[Brendall]

@bryan9915 That is a good healthy voltage. Now the vehicle will charge to that voltage all of the time, regardless of engine load.

Under normal driving with the sensor hooked up, the ECM would control the charging. You would not notice this unless you looked at the battery voltage gauge while you were driving and took notice of the needles position.

Your will now charge to 14.5ish all of the time.

I have an '18 Armada and within 6mths of ownership they replaced the battery and brake switch. I do a lot of under 8 mile trips and sometimes my car is parked over the weekend and struggles to start. I unplugged the smart alternator and then got the BCI Malfunction, dash lights up all the warning lights and a restart clears all but the Check engine. I had a series of this event 4x in 6 weeks. Sometimes it would go into limp mode. The 1st time the dealership said it threw a low voltage code and plugged in the smart alternator. I played the game, made sure i was taking longer trips so I didn't experience the no start issues. A week later same issue, they replaced the ADAS. Got it back smart alternator still plugged in, they replaced the ECM. Now, I'm less diligent with the driving to ensure the smart alternator kicks in, experience no start, so I charge and disconnect the smart alternator again. 5 months go by, no issues and sit idling BCI Malfunction, lights on dash, limp mode and have to park and wait a few mins to restart and all is working but the dreaded Check Engine light is on. So I bring it back to the dealership, after plugging the smart alternator back in before dropping off and this time they say it's the Current Sensor that needs to be replaced. Soooo, after this long story, while I recognize the dealership is just throwing parts at codes.....I'm wondering if the smart alternator being unplugged is causing a problem? I see many in other forums and boards with no issues since unplugging the smart alternator.