Not charging and p063c code, generator voltage sensor circuit low

Lost communication with vehicle Immobilizer control v0167

My battery is down to 10.4 and not charging when running, is there an issue or just a bad alternator ?

I also have all the other faults due to the low voltage

 

Looks like the alt was bad, swapped in new today, easiest I have done in a long time, also did rear belt , that was involved but not hard

 

So your alternator died on the same day as mine and we both swapped in new ones yesterday?

Weird.

Yeah I was lucky enough to notice mine when the noise/pitch changed and I actually smelled the regulator get cooked in traffic. Down to 12.5 when I got home, zero actual warnings though.

 

As I stated in another thread, I think mine is on it's way out as well. Just to see what was going on, I hooked the IID tool up the other day and monitored my voltages as I was driving. Seemed normal('ish) while on the gas with a voltage of 14.1 (maybe a tad low), but whenever I stopped to idle, the voltage dropped down to 12.5 or so... which to me is the normal voltage of the battery w/no input from the alternator at all. Is this normal? I don't seem to remember the car doing this before, which would just be confirmation that my alternator IS actually on the way out. Thoughts?

 

Well YMMV (I've seen them fail a few different ways) but personally, my progression was as follows.

-a few months ago (when it was still colder - harder starts, less amperage from battery, heated seats and windshield, more air compressor use, higher loads on alternator) the alternator started to whine after starting.

-whine after start got louder, and more recently I noticed that if you waited for the air compressor to shut off, you could hear most of the whine go away (ie it's load based and it's definitely struggling)

-maybe a month ago I made that thread about the volume lowering and enabling "low power mode" 20 minutes AFTER I started my car, while idling in traffic. That was the big red flag for me.

-about a week after that, while playing with a new scanner at work - I noticed that my charging voltage at idle was 14.4-14.8 - so that is NOT always a sure-fire way to check. These alternators vary their CURRENT output via PWM signal as you know, but the key is that it's current-related. You can have an open voltage of 14.4 with minimal loads and the alternator isn't working very hard. It's possible that when loads are applied AND the unit gets hotter, that's when voltage falls dramatically.

- Monday when I left work in evening it was 85 degrees for the first time in a while, I cranked the front and rear AC blowers to full and was listening to music in stop-go idling traffic (in hindsight, a LOT of load at a low RPM) - about 10 minutes later as the rpms dropped each time I stopped in traffic, I noticed a LOUD whine on rpm decel. Sounded like front right engine bay area.. as I left my windows down I smelled burning electronics smell (from the stories on here of people reconnecting new batteries after they die, everyone mentioned smoke/smell) so I connected the dots and turned everything off. As I said in other thread - pulled into indy lot about 45 min in (on same road I commute on) and decided to make the remaining 20 min run home.

That's when I checked and saw (engine off) 12.5, and 12.4 engine on.. 12 flat with engine on and all HVAC on.

***ENTIRE TIME the vehicle gave me no warnings, errors, codes, dash lights, whatever.. when idling at 12.05v. Perhaps there's a time limit before it triggers, or I wasn't at the threshold yet? I'm shocked the OP's vehicle even ran at 10-something volts!

I think the heat and the high loads with low RPM was too much for it. If you're curious, you can get your car warm and throw on front/rear AC on max, front/rear heated windshield glass, and front/rear heated seats. Sit by your front passenger wheel well and listen - maybe with safety glasses.

Also FWIW I had a brand new H9 MTP interstate in my car, so that probably buffered a lot of the loads actually, and prevented major issues - if you've got an older or weaker battery I'd imagine things would be more dramatic.

edit: the delco/remy unit is fine so far, I did notice a slight bearing squeak down there (laying under car while running with that cover off) but I think it was coming from the larger fan belt tensioner pulley located next to it, hard to tell with your face a few inches from that huge fan.

edit2: i read a few people complaining of erratic fan behavior before alternator failures - probably some degree of AC voltage getting into the vehicle past battery and messing with PWM fan signals. I did notice a more defined fan sequence on startup. If you're having issues w/ fan maybe add that to the list above as well.

 

I'd say if you hear a pronounced whine, it's time for a new alternator.

 

Thanks for the info! I'm probably going to go with a remanufactured Denso unit as it seems to be relatively cheap compared to the other options and it's the OEM from my understanding.

As far as the erratic fan behavior, are you referring to HVAC blower or the cooling fan (e.g. rad fan)?

 

Auto zone commercial account $160

Ours gave no warning till voltage was so low it tripped the can bus crap and all the Xmas lights came on and suspension dropped

Now my wife was driving I was not with her but when she got home the battery lite was also on, I don't know if it was on before the lite show but I charged the battery and drove to dads and all lites were off but the battery

Guessing it was on but she did not notice

 

is there a "best" alternator or a favorite to get? I have a whine for sure.

 

MY delco/remy has been fine so far - was about 85 again in traffic monday with both HVAC on high and zero issues at idle in stop-go traffic for 45 minutes.

The Denso unit is about $30 more and can probably be had for $220 or so, but honestly it's a reman unit the same way the remy is, so I'm not sure if that's much of an advantage, you're still gambling with the QC of the reman protocols and facility, company, etc.

I got mine through carquest for super cheap but that was discounted on top of our shop CarQuest Technet facility wholesale cost, etc. which was originally like $190.

Still not a bad deal compared to the $450 LR unit.