Electrical not working properly

Tiny
KENNY ROSS
  • MEMBER
  • 2012 HYUNDAI SANTA FE
  • 3.5L
  • V6
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 103,000 MILES
Driving along and notice battery warning light illuminated at stop light. Rev car up a little and light went off. Pulled into parking lot. Checked belt. Everything looked good. Decided to try and get home. Drove approx. 4 miles. Battery light off at first when rpm's above 1,200. At 45 mph the battery light and almost all other warning indicator lights came. Not the check engine light. Gauges quit working, dash lights started flashing. Car went into limp mode. Drove for about 1/2 mile to find place to get off of road. Check engine light finally came on. Turned car off. Checked under hood again. Everything looked good. No odors or anything. Went to restart and it just clicked. Had it towed home. Got up the next morning and put the battery charger on it. Went to work. When I got home 6 hours later battery was charged up. Disconnected charger and started car. Warning indicator lights still on and gauges not working. Put volt meter on battery while running 12.3v. Turned vehicle off. Put code reader on vehicle. The only code was a low voltage code. Battery is new and battery connections looked clean. Alternator new also. Decided to clean terminals anyway. When done started car and all is well. All gauges working and all warning lights off. Charging at 14.4v.
Drove car for a little over a week and all warning lights came on again. This was at start up at a restaurant after being off for approximately 30 minutes. Disconnected negative cable for 5 minutes reconnected all is well and car runs and operates perfectly. What could this possibly be? Something is resetting when battery is disconnected.
Tuesday, March 17th, 2020 AT 10:50 AM

9 Replies

Tiny
ASEMASTER6371
  • MECHANIC
  • 52,797 POSTS
Good afternoon,

You have a charging system issue. It could be the alternator or the ECM itself which controls the alternator.

What was the code that was set?

When the code is set, it has a default mode. When you reset it, it goes back to normal until the issue happens again.

I attached a diagram for you to view. This sounds like you have a bad alternator.

Roy
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Tuesday, March 17th, 2020 AT 11:05 AM
Tiny
KENNY ROSS
  • MEMBER
  • 5 POSTS
It is a new alternator. Why would disconnecting the battery make the alternator start charging again? In my experience, 42 years, either an alternator works or it does not. Wouldn't the ECM cause the check engine light to illuminate? I am at work. I can send you the code when I get home.
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Tuesday, March 17th, 2020 AT 11:17 AM
Tiny
KENNY ROSS
  • MEMBER
  • 5 POSTS
Here are the codes:
P0562
P2106
P2110
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Tuesday, March 17th, 2020 AT 11:23 AM
Tiny
ASEMASTER6371
  • MECHANIC
  • 52,797 POSTS
Things are a lot different today than years ago.

How old is the alternator?

An alternator can work and not work based on the load and the ECM turning it on and off.

It does not charge 100% of the time anymore. It just charges when needed.

Roy
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Tuesday, March 17th, 2020 AT 11:29 AM
Tiny
ASEMASTER6371
  • MECHANIC
  • 52,797 POSTS
Codes.

Two separate issues. One with the voltage from the charging system and the others are the pedal sensor and throttle body.

Do you have a scan tool that can read live data such as the voltage at the pedal sensor?

Roy
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Tuesday, March 17th, 2020 AT 11:36 AM
Tiny
KENNY ROSS
  • MEMBER
  • 5 POSTS
I will check when I get home. It has live data capability but, I'm not sure to what extent.
The alternator was installed approximately 2 months ago by the dealer. The car was doing this before then and they assumed it was the alternator. Of course when they were done and reconnected the battery everything worked great. Evidently it had been an on going problem and the lady that previously owned the vehicle had enough and traded it in. When I test drove the vehicle and researched the care fax it showed the work and the dealer said all was good. And it was for a week and half.
I think the P2106 and P2110 codes were thrown because of the low voltage and me having the accelerator on the floor trying to get off of the road.
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Tuesday, March 17th, 2020 AT 11:55 AM
Tiny
ASEMASTER6371
  • MECHANIC
  • 52,797 POSTS
It is possible for the other codes from low voltage but if it was, there would be other codes set as well for low voltage.

Very possible you have a bad ECM as that is what controls the alternator.

Roy
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Tuesday, March 17th, 2020 AT 12:30 PM
Tiny
KENNY ROSS
  • MEMBER
  • 5 POSTS
It is quite possible I guess. I will throw my code reader in the vehicle and next time it does it I will see if it throws a code before I reset it. Could the BCM have anything to do with this?
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Tuesday, March 17th, 2020 AT 12:33 PM
Tiny
ASEMASTER6371
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Yes, it does monitor the system but does not control the system.

Roy
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Tuesday, March 17th, 2020 AT 12:35 PM

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