Charging System Fault
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 118
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From: Dix Hills NY
Charging System Fault
Just a heads up. I recently had a little problem with the car (a short in the fuel pump harness) that was causing the car to shut down. My first thought in diagnosis was to replace the original battery. Obviously that did not cure the problem so I took it to a mechanic who diagnosed the problem and fixed the short. After getting the car back every time I would leave the car for more than 2 days I would get a Charging System Fault message on start up. I never got this message before. I made the assumption that the mechanic must have screwed something up (fortunately I never accused them of messing it up as you will see further). I called the shop and they gave me some ideas as to what might cause it ie bad alternator etc. At this point I was not looking to leave the car with them again. I went over all the grounds and made sure all connections were tight. Still no change. Then it hit me maybe I got a bad battery. I brought the battery back and exchanged for a new battery same exact spec and manufacturer. Well its been a few weeks and Low and behold problem gone the battery was NG. I have seen other posts on this problem and thought this might be of interest.
Jim
Jim
Tech Contributor
Joined: Dec 2006
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From: Van Buren Arkansas
Wounded Warrior Escort '11
Batteries dying show up at this time of the year when the temperatures start cooling off, but those are usually, age related failures where its come time to change it out. If yours was fairly new, then maybe it was just no good from the start.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 118
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From: Dix Hills NY
The battery was brand new. I replaced it thinking it was what caused my car to stall in the first place, before discovering the short. It is interesting that I mentioned to the parts store guy, when dropping off the core, that it had a very low charge when I first picked it up and that I had to charge it over night before first using it. Of course they responded that that happens sometimes. The reason I posted was I have seen post's on the fault charging system message and wanted to add bad battery to the list of why you may get the message.
Thanks Jim
Thanks Jim
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I had been getting the Charge System Fault message on startup after the car had been sitting for as little as two days. It was a bad battery. Bought an AC/Delco Professional Series and a CTEK battery tender. No more Charge system fault messages. All the grounds and alternator were OK. My battery was only 18 months old.
Alot of new batteries can be bad. Many sit on store shelves far too long.
Alot of new batteries can be bad. Many sit on store shelves far too long.
Tech Contributor
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 10,962
Likes: 29
From: Van Buren Arkansas
Wounded Warrior Escort '11
My first charge system fault on my '99 and only time it happened was minutes before the positive battery post fell off the battery and started dumping fluid. Fortunately I had opened the hood and was checking things out looking for the fault cause when this happened. The only place open at that instant that I could get a battery was a Costco. Since then, I've used Costco or Sam's for batteries and they always work and last a long time. I see tons of reports in here where people getting the expesive batteries paying an arm and a leg for them, only for them to last only a brief time before failure or fail way earlier than they should.
