Alternator Failure?

[Greg2013SHO]

I’m back on the road going cross-country with the 2013 SHO at nearly 100K miles. Everything was fine until I started hearing a clunking noise and some grating from under the center front in middle South Carolina. I thought it might be an axle bearing going bad. It was prominent above 80 MPH so I slowed down a bit. Thought I’d keep on moving to let the problem reveal itself. Then my radio went off & on. How odd, a mechanical issue AND an electrical one. When I stopped for gas just north of Florence SC on I-95 everything on the dashboard started blinking. My attempts to reset the trip computer for the new tankful caused engine stalling. I was two hours away from a buddy so decided to get as far as I could before breaking down entirely. The instrument lights continued their random activation. No reliable electric function except turn signals so I lowered the driver window and cooled off that way. Kept driving. My options were to get towed to the Ford dealership near my friend if I broke down or go to him and see how the car ran the next day. Thankfully the car lasted to arrival.

My guess is that the alternator failed. I smelled that burring insulation stench we all know well. The erratic nature of the lights suggested intermittent charging. Maybe I wasn’t running on the battery alone. The clock and odometer kept increasing when illuminated so that was a good sign. The trickle charge here was 3 out of 10 function. Again indicating some engine charging had occurred but not complete. Let’s see what the dealership says. Hopefully they can get me back on the road before too long. How does my diagnosis sound?

 

[Greg2013SHO]

Here’s the update to my electric system problem.

Neither of the local Ford dealers could look at it soon so I found an indie shop nearby. I dropped the car off yesterday. Basic functions seemed to be fine. Today they ran the diagnostics and saw all the codes relating to my reported issues. But without the malfunction evident they couldn’t address it. They said the car would continue to drive but I’d have the same kind of trouble with the my electronics if the problem happened again. I still have no radio and can’t reset the failure red star. The SYNC system has disabled my phone. I'll have to stop and power down to make calls. They said my information system had been shut down by the cause and they couldn’t reset it until the problem was fixed. It was in either the wiring or the computer, both requiring expensive swap outs to ID the cause. I should keep driving and hope the issue revealed itself constantly. My battery and alternator were fine. No drive train issues or loose parts.

My cruise control works as does the collision sensor now. Windows and sunroof are also operational. So far.

Whether my Charlottesville Ford dealer shop next stop can help me is TBD. Any experience out there on this? Thanks.