So I have a 2013 f150 with the 5.0. It has started intermittently turning on the battery light. It will stay on for a few minutes then go off. It may come on again and it may not for the remainder of the drive. I have a scan gauge hooked up to watch voltage and it’s staying at a steady 14.0-14.2v when the light comes on and for the entire time it’s being driven. Any ideas? I despise intermittent issues, I wish it would just fail! I have checked battery connections and they are tight. Not sure where else to check given the proper voltages. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

I would start by inspecting the voltage regulator connector at the alternator for pin damage, lose pins and inspect the wiring harness for chaffed wiring. An alternator can give false readings back to the PCM but I would check all wiring affected and at the battery terminals, for loose connections and at the underhood junction box where the battery cables tie in.

 

That was my thoughts. I checked the battery terminals again today as well as the connections at the junction box at the fuse panel (front center engine compartment. I was gonna climb under and remove the regulator plug and re connect it but I wasn’t dressed to be rolling around on the ground. I will give that a try this weekend. Thanks for your reply!

 

I have a 2011 Ford Escape that we have owned for 3 years now. The entire time we have had the battery light has been on. We have never had any charging issues (full normal voltage at battery when running). A couple times going through an automatic car wash I have had the light go out for driving cycle but return again later. My belief is the issue is somewhere between the PCM and the dash, after the PCM tells the alternator what to do, so everything other than the light behaves normal. I have removed and cleaned all the grounds in the engine bay I can find with no improvement in battery light coming on. We live with it.

Oh, and when I plug in Forscan we get no codes and when I go to live data while running it shows voltage between 13.5 and 14.5 - normal.

 

How many miles on that 2103? Is it the original alternator? Our trucks are finicky to alternators and are best served with OEM ones. When my 08 did this, it was the alternatoir that was replaced and all issues went away.