Truck is an '07 with approx. 94,000 mi' with a 4.6 engine. Truck started & ran fine for a few mi. this a.m. when the trouble started. Battery idiot lite came on & looking at gauge it wasen't charging. Pulled into parking lot, truck stalled & wouldn't start. Dead battery. Called a buddy who jump started it & limped home with no gauges working, abs lite on, airbag lite on, etc. Pulled battery, took it to Advance Auto for testing. Battery shot. Bought new batt. & installed it. Truck fired right up, everything working fine. Let it idle for a couple minutes, then battery idiot lite comes on. Drove it a couple miles, lite goes out. Pulled into my driveway, let it idle, lite comes back on. Truck starts fine & according to gauge, batt. is charging. What gives, anyone have any ideas?

 

Go back over to Advance and get the alternator and battery load tested.

 

Took the truck into a mechanic who tested the alternator. Sure enough it was shot. Luckily I have the Ford ESP who covered it minus the $100. deductible. I suspect it was the alternator all along, not the battery but who knows.

Also, before this issue the odometer read 94,500 give or take. For some reason I've gained 1,000 mi. on the odometer after jumping the battery! I noticed the reading after getting the truck home on Sunday. Anyone ever heard of this?

 

Well, I continue to have an issue with this charging system. This a.m. the truck started right off despite a wind chill of probably -15. Got about 1/2 mi. from work when I noticed the charging gauge almost pegged to the right, then the idiot lite came on for the battery. Drove into work parking lot & everything went back to normal. Started the engine later in the day-everything normal. On the way home the gauge again moved about 3/4 to the right for a couple minutes, then returned to normal. Truck has new battery & alternator less than a week old. Could this new alternator be a bad one? Any ideas?