

The battery is at 13.2 volts first thing in the morning after no driving use but a good charge the day before.

I put a volt meter across the terminals with the engine running and it's showing 14.4 volts, so I think it's charging ok.

The car doesn't cover many miles, under 2000 in fact since new, so I compensate for that by charging the battery frequently.

This issue first occurred in December 2025 and never again until very recently.

I think it's dodgy wiring ?

20 minutes ago, MONDEO TXS 2.2 said:

Good morning Tom.

Long time no speak 😀

I haven't acquired for scan, mainly because I'm a bit too old and dense to understand how to work it..🤔

The battery is at 13.2 volts first thing in the morning after no driving use but a good charge the day before.

I put a volt meter across the terminals with the engine running and it's showing 14.4 volts, so I think it's charging ok.

The car doesn't cover many miles, under 2000 in fact since new, so I compensate for that by charging the battery frequently.

This issue first occurred in December 2025 and never again until very recently.

I think it's dodgy wiring ?

Indeed, there are still a few long term members on here. 🙂

Those battery tests aren't very effective though. It is impossible for a 12v battery to have a resting voltage of 13.2v. Even a brand new one will only hold 12.8v maximum, and due to the way the charging system works on the latest Fords, it's very unlikely to be above 12.4v when tested at rest under normal conditions.

The alternator charging at 14.4v also tells me that the battery state of charge must be very low (unless you're using electrical consumers such as heated screens at the time of testing).

I don't believe there is a wiring fault from the info provided. I suspect the battery is just getting weak, despite your charging efforts. Or perhaps the system has been confused occasionally by the actual charge not matching it's calculated charge after external charging. Either way, I wouldn't go any further with it, especially if you're looking to change car soon anyway.

If you're not already doing it, make sure the negative charger clamp is always clipped onto a chassis earth, not directly onto the battery terminal.

6 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Indeed, there are still a few long term members on here. 🙂

Those battery tests aren't very effective though. It is impossible for a 12v battery to have a resting voltage of 13.2v. Even a brand new one will only hold 12.8v maximum, and due to the way the charging system works on the latest Fords, it's very unlikely to be above 12.4v when tested at rest under normal conditions.

The alternator charging at 14.4v also tells me that the battery state of charge must be very low (unless you're using electrical consumers such as heated screens at the time of testing).

I don't believe there is a wiring fault from the info provided. I suspect the battery is just getting weak, despite your charging efforts. Or perhaps the system has been confused occasionally by the actual charge not matching it's calculated charge after external charging. Either way, I wouldn't go any further with it, especially if you're looking to change car soon anyway.

If you're not already doing it, make sure the negative charger clamp is always clipped onto a chassis earth, not directly onto the battery terminal.

Thank you Tom.

It seems I'm trying old school ways of trying to determine a relatively modern problem 😀

I do make sure there's no demand on the electrical system when testing and I've always used a chassis earth point when charging the battery.

I suspect you are correct, after all the car and battery are coming up to 5 years old, combined with the fact that batteries don't charge as they used to, or probably should do !

Thank you for your help and knowledge Tom 👍.