This 2003 Ford Expedition came in with the complaint that the alternator had been replaced twice and the charge light light indicator was still coming on. The shop that had installed the alternators had called in desperation as their customer was becoming quite upset. They also stated that the light may stay out all day or only about an hour. When their customer showed up with the vehicle I was a little surprised. The shop usually sends vehicle on a flat bed and drops them off. Time to try and make everybody happy (except Me) while the customer waits(I was trying to eat lunch). I did a quick visual inspection of the wiring at the alternator and everything looked okay. I checked codes and found a code P0620 stored (alternator problem). I then looked at the wiring leading to the alternator and I saw this telltale sign. A wire with discoloration against a metal object.
The metal object in this case was the a/c low pressure or suction line that runs along the lower edge of the battery. I lifted the wiring up and could tell from the amount of discoloration that I might have found the problem.
Yep there’s the problem. I removed some more tape. Wrapped the damaged wire. Rewrapped the harness.
Installed some split loom and cleared the codes. Rechecked the system and all was okay. Back to my lunch.
Thank you very much for this post. Same problem with my 2003 Ford Expedition EB. Charging system light and bells on intermittently. Took to dealership and they claimed it was a short in a computer card. Wanted to charge me $600 to remove the dash and replace the board. Not agreeing to that, I cleaned the battery terminals, and that solved the problem for 2 weeks, but the problem returned. I found the wire just as described in the picture. I wrapped it with electrical tape, and slid the foam insulation ring on the AC pipe back under the wire to protect. No problem since!!
Thanks so much for this post. I too have a 2003 Expedition and the occasional beep, check charging system alarm and the battery light flashing on and then quickly off led me to have the alternator rebuilt. This did not correct the problem. After finding this post, I found the same bare wire in the exact same spot as shown in your picture. Problem solved. Thanks again, Gary
Sorry about that. The holiday weeks have me quite behind. I need you to confirm what if any codes you have stored in your vehicle. The light may be on but you may have a code other than P0620. Also please return to emailing me. Thanks, Sparky
I tried to post and email the info but for some reason I don’t think it worked… So here goes.. the vehicle is an 03 Expedition Eddie Bauer. I installed a NAPA alternator Part #RAY 2133162B. It is the 110 amp unit.
Can you email me the year make and model of your vehicle? I do not want to assume it is the same as the one in the post. Do you know what brand name of alternator you installed? I have run into few Fords that the only alternator that will turn the light off properly is a Motorcraft brand. It is and issue that has to deal with communication between the regulator and the computer.