Hello I have a 09 F-150 with a 4.6 engine. The other day the serpentine belt plastic idler pulley melted off its bearing causing a belt failure too. So i replaced all of the accessory pulleys with new steel pulleys along with a new belt. I had the alternater checked out and it failed its test. So i replaced it too. After installing the new parts i noticed that the charge system needle in the dashboard instrument cluster does not come up immediately after starting the engine. It will eventually come up but is very slow to come up finally resting in the first third of the circle between high and low range marks in the gauge. Thinking that i maybe had a bad ground problem i removed the alternator and filed the ground contacts and reinstalled it and still the same situation with the gauge. I removed the alternater again and took it back to the auto parts store for testing and it passed its test. I then reinstalled it and found that i had the same problem with the dashboard charge system gauge. I am pretty sure the gauge should show a charge immediately after starting the engine. I have properly cleaned all of the ground contact points directly related to the removal and remounting of a new alternater with a file. I also cleaned the electrical cable connections with a wire brush. Also cleaned the battery terminals and cables with a wire brush. Still the gauge comes up slowly. Has anyone had this experience and resolved it? If so What did you do to resolve the slow to respond gauge?

 

84 hits and no response. Surely someone knows something about this issue. Thanks for looking.

 

Figured out how to fix the wacky voltage gauge. I followed the instructions for a battery reset and it now works properly.