SORTING RULES - LOW SYSTEM VOLTAGE / CHARGING-SYSTEM COMPLAINTS (P0562 SYSTEM VOLTAGE LOW, WITH THE SISTER CODES P0560 P0561 P0563 P0564) PulsCar analysis of NHTSA public data, October 2026. License: CC BY 4.0 Fingerprint of the rules text below, taken when it was written and before any complaint was sorted: 71e2425494c4e8f78dbd8079a60ad6f51ce6c512b72aa4c51b9dbaca32fdd582 (2026-10-21T14:01:34Z) Written before any complaint in the set was sorted. ## Pool (how the complaints were found) NHTSA complaints received 2015-01-01 to 2026-10-04 (782,908 narratives; 2026-10-04 is the latest received date in the flat files). A complaint is in the pool if its narrative matches either of the following case-insensitive text searches (R2 also needs one of its context words somewhere in the same narrative): 1. R1 - the code P0562 or a sister code P0560-P0564 by any spelling (letter O for zero, a space, hyphen or period after the P, suffix 00), or the bare number after a code word: `(? U. - R2 a part named as the cause by a shop, dealer or mechanic, or replaced/repaired, is the category when it is the repair stated as fixing it, or the last cause named. A part replaced that the narrative says did not help does not count (the precedence in the sorting rules). - R3 a shop or dealer that tests and finds nothing, or cannot duplicate the fault, with no part named -> K; an owner's or parts-store test that finds nothing is not K (-> U). - R4 stall = yes only when the narrative says the engine stalled, shut off, cut out, or the car lost power/drive while moving or stopped because of the voltage fault; warning lights, dim lights or a slow start without the engine quitting -> no. - R5 nostart = yes only when the car would not start / did not crank / was dead because of the voltage or charging fault (a jump-start that revived it still counts as yes); a car that started but ran badly -> no. - R6 recall = yes only when a recall, TSB, service bulletin, special coverage, warranty extension or customer-satisfaction program for THIS vehicle's fault is named as performed, offered, seen, asked about or reported missing; an owner's remark that the maker should recall, a recall for an unrelated part, or another car's recall -> no. - R7 returned = yes only when a repair, reset or part replacement was done and the same fault came back or the owner says it did not fix it; repeated episodes before any repair are not returned. - R8 traction (high-voltage) battery, key-fob/TPMS battery, plug-in charging, battery fire/overheating/leak with no 12-volt voltage or charging complaint, or voltage words that are only a passing mention of another failure -> N (all flags no). - R9 when the final category is N all four flags are no; a flag difference on an N complaint is settled as no. - R10 an excerpt that does not settle a field: choose the narrower reading (flag no; category U). - R11a a motorhome / RV / cutaway on a truck or van chassis is not an ordinary passenger vehicle -> N (all flags no). - R12a a shop or dealer that only restates the symptom ("low battery voltage") as its diagnosis, with no part, test result or repair named -> U. - R13a a no-start or breakdown narrative in which no voltage, charging or battery-state fault is described (only an owner's touch/jiggle observation) -> N. - R14a a cause stated by the dealer that fits no letter (technician error, computer cycle not completed) -> O. - R15a the dealer's low-voltage diagnosis was later replaced by a different non-charging cause (e.g. torque sensor connector) -> N. - R16a a low-voltage word or code that is only one item in a list of unrelated faults, or an incidental detail of another failure (software update, liftgate, throttle, camera guess), with no charging/voltage complaint of its own -> N. - R17a a control module (fuel pump, PCM, ECM, ABS) diagnosed or replaced as the cure counts as M; if replacing the alternator/battery did not help, the module named by the shop is the cause. - R11b a failed restart right after the engine quit counts as nostart=yes when the stall itself is tied to the voltage/charging fault. - R12b stall=yes when drive is completely lost while moving (accelerator unresponsive, all propulsion lost, total failure) with a charging/voltage warning; reduced power, limp mode that keeps moving, partial power, or a start-stop restart failure -> no. - R13b nostart=yes needs the narrative to say it would not start, crank or restart or needed a jump; stranded, towed, not drivable or "dead" with no start attempt stated is not nostart. - R14b a promised fix, "known issue" or awaited update with no recall/TSB/program named, or an unrelated recall -> recall=no. - R15b low-voltage wording about a subsystem (airbag, ABS/HECU, power steering module, hybrid traction battery, EV drive unit), or a 12V failure only as aftermath of a non-electrical failure -> N. - R16b voltage wording that is only a speculative guess, a component name, a single code in a list of other codes, or a dealer's unmeasured dismissal of a mechanical symptom -> N. - R17b a parasitic draw traced by a shop test to a module that does not sleep -> category P. - R11c a generic or hypothetical description ("you may lose power", "will stall") that is not tied to the owner's own episode does not count as stall/nostart -> no. - R12c engine still running but sluggish, no acceleration, limp mode, reduced speed, "acts like it shut off" -> stall no (stall needs the engine to quit or the narrative to say it lost power/shut down). - R13c a recall, stall or flag that the narrative ties to a different component (e.g. the CVT transmission) and not to the voltage/charging fault -> no. - R14c a battery described as dead, completely drained or needing a jump (car left unable to start) -> nostart yes (a dead battery counts), also when the start attempt is only implied by a jump-start. - R15c a manufacturer/dealer reply that the vehicle is not covered by a recall for this fault counts as recall asked about -> recall yes. - R16c a dealer that only says "known issue/no fix" or "disregarded" without testing and clearing -> U not K. - R17c an owner's observation that the problem followed a software update, with no shop confirming it -> U (R1), not M. - R18c an airbag/ABS/other-module code that merely contains the words "battery voltage low", where the repair is replacing that module -> N (R8). - R19c a part named by the shop as the final cause after earlier parts did not fix it is the category (the precedence in the sorting rules 2), even if that part is unrelated to charging (steering assembly -> O). - R20c nostart yes needs a start failure (would not start/restart, no crank, dead battery, jump needed); being stranded, immobilised or towed by itself is not enough. - R21c owner's mere suspicion of low voltage ("as if") while the voltage reading is normal and there is no warning, code or measured drop -> N. - R22c hybrid-specific power electronics (motor power inverter MPI, power converter) named as the failed part -> O, like the DC-DC converter. - R23c hybrid/plug-in "charging system" or "needs charging" message where the narrative is about the traction (HV) battery level or its management and no 12-volt fault is described -> N. - R24c a charging-system or low-battery message that shows only as a side symptom of a mechanical engine failure (seized engine, timing chain) or of a brake/ABS fault diagnosed on its own -> N. - R11d the owner states that the 12-volt battery itself failed, went dead or died (or the dealer says battery) as the event, with no other cause named -> B. - R12d a starter-only fault (low voltage only while cranking, starter replaced, battery and charging not questioned) -> N (all flags no). - R13d an alternator that failed because of an external cause (oil leak onto it) is still category A when a shop/dealer states it, or it was replaced; owner-only statement -> U (R1). - R11e a short circuit that drained the 12V battery (melted handle, wiring shorted) with no wire/harness/connector repair named -> P; W only when a wire, connector or harness repair is named. - R12e limp mode / crawl speed / "speed limited" (vehicle still moves) -> stall no; stall yes only when the engine or vehicle quit (died, shut off, stalled, total loss of drive). - R13e a recall or software update performed BEFORE the first failure of that vehicle is not a repair that failed -> returned no; a part the owner or shop replaced that did not cure it -> returned yes (R7). - R14e EV/hybrid accessory power module, ICCU, DC-DC converter named as the cause by a shop -> O; the same named only by the owner -> U (R1). - R15e the shop that "found nothing" must be a shop/dealer/mechanic; "all diagnostic testing shows no error" without a cure -> K even when an unrelated part was replaced earlier. Two notes on the rules above. Rules R13b and R20c both speak about a car that could not start: where they differ, a dead or completely drained battery counts as a start failure (R14c); being stranded, towed or immobilised, with no start failure and no dead battery stated, does not. Rule R11b (a failed restart right after the engine quit) was applied as written. ============================================================================== POOL HISTORY - First search: 2,442 complaints. - Completeness search (a separate search of the same file, run after the first batch was sorted): about 2,000 narratives were read and 1,191 more relevant complaints were found, at which point the number kept was close to the cap of 1,200 and it stopped; more complaints in the same wording exist in the file. All 1,191 were sorted (second batch). found_by in the complaints file says which search found each complaint. Of the 1,284 alternator narratives listed after the first search, 127 were added by the second search; the other 1,157 (listed in complaints-not-sorted.txt) were not sorted, and some of them also mention a warning light, a code or a voltage. - Final: 3,633 complaints; 2971 relevant, 662 not relevant. A relevant complaint is one that describes a low-system-voltage or charging-system event on the owner's vehicle. - After the settling of disagreements, a consistency check changed 123 rows under the same rules (89 of them rows on which both sortings had agreed): complaints whose wording pointed to a failed start or a stall were read in full and the mark was added where the whole text states it (the sorting had seen only a window around the matching words).