[noodles]

Always charging state would defeat the advantages of the "smart charging" system built into our PCMs: increased fuel efficiency, less alternator wear, increased battery lifespan.

I imagine the OP wants to keep his vehicle functioning normally.

Automotive batteries don't like to be below 12v for longevity. There are no real life benefits of having the part time alternator, and the OEM charging strategy that goes with it.
The alternator has a voltage regulator in it, so I'll let that control my 13.5v battery feed.

 

[noodles]

I am not sure if I am going to do anything else at this point and time. I would consider unplugging the sensor if someone can confirm that simply unplugging it reverts the charging system to the old school way of letting the internal regulator manage the battery charge and feeding the electrical system when the engine is running. If unplugging the sensor causes a code from the BCM (it is my understanding that the body control module is what controls this) then my assumption would be that the charging system would go into some kind of default state or would charge at the last set point of the BCM. If this is the case I have read that a tuner can bypass the program around the sensor so if that is true then that would be the other option as I have through about getting a tune and this would only push me closer to pulling that trigger. Again, I have no clue how it works so my immediate reaction is to leave what I have done alone as it seems to be working well and continue to research this until I have a definitive answer.

Unplugging the sensor will get you an internal BCM code (no CEL), and only seen with Forscan or IDS type scanner, however, I can confirm that on mine it goes back to conventional charging status by checking the voltage pids with Forscan.

I'm pretty sure part time charging status can be bypassed with Forscan, but I have had no luck yet finding the Hex line to change.

 

[noodles]

Aero, if your friend works at Ford, bypass FORScan as he can use IDS to do this. Its just that most forum members dont have IDS hardware and software.

With FORScan these are the changes I made in the BCM:

BCM	726-04-01	xxx2	xxxx	xxxx	Battery Monitoring System Enabled
726-04-01	xxx0	xxxx	xxxx	Battery Monitoring System Disabled

Disregard the numbers in the 1st block and ALL of the xxx's He/you only want to change the 2 to a 0 to disable.
There are many modules you can change with FORScan, the module you want is BCM. We have different gens so your values very well could be different, but there are also a few threads for your gen over on our "other" forum with alot more info than over here.

I will check mine and see if the blocks line up with yours.
If not, then at least it's a place to start.

 

[noodles]

Any suggestion how to retain the sensor while relocating the battery? Perhaps just run the new grounds through it and leave it located where it is?

I would imagine to try and keep it close to the battery, but I'm guessing you'd go overkill on the cable anyway, so you could prolly have the sensor anywhere on that cable.