Alternator upgrade

[sts90]

Has anyone upgraded the base alternator to a high output version or is this even possible?

My motivation was the deep sleep message I got one day after getting home. Upon my research I found the alternators don’t produce enough charge to recoup start unless driving about 40mins: . I don’t drive much or far, maybe 9k a year. Yes I bought a Noco genius 10 and working on creating a maintenance schedule for my battery but believe this to be a poor design. Also it should not be on me to solve this issue.

Sponsored

 

[hotrodmex]

The alternator is already 200 Amps on your XLT. The Lariat and up get 220 Amps.

Upon my research I found the alternators don’t produce enough charge to recoup start unless driving about 40mins

That's not what he says. He says "If you drive 45 minutes to work or an hour or whatever, like most people do, you're not going to have this issue." 5 seconds earlier he says " There's nothing wrong with your battery or your charging system, It's just the way it is with new systems like this" when referring to how his four 8-10 minute trips to work eventually wear down the charge rate.

I do two 12-15 min trips a day usually, and that's just about enough to keep it steady, but it is border-line.

 

[Rinn69]

On the Ranger, a few people went in with Forscan and bumped up the “minimum charge level” to 90 or 95% which seemed to fix their issue.

 

[HammaMan]

Try HVAC fan setting 5 on the regular. It tricks the BMS into actually charging batteries. It's not limited to the powerboost. Try it for a week and see what happens. Works in my ford EV too.

 

[astrand1]

Try HVAC fan setting 5 on the regular. It tricks the BMS into actually charging batteries. It's not limited to the powerboost. Try it for a week and see what happens. Works in my ford EV too.

You know when I first read this awhile back I really thought it was bullshit. But then I got my scangauge and have one of the pods set on 12v and it’s amazing that it works just like that. Put fun on 5 or higher and it immediately jumps to 14+ I don’t remember if it was you that originally discovered it but what a cool little find. Also to the OP I would just get a small trickle charger no need for a schedule really. Do what I did. I hard wired it in that way I just open the hood plug it in and done. I drive my truck enough that this has not been an issue but when I leave it sit for a few days in the garage I always plug it in just to keep the battery topped off.

 

[sts90]

Try HVAC fan setting 5 on the regular. It tricks the BMS into actually charging batteries. It's not limited to the powerboost. Try it for a week and see what happens. Works in my ford EV too.

Do you mean running the fan at 5 inside or a setting in forscan?

 

[sts90]

I already bought a Noco genius 10 which is a trickle charger after completing full charge. However I don’t want to opening the hood or running any cables to my truck all the time. Also I do want to buy a laptop to run forscan to do any settings.

All these huge screens in vehicles now, no reason to not have all menus available there, behind an access code with a disclaimer. There is plenty of computing power and storage available to make this possible. 20 plus years fixing electronics, I am calling foul on whole setup.

Great, I am sounding like my old man these days.

 

[Snakebitten]

Do you mean running the fan at 5 inside or a setting in forscan?

Yes, he means setting the HVAC fan speed at 5 or higher.
It does in fact alter the battery management charging strategy for whatever reason. It will raise the charging voltage from about 12.7V to 14.xV

CrAzY
But true

 

[HammaMan]

You know when I first read this awhile back I really thought it was bullshit. But then I got my scangauge and have one of the pods set on 12v and it’s amazing that it works just like that. Put fun on 5 or higher and it immediately jumps to 14+ I don’t remember if it was you that originally discovered it but what a cool little find.

I discovered it trying to get my LFP batt to charge. It's got a steady state of 13.4 v and the truck floats well below that and eats the LFP batt. It won't charge a trailer if using the 7 pin and it doesn't charge the 12v for shit.

Keeping the hvac blower at 5 or above ignores the BMS and actually gives the truck some voltage. I use the vent controls to direct the air if it's too much. Either upper or mix of upper and foot.

 

[sts90]

The alternator is already 200 Amps on your XLT. The Lariat and up get 220 Amps.

Do you have part number for 220 Amp alternator? I am debating on upgrading my truck in a couple of areas if I keep and I will add this to the list.

 

[hotrodmex]

Do you have part number for 220 Amp alternator? I am debating on upgrading my truck in a couple of areas if I keep and I will add this to the list.

I'll see if I can see anything, but you can probably just grab a vin from a Lariat+ online and search for an alternator for it.

And I was wrong, it's a 240.

 

[sts90]

I'll see if I can see anything, but you can probably just grab a vin from a Lariat+ online and search for an alternator for it.

And I was wrong, it's a 240.

Thanks. Well, that is something that should be mentioned instead. I wonder if I had bought an XLT with pro power, would that have had the upgraded alternator, or is that a separate system completely? The more I think from a practical performance point of view, I am disappointed in the lack of transparency. I would pay for these items, not a forced trim upgrade that comes with leather. The summers in Louisiana will make you a believer in how hot that leather gets and A/C seats don't cut it.

 

[HammaMan]

You've got more than enough power from you alternator. It's the BMS holding back voltage. Modern alternators don't put out a nice 14.4v constant. You have to bypass it with the HVAC blower setting to get it to ignore the BMS.

 

[Eighthtry]

Do you have part number for 220 Amp alternator? I am debating on upgrading my truck in a couple of areas if I keep and I will add this to the list.

I had this problem with a 2002 F150 XLT, a 2014 F150 XLT, and now a 2023 F150 XLT. All had upsized batteries,except the 2023, which I have not replaced yet. It is a FoMoCo. It looks there is room for an upsized battery in my 5.0 2023. AGM batteries all from different makers.

I gave it up and just started trickle charging. Works like a champ. I would be interested in a Foreskin mod that sets the charge on the alternator to a higher level. I do not want to do it myself however. I would accidentally punch the launch mode and have the battery go through the hood. Of course I could never find anyone to do a foreskin alteration, even though I live in the Dallas area.

Could there be an electrical part that is restricting flow that might be replaced? I don't think 200 to 220 amps will make much difference.

 

[Snakebitten]

It's not really an alternator problem. I am certain that the oem alternator is capable of charging sufficiently.
If only it is allowed.

Sponsored