Babbler Posted December 30, 2010 Share Posted December 30, 2010 Hello all, Joined this forum for hope of getting help with my car problem. Recently it has occassionally completely "stopped" whilst driving it. I think its electrical as all the lights on the dashboard appear and "---" shows on the display. It got worse in that the car didnt even start the other day. (turning key just made all lights on dash appear and didnt tick over). Its not the battery as that has been checked. Could it be the immobaliser? To fix the starting problem I disconnected the battery for 5 minutes and reconnected it. That then made the engine start ok. That was the last thing I did. Have to wait and see if its permenantely fixed it by "resetting" something but I doubt it. Its scary when it does it whilst driving it - only done it at slow speeds in car parks so far thankfully! Please help. I dont want to take it to a ford garrage with no idea as could cost me more than the car is worth! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artscot79 Posted December 30, 2010 Share Posted December 30, 2010 Hello all, Joined this forum for hope of getting help with my car problem. Recently it has occassionally completely "stopped" whilst driving it. I think its electrical as all the lights on the dashboard appear and "---" shows on the display. It got worse in that the car didnt even start the other day. (turning key just made all lights on dash appear and didnt tick over). Its not the battery as that has been checked. Could it be the immobaliser? To fix the starting problem I disconnected the battery for 5 minutes and reconnected it. That then made the engine start ok. That was the last thing I did. Have to wait and see if its permenantely fixed it by "resetting" something but I doubt it. Its scary when it does it whilst driving it - only done it at slow speeds in car parks so far thankfully! Please help. I dont want to take it to a ford garrage with no idea as could cost me more than the car is worth! you need the codes scanned for a fault otherwise youll spend more replacing bits in the hope it fixes youre issue if it was the pats system the led above the clock would be flashing while driving it could be electrical but theres a lot of things that could cause it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeebowhite Posted December 31, 2010 Share Posted December 31, 2010 No Point speculating without knowing too much about the issue, you could of course try the "Dashboard Trick" that is headed at the top of the forum if you have a trip computer, although it doesnt have access to ALL the DTC codes, you can still see a few, I diagnosed a faulty battery with it, and that resolved my problems. If you want to / can afford to, get it to a garage and get it hooked up to the machine, ford will charge 60 + VAT (so get in there quick!) smaller garages will charge less. Otherwise if its something you can bare with in the short term, you can buy an OBD2 Scanner, which should do the same job, these can cost as little as about £20.00 and can come in useful. I am looking into getting one myself but wouldnt rely solely on it, but if your looking for a cheap fix, it could be worth a shot! Also how much do you trust the battery? I thought mine was fine, but on starting the engine, it would cause clicks, the lights would flash but no juice, the trip computer would block out also. If possible, see if you can borrow a working/Fully Charged battery, or if you have a charger, run the charger for a couple of hours just to be on the safe side. Batteries can cause alsorts of mayhem! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babbler Posted December 31, 2010 Author Share Posted December 31, 2010 Thanks all. I had a friend put his computer on it and no fault showing. But as you say ford have their own computer codes that normal computer analysers wont see. RAC checked the battery and said it was fine. Will bite the bullet and take it into ford who cant fit me in til after the vat rise. :| Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeebowhite Posted December 31, 2010 Share Posted December 31, 2010 That sucks! good luck with it, look forward to hearing what it is - my issue was very similar to this, it was in fact the fuel filter was damaged and was letting air into the engine so the engine would just cut out! I found that specifically if I accelerated hard, or went over 1800 revs it bit me. drive around gently, then put your foot down, see if you can put some science to the mystery! you may be able to do the repairs yourself before Ford can take you in! also check other local / slightly further dealers. They may fit you in and may save you an extra couple of quid! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babbler Posted January 1, 2011 Author Share Posted January 1, 2011 Im now booked in on Wednesday as it has become a bit more frequent. I drive it, park it then get back in 10 to 20 mins later and it drives for 5 min then cuts out. IF it even starts that is. Thing is I can drive it for up to 40 mins before parking it with no problems. Then when I get back in and drive it lasts less than 5 minutes before cutting out (dash goes to "---" and accellerator stop responding. Have to pull over!). Its not good - just hope it IS something simple like the fuel filter. Will the computer be able to tell them if it is cutting out due to that? Im a complete car rookie really! Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babbler Posted January 5, 2011 Author Share Posted January 5, 2011 Update - they claim its the intrument cluster. Needs replacing @ 640 including the diagnostics. Does that sound plausible? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artscot79 Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Update - they claim its the intrument cluster. Needs replacing @ 640 including the diagnostics. Does that sound plausible? its plausible but 640 theyre having a laugh on a 4 year old car the mk1 and 1,5 had it as a known fault and replacement should be no more than 99 quid i would argue that they know theres an issue with older cars and they have had to do it at a fixed price for them and 4 years is not a long time for an instrument cluster to go Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babbler Posted January 5, 2011 Author Share Posted January 5, 2011 They are standing by it. I have spoken to head office customer care who say the mk1 and 1.5 was a different fault (car didnt cut out) and that this is an unknown fault. Thats what they charge and only they can do it as needs setting up correctly via their computer system. Am not giving up. Will be writing to head office and if no luck watchdog to chase up this as it may be a new fault that needs to be looked at. £99 was a special offer that has ended and only applied to cars up to 2005 anyway. I will be following this up as am not happy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babbler Posted January 5, 2011 Author Share Posted January 5, 2011 Update 2: They will do it for £400 now. Amazing how £200 just rolled off the price. Hmmm... "different source for the part - still ford but a different part of Ford". Me thinks they might suspect this as a known fault... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeebowhite Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 If you really suspect that, push it lower, threaten to give them your keys and get all your freinds to do the same, its amazing how that knocked an extra 100 off a previous repair I had done at a certain dealer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoffrow Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 Hi I think I have the same problem as my car losses power when the red cog caution light comes on but when I stop and turn off the car and switch it back on the light goes out it just re-set itself. In the last two weeks my car has decided to stop turning over but if I tap the top of the dash and try to re-start the it sometimes work. There are 8 commuation codes but my local ford dealer can not dianose the right repair as they are guessing that it is the ABS moduel. I have had two manchincs look at the car before going to ford and they said it was the intrument cluster that is why it has been into ford. I Hope this month I might get my car fixed as this has been going on for 2 and a half months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeebowhite Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 @Babbