Principles of Operation
WARNING: This page is about a different car, the 2005 Mercury Montego, 2005 Ford Freestyle, and 2005 Ford Five Hundred. However, it is still accessible from the selected car via links, so may be relevant.
The vehicle is equipped with a powertrain control module (PCM)-controlled charging system. The PCM determines the optimal voltage setpoint for the charging system and communicates this information to the voltage regulator. The PCM-controlled charging system is unique in that it has 2 unidirectional communication lines between the PCM and the generator/regulator. Both of these communication lines are pulse-width modulated. The generator communication (GEN COM) line communicates the desired setpoint from the PCM to the voltage regulator. The generator monitor (GEN MON) line communicates the generator load and error conditions to the PCM. The third pin on the voltage regulator, the A circuit pin, is a dedicated battery voltage sense line.