I have a 2005 Ford Escape front wheel drive. 2 months ago the battery was dead and the car didn't start. Here's the steps I took and the results:

1. Jumped the Escape with jumper cables.
2. Checked voltage with Escape running with VOM 12.5 volts.
3. Let the Escape run for 10-15 minutes
4. Rechecked the voltage 12.5 volts.
5. Turned Escape off.
6. Escape wouldn't restart
7. Removed battery and took to Autozone to be tested.
8. Autozone said battery was fine.
9. Looked around the internet and decided that replacing altenator was a little over my head.
10. Made appointment with dealer to diagnose and then replace altenator if necessary.
11. Dealer looked and said altenator is putting out 13+ volts and is charging the battery.
12. Payed about $100 and received the Escape back.

The Escape ran for 2 months and then the same symptoms. Went to start it and wouldn't turn over. Now I've done the following:

1. Checked voltage with Escape off 12.07 (near dead).
2. Jumped escape and checked voltage with jumper cables attached. 13.89 (charging)
3. Removed jumper cables and checked voltage with Escape running. 12.61 (not charging)
4. Turned Escape off after 20 minutes and then it wouldn't restart.
5. Removed battery from Escape and charged on battery charger.
6. Reinstalled battery into Escape and checked voltage. 13.07 (fully charged)
7. Started the Escape and checked the voltage. 12.56 (not charging)
8. Waited 5 minutes and checked voltage at the battery. 12.41 (not charging).

My question is how do I verify that this is definitely an altenator problem or definitely not an altenator problem without removing the altenator? What is normal charging voltage at the battery? The dealer insisted that anything above 13 is fine, but in my experience, all other cars charge 14.5 or higher.

My understanding is that this is a PCM controlled charging system. How can you troubleshoot if the PCM is receiving the correct information from the battery and that the PCM is correctly instructing the voltage regulator how much voltage to send to the battery?

If anyone knows more details and can provide them to me, THANKS!!!!

 

Charging voltage should be about 14.3V-14.5V. I'm not really sure how much if any the PCM has to do with the actual charging. You might want to check the wire that runs from the alternator to the battery. The single heavy wire under the rubber nipple I mean. See if you get proper voltage at that terminal.

Is your dash battery icon lite up? It should be. I no longer have online access to all Ford manuals but I do remember that early models were hard wired to the dash to lite the battery icon when not charging. That info later on was probably passed to the PCM then to the dash cluster.

 

Unplug regulator and check voltage.

 

The regulator is integral to the alternator. Can't unplug it.

Yes, the 05 Escape uses a PCM-controlled charging system. See service manual for the specifics. Depending on the unique conditions at any point in time, charging voltage might be anywhere between 13 and 15 volts.

Do check the operation of the battery light in the cluster. verify bulb proves out at start-up, then observe its operational status when the battery does not appear to be charging.

 

Wading through all the testpoints/PIDs in a '09 manual. If everything has checked correctly at idle over 14.5V, it states to replace the generator. Yep, that's what they call the alternator. No low voltage is listed. There is default of 13.5V if the PCM has problems with noise, etc. Like a limp home mode which also lights the dash icon too.

 

well I checked voltage and had only 12.5 volts so I researched how to change alternator all I have to say is who ever designed this never changed one my god what were they thinking

my process in my driveway on the gravel

disconnect battery might as well charge it
jack passenger side as high as possible and block it
remove wheel
remove inner liner
loosen belt
take drive-shaft out
take plastic covers off 8mm
remove the elec plug and the pos terminal 10mm
take top nut off 15mm then the stud a 5-16 socket works just fine to remove the stud then remove the 2 bottom bolts 15mm

not comes the fun part

rotate the alt so that the pulley is facing engine and it will slip out

now you can cuss a bit and say if I ever meet the engineer that designed this I am going to kick is ****

I took it to advance they check it it was bad
I wen out to my car got on my droid and bought it online put in the code for 30.00 off and went inside wandered around a bit till order came up had them check the new one went home

now I knew these stupid plastic guards were not going back on so the studs I cut off the ends of the bolts and my god it went in easy 35 min and I was done

 

OK, the tech's can't alter fasteners. Ingenuity in the field laying in the gravel. LOL