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Hello all! I have a 2012 200 V6 and have been dealing with an issue with the charging system for a few months now. In July I noticed a high pitch whining sound coming from the engine at startup. It would go away after a minute or two. I figured it was a bad pulley or something and didn't think much more about it. About a week later, the whine would stay on permanently as long as the engine was running. My dad and I were a little stumped but the car was driving fine so once again we ignored it. Three days later when I was leaving to go to a friend's house the battery light came on pulling out of the driveway. I park the car and used my dad's SUV instead. The next day we have the battery tested at a local Napa and it was found to be good however the parts guy recommended to change the battery since it was the original battery back from 2012, and so we did! We install the new battery and let the car idle for 10-15 minutes with no warning light so we figure problem solved. Unfortunately the moment I started driving the car the light reared its ugly self. So now we buy a new(re manufactured) alternator from Napa for $250 and we take the weekend to put it in since it was a pain the get to.There's no more whining sound and we now feel confident the problem is solved, so I take my car for a test run. I get on the entrance ramp to merge on the highway and use about 3/4 throttle to get up to speed quickly since traffic was moving fast. The car hesitates for 1-2 seconds and then a large jerk happens as the car slams itself into a lower gear and once again the battery light comes on, ughhh! I get the car back to the house and now my dad is really stumped. We finally throw in the towel and let the car sit while I borrow his SUV to go to school for the next 2 weeks. The even weirder part is my dad decides to drive around the car for about 40-50 miles without the battery light coming on! I drove the car around for another 20 miles and the light didn't come on. I figured the problem is now solved until the following day the light came on while climbing a hill.....great! I finally bring my car to the dealership and leave it there for two days, so they can do a thorough inspection. They called me back and said they couldn't get the light to come back on. They check all connections, hook it up to their diagnostic equipment, and drive it around to no avail. I went today to pick up the car and when I merged on the highway the light came on. So now I'm stumped as to what could be going on. Is it possible the dealer is full of crap or the replacement alternator is bad itself? For complete transparency, around May I had the car's totally integrated power module(TIPM) and the PCM replaced since the car stopped starting reliably. I starting to suspect there might be some computer problem. Only because when the light comes on I can still drive the car for miles and it doesn't seem to want to die. So maybe the alternator is charging the battery and there is some other component in the charging system that is bad? Or maybe the new TIPM and PCM were not installed correctly? What are your thoughts. Please, any help would be so valuable and thank you for your time.
