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"service Battery Charging System"

BlackSilver

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BlackSilver Senior Enthusiast

BlackSilver

Posted
Posted

On a short trip today, the red "Battery" symbol on my dash was illuminated, and the DIC showed the message "Service Battery Charging System".

 

Voltage gauge showed about 15 volts (above the 14V mark but not up the the next un-labled mark).

 

After the trip parked the truck for about an hour, and when I went back out the light and DIC warning did not come back. Voltage guage still up in the 15V area.

 

No codes.

 

What's up?

 

(And does this alternator have an outboard voltage regulator?)

Diesail Enthusiast

Diesail

Posted
Posted

On an '08 the ECM controls the voltage. If you ever watch it you will see the volt meter you will see that when you fire the truck up it will sit low (12 volt ish) to start while the glow plugs / intake heater do their thing, how long depends on temp. Then it will ramp up to near 15 volts to charge what was used, after that it drops back to just under 14 volts. This is the normal cycle.

 

What you describe sounds like it senses that the batteries where taking longer to charger than normal. This could mean two things IMO, 1 - you did something to drain the batteries more than normal, 2 - the batteries are on their last legs and it is time to replace them. Given the fact that we are talking about an '08 and 4 years I would choose #2.

cgalford Enthusiast

cgalford

Posted
Posted

Did you add the second battery or did it come OEM? I would get this warning on my Tahoe with dual batteries every once in a while and it turned out to be since the 2nd battery didn't ground through the current sensor of the original battery (the plastic ring around the ground wire). I redid my wiring so that both grounds merge and then ground through the current sensor. It got progressively worse so I'm guessing as the older battery deteriorated a bit the unequal current cause cause a code. I haven't seen it since but I also switched out all the high current wiring for heavier stuff.

Diesail Enthusiast

Diesail

Posted
Posted
Did you add the second battery or did it come OEM?

 

It is a diesel, the come with two batteries and they are wired in parallel, so they are both active all the time.

cfeiring Enthusiast

cfeiring

Posted
Posted

I would pull 1 battery out at a time and load test to determine if they are about to fail.

 

Keep 1 battery in to keep all the computers powered and happy.

 

Batterys test ok then I would then check the volatage regulator then the alternator then start looking at drain in glow plugs / grid heater has become excessive and is drainging your batteries below the threshold of the computers comfort zone.

 

I've noted last few weeks of winter the glow plugs seems to take longer so my batteries may be going south as well. or glow plugs are showing wear.

I hope this provides some quideance to your problem/s :banghead:

Diesail Enthusiast

Diesail

Posted
Posted

Oh, also forgot. There are several Mega fuses on the firewall, passenger side. One of them is the fuse for the alternator. There have been several reports of these fuses being loose and causing charging problems. Good place to check.

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