2018 F150 Charging System Service Now Message

This video shows our diagnosis and repair of a 2018 Ford F150 displaying a "Charging System Service Now" message in the instrument cluster. The codes in this truck were P0625 - Generator Field F Terminal Circuit Low and P065B - Generator A Control Circuit Range Performance. It ended up being a broken wire at the connector to the alternator and we repaired it by replacing the pigtail.

[@ezeeduzzit]

Omg where has this been all my life thank you 🙏

[@CarShopTalk]

Glad it helped!

[@agoodneighborautorepair2176]

Very nice exploration and explanation

[@CarShopTalk]

Thanks!

[@desertboatsalvage9698]

Drove for about 20min tonight and at highway speeds or anything over idle everything is perfect but once I stop genmon and gencmd go crazy or if I shut everything off everything looks perfect. Only at idle with everything on genmon and gencmd go crazy. Back story I should have told I just did the timing chains and water pump and sent the alternator out for bearings and they said regulator was cracked so they did that as well. Took it back and they replaced the regulator. I had a po65b and po625 but hasn’t come back.

[@kingjames8283]

While I have not seen this display message yet on my 2012 F-150, I do have a pillar mounted Banks digital display where I can monitor engine parameters. While driving on highway I witnessed my charging voltage drop-out from 14.3 vdc to 12.8 vdc and becoming erratic. Changed alternator to new 225 amp alternator (keeping old alt) with no change. Changed battery from factory AGM to a Motorcraft lead-acid (keeping old battery) also with no effect. All told, more than $900 in replacement cost with no improvements. So I opted to purchase a brand new OEM harness which cost roughly $260 buckaroo's which connects battery, alternator, air conditioner, and starter. I have not yet installed new harness due to the number of hours it will take to remove old harness and install new but as soon as I get a good weather weekend, that is the plan. While I know this could be a single wire issue due to either corrosion, or due to being eaten by mice, chipmunks, or squirrels, once I have the old harness out and can see the failure point, I can modify and armor proof the new harness to ensure I don't see this issue again in the future. I purchased this truck in May 2022 and already had to replace brakes, tires, transmission, driveline, and rearend. This has been one expensive truck to own but it is "like-new" and runs like a top.

[@HalifaxHercules]

I got a Charging System Malfunction warning on my Mazda SUV recently. Fortunately, it was not an alternator or battery problem. Turns out it was a faulty Serpentine Belt. If I didn't get that fixed on time, the problem could have been much worse. I would also have to spend hundreds on repairs, and not less than $150 like I did.

[@jk13459]

2017 Raptor, and I had the intermittent check charging system alert (with choppy power steering). Took it to the mechanic...P065B...they're going to replace my pigtail tomorrow. Lets see how it goes...

[@eldo322]

What was it having the same issue

[@desertboatsalvage9698]

Man what a great video. I went out and got the FORScan light and crazy how much you can see. If I send you a screen shot of my genmod like yours could you maybe send me in the right direction.

[@CarShopTalk]

If you think one of the circuits is open, usually the easiest way to check is to use a jumper wire and short genmon and gencmd together with the alternator unplugged. With them shorted together genmon should read the same as gencmd.

[@joseduran9039]

I gotta a 2017 f150 just stared doing this last night can you can send me the link for the wires

[@momoney5521]

I got a 2021 Ford Bronco, installed a new battery about a week later charging system service required. What should I be checking for?

[@CarShopTalk]

I haven’t seen any charging system problems on the new Bronco’s. I’d probably inspect the wiring at the alternator and then pull codes. Hopefully that would point you towards the problem.

[@DETROITLARRY]

Thank You

[@CarShopTalk]

You’re very welcome!

[@EH-pm1ke]

How do you properly replace the pigtail? Plug it in and splice to the old wires?

[@CarShopTalk]

You can do it that way. I usually don’t plug it in until I’ve spliced it on. Just make sure you give yourself enough length it will plug in and splice it one wire at a time so you don’t mix them up.

[@EdwardNash49]

good tips gonna look at this tommorrow i have a 2020 f150 so i assume issue could be pretty similar??? f150 eco boost 2.7

[@CarShopTalk]

Yes, I think the alternator is wired the same.

[@MrAjd1982]

Will a regular obd 2 scanner show those codes or does it have to be a forscan specific to pick those codes up? Scanned with regular OBD 2 scanner and no codes. Tested battery and alt and all came back good with autozone battery scan. But still getting service charging system now message.

[@CarShopTalk]

Depends on the scan tool. The better ones should. Forscan lite is by far the lowest cost option that will read everything.

[@MrAjd1982]

Is this 5.0 or ecoboost?

[@MrAjd1982]

Where did you get the scan tool from?

[@CarShopTalk]

I normally use forscan lite on an iPhone with an obdlink mx+.

[@jocelynemorency389]

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