Hello Scotty,
Love your show and I finally need some advice. I have a 2013 Ford Edge SEL 3.0L with 80k miles and a new battery. It seems the alternator is kicking out after the car has heated up for a while, pretty consistently now. Once it has cooled for a bit, it's back to normal. I'm getting an engine code of P0620:00 Generator Control Circuit. I've had the alt and battery checked at several auto stores and they said it's fine. I checked the wiring as best I could and didn't see or feel any bad spots. Do you think this could be a wiring issue or is the alternator going out, or something else?
I hooked up my ArtiDiag 800BT and here are some values before and after the alt goes out:
Generator Command (%) 0 → 42.47
Generator Monitor (%) 47.42 → 100
Voltage across the battery and alt post (V) 14.26 → 12.12 (Voltmeter)
Generator Current Sensor Circuit Input Voltage (V) 0.92 → .5
Generator Current Sensor Corrected Value(A) 27.48 → 0
Generator Current Sensor(A) 28 → 0.25
Generator Monitor Frequency(Hz) 125.5 → 0
Generator Voltage Desired(V) 14.27 → 13.69
Generator Current Sensor Input Circuit Status No Error → No Error
Generator Monitor Line Status No Error → Yes Error
Generator Monitor Frequency Status No Error → No Error
Generator Command Line Fault No Error → Yes Error
Generator Fault Status No Error → Yes Error
Thanks for any help you can offer,
Richard
Forgot to mention, that when the alt goes out, the Check Charging System light pops up on the dash, which is when the P0620 fault code happens.
I would replace the alternator and then pray it isn't a computer failure because they're extremely expensive to replace and reprogram and diagnose
So I replaced the alternator and so far so good. Maybe it was overheating? Still seems weird that the battery post voltage continues to drop to 3.02 volts when its running, but Ford has a weird smart charging system. Thanks for the advice Scotty!