Check Charging System Warning!!!
Cut & Paste Expert
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 13,322
From: NW Arkansas
There's a relay in the upper right hand side (drivers side under the dash) that maintains power when you turn the car off until you open a door. Sounds like relay is going bad. It controls all of the interior electronics. If it's going bad or is bad that would present the issues you are describing.
When you turn the car off and take the key out, before you open a door, listen very carefuly, you'll hear what sounds like two noisey small gears rotating, that's actually the relay. when you open the door it should stop after a second or two.
When you turn the car off and take the key out, before you open a door, listen very carefuly, you'll hear what sounds like two noisey small gears rotating, that's actually the relay. when you open the door it should stop after a second or two.
Its located in the SJB in the passengers side kick area.
Here is the electrical diagram showing this.
The only two relays that are located in the drivers upper
dash area are the OEM relays for heated seats.
Been there done that... Twice now...
Gears rotating in an OEM relay. gimme a break.
Feeding this poor soul errent information.
Shame on you.
Next it will be a pnumatic relay....
Last edited by 157dB; Jan 2, 2010 at 11:36 AM.
1st Gear Member
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 90
From: Maryland
The ACC DELAY relay is not 'in the upper right hand side'.
Its located in the SJB in the passengers side kick area.
Here is the electrical diagram showing this.
The only two relays that are located in the drivers upper
dash area are the OEM relays for heated seats.
Been there done that... Twice now...
Gears rotating in an OEM relay. gimme a break.
Feeding this poor soul errent information.
Shame on you.
Next it will be a pnumatic relay....
Its located in the SJB in the passengers side kick area.
Here is the electrical diagram showing this.
The only two relays that are located in the drivers upper
dash area are the OEM relays for heated seats.
Been there done that... Twice now...
Gears rotating in an OEM relay. gimme a break.
Feeding this poor soul errent information.
Shame on you.
Next it will be a pnumatic relay....
2nd Gear Member
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 297
From: Athens, Georgia
have you tried the dreaded water leak? (TSB 07-14-6) when water leaks into the passenger side it will more than likely get the GEM modules wet. when that happens, crazy things can happen to the car electronics including brake lights staying on or electronics turning off while the car is still running
Cut & Paste Expert
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 13,322
From: NW Arkansas
have you tried the dreaded water leak? (TSB 07-14-6) when water leaks into the passenger side it will more than likely get the GEM modules wet. when that happens, crazy things can happen to the car electronics including brake lights staying on or electronics turning off while the car is still runningSJB!
https://mustangforums.com/forum/2005...nctionbox.html
4th Gear Member
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 1,132
From: mn
i hate to resurrect an old thread but did the op ever figure what was wrong? ive been getting check charging system and battery lights randomly for the last week. battery has been replaced. new one tested fine. when i got the alternator tested the guy said "oh low frequency fail, starter fail, so i dont know" ... so i dont know what that even tells me...
Thread Starter
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 13
From: New Jersey
i hate to resurrect an old thread but did the op ever figure what was wrong? ive been getting check charging system and battery lights randomly for the last week. battery has been replaced. new one tested fine. when i got the alternator tested the guy said "oh low frequency fail, starter fail, so i dont know" ... so i dont know what that even tells me...
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 12
From: NJ
Resurrecting your resurrected thread...
i hate to resurrect an old thread but did the op ever figure what was wrong? ive been getting check charging system and battery lights randomly for the last week. battery has been replaced. new one tested fine. when i got the alternator tested the guy said "oh low frequency fail, starter fail, so i dont know" ... so i dont know what that even tells me...
Shaker 500 amps, Pioneer head unit.
My Check Charging System message has been popping up intermittantly for the past month or so, usually when I'm far from home and in the middle of a reasonably long trip (scary). Sometimes the battery light comes on, sometimes it doesn't. Once it comes on, it usually goes out on it's own after a while, but also usually comes back on during that trip.
The very first day it happened on about a 20 mile trip, all of the accessories in the car turned off and the battery meter pegged at full blast for a couple of seconds, then everything came back on and the message went off (and then on again off again...), but that only happened the one time.
