My wife's 2003 Expedition is having trouble. The charging system warning light is flashing. Car dies on the road. I suspected the alternator. I bought one two years ago at Advance Auto. They replaced it for free, so I installed it yesterday. Charged up the battery and it started fine. Ran well too. This morning, it was acting bad again! Battery voltage is 13.5. Could I have another bad alternator? A mechanic told me that sometimes the computer needs to re-learn tie alternator. What????

Mike

 

I guess the only folks browsing these forums are those looking for help...

Update. Ford said the replacement alternator from Advance Auto was bad. So I took it back to AA, and they were out of anymore replacesments, so they sent me to Auto Zone (and reimbursed me) for one of theirs. I installed it. Started motor, and the warning light was still blinking on and off. Then after turning on lights and A/C, it stopped. When I turned those off, it started again to blink. I did this sveral times until it finally stopped blinking altogether. Drove it 30 miles, no problem. This morninging it blinked for about 5 minutes then stopped. I guess Ford will tell me that the only alternator that will work is a Ford alternator. Even though it ran fine for 2 years on one from AA.

Does ANYBODY understand what is happening here?

Mike

 

Well, in the event anyone else bumps into this, I thought I would post this link. My problem is solved. You must used a Ford replacement alternator.

http://www.justanswer.com/questions/27mi8-the-battery-light-in-my-03-expedition-5-4-2wd-was-on-took

Mike