Service Charging System
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 8,142
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From: Time is a great teacher. Unfortunately, it kills all its pupils.
Cruise-In VIII Veteran
St. Jude Donor '07
Service Charging System
I am getting the "Service Charging System" message on the DIC. When this happens I notice that my voltmeter is dropping.
This only happens when my fans kick on and only at idle or very low speeds.
The voltage drops to about 13 when the low speed fan kicks on and drops sometimes below 12 when the high speed fan kicks on.
I'm guessing a bad alternator. Any other ideas?
This only happens when my fans kick on and only at idle or very low speeds.
The voltage drops to about 13 when the low speed fan kicks on and drops sometimes below 12 when the high speed fan kicks on.
I'm guessing a bad alternator. Any other ideas?
Cruising
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 10
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From: Pasadena Tx
This is gonna sound dumb, but have you changed out your factory spark plugs??? Mine had a bad alternator and was replaced at the dealership under warranty, but the message kept coming back up. So i took it back and they ran some more tests and came to the conclusion that "plugs with pulse technology" would make the car throw the message up again, even after the alternator had been replaced. So I went back to stock plugs and problem solved. Good luck!! Has anyone else ran into this situation???
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 8,142
Likes: 0
From: Time is a great teacher. Unfortunately, it kills all its pupils.
Cruise-In VIII Veteran
St. Jude Donor '07
No.
Yes, I have changed out the plugs. Would that make the voltmeter drop too?
This is gonna sound dumb, but have you changed out your factory spark plugs??? Mine had a bad alternator and was replaced at the dealership under warranty, but the message kept coming back up. So i took it back and they ran some more tests and came to the conclusion that "plugs with pulse technology" would make the car throw the message up again, even after the alternator had been replaced. So I went back to stock plugs and problem solved. Good luck!! Has anyone else ran into this situation???
Cruising
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 10
Likes: 0
From: Pasadena Tx
In my case, yes the plugs did make the volts drop even after installing a new alternator. Again, you might have an alternator going bad, and that is the most obvious failure in that system. I'd first try and go back to factory plugs, try it out for a couple of days, if the message keeps coming up then, unless the car is still under warranty, get ready to dish out a few hundred $$$.
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 8,142
Likes: 0
From: Time is a great teacher. Unfortunately, it kills all its pupils.
Cruise-In VIII Veteran
St. Jude Donor '07
In my case, yes the plugs did make the volts drop even after installing a new alternator. Again, you might have an alternator going bad, and that is the most obvious failure in that system. I'd first try and go back to factory plugs, try it out for a couple of days, if the message keeps coming up then, unless the car is still under warranty, get ready to dish out a few hundred $$$.
I just read another post and it sounds like it might, in fact, be the alternator. Will be dropping by Pep Boys to have it checked.
5. If you notice that your voltage is doing massive swings on your gauge, i.e 14 to 11 then back to 14... the cause may be your alternator. have it checked. if the alternator is bad, I would suggest swapping it out yourself as it is really easy to do takes about 5 min to do --all you need is a 15mm socket wrench and a 1/2 inch open ended wrench ... also it might be a good idea to go to a 180amp or better alternator. Look around you can get this alternator for about $200. Dealer will charge about $700-$800 for this fix