No trouble codes are being stored, but I have tried to replicate the problem by turning on everything in my driveway and leaving a meter on the battery - but could never get it to come on. However, when I had everything on (Lights, a/c, stereo cranking) I had about 13.26 volts on the battery, which I thought was maybe a little low, but when the message and light came on last night and I was close to home, I was able to get a meter on it before the message went out and there was 13.96 volts on the battery, which seems fine to me...?
Call me old school, but if the battery is dead, I want to hear it go chug chug choo or maybe even click click click when I turn the key, this battery starts the car immediately and seems to exhibit no issues.
Most threads I have read on this subject say that I "should have the battery tested", which I will do, but my fear is that either the parts store just wants to sell me a battery so whether or not it's the battery or not, they're going to say it's the battery, or, even worse, if the test is inconclusive or the guy doesn't really know what he's doing, or the test just isn't sensitive enough to meet Fords computer specs, they're going to say the battery is fine when it's really not and I'm going to be replacing the (from what I've heard) ridiculously expensive alternator...
So, does anyone have any intimate knowledge of exactly what this message means? Is there some specific test that I can run either on the car or the battery that will clearly show what the issue is?
I'm one of the unlucky folks who have lost thier jobs and so I can't afford to go throwing any amount of money at it right now, but I also need reliable transportation, so I'm kind of in a bind. I'm kinda afraid to take it out for any distance at this point because folks have said that sometimes the car will quit with this issue - kinda a bummer with only 25K miles...
Cut & Paste Expert
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 13,322
From: NW Arkansas
2006 GT Premium Convertible - 25K Miles.
Shaker 500 amps, Pioneer head unit.
My Check Charging System message has been popping up intermittantly for the past month or so, usually when I'm far from home and in the middle of a reasonably long trip (scary). Sometimes the battery light comes on, sometimes it doesn't. Once it comes on, it usually goes out on it's own after a while, but also usually comes back on during that trip.
The very first day it happened on about a 20 mile trip, all of the accessories in the car turned off and the battery meter pegged at full blast for a couple of seconds, then everything came back on and the message went off (and then on again off again...), but that only happened the one time.
No trouble codes are being stored, but I have tried to replicate the problem by turning on everything in my driveway and leaving a meter on the battery - but could never get it to come on. However, when I had everything on (Lights, a/c, stereo cranking) I had about 13.26 volts on the battery, which I thought was maybe a little low, but when the message and light came on last night and I was close to home, I was able to get a meter on it before the message went out and there was 13.96 volts on the battery, which seems fine to me...?
So, does anyone have any intimate knowledge of exactly what this message means? Is there some specific test that I can run either on the car or the battery that will clearly show what the issue is?
Shaker 500 amps, Pioneer head unit.
My Check Charging System message has been popping up intermittantly for the past month or so, usually when I'm far from home and in the middle of a reasonably long trip (scary). Sometimes the battery light comes on, sometimes it doesn't. Once it comes on, it usually goes out on it's own after a while, but also usually comes back on during that trip.
The very first day it happened on about a 20 mile trip, all of the accessories in the car turned off and the battery meter pegged at full blast for a couple of seconds, then everything came back on and the message went off (and then on again off again...), but that only happened the one time.
No trouble codes are being stored, but I have tried to replicate the problem by turning on everything in my driveway and leaving a meter on the battery - but could never get it to come on. However, when I had everything on (Lights, a/c, stereo cranking) I had about 13.26 volts on the battery, which I thought was maybe a little low, but when the message and light came on last night and I was close to home, I was able to get a meter on it before the message went out and there was 13.96 volts on the battery, which seems fine to me...?
So, does anyone have any intimate knowledge of exactly what this message means? Is there some specific test that I can run either on the car or the battery that will clearly show what the issue is?
The VERY FIRST thing to check is the battery terminals.
Then read up on the charging system before having anyone do any diagnostics on it.
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 12
From: NJ
Still persists...
If it is throwing a DTC, I can point you in the direction of a fix...
The VERY FIRST thing to check is the battery terminals.
Then read up on the charging system before having anyone do any diagnostics on it.
The VERY FIRST thing to check is the battery terminals.
Then read up on the charging system before having anyone do any diagnostics on it.
I have not had the oppurtunity to hook up the scanner while it is actively displaying the message, so I don't know if it's throwing any codes while the message is on, but it is not storing any codes. Perhaps I will take a drive with my notebook plugged in and see if it does indeed throw any codes during the event.