You wouldn’t think a cooling system problem would cause a battery warning light to come on, would you? SureTrack community member carmansteve had a 2014 Ford Focus in the shop that had the battery light coming on but no apparent charging system issue. They posed the question to the community, and with the help of fellow community members, they were able to resolve the issue quickly.
The following Community Fix summarizes the interaction between members of the community that led to the solution.
Vehicle
2014 Ford Focus SE 2.0L
Title
Battery light on, replaced radiator shutter.
Complaint
Customer complains that battery light is on.
Diagnostic Steps Performed/Parts Replaced
When first started, everything is ok. After running for approximately 1 1/2 minutes, the battery light comes on. Vehicle, however is charging fine. I have had experiences of transmission shops doing work on these and not replacing the ground wires properly but checked and all seem to be in place. Found high resistance on the CAN bus.
Cause
Found bad shutter assembly in front of radiator causing high resistance in CAN bus system.
Correction
Replaced radiator shutter assembly, high CAN bus resistance gone and battery light no longer comes on.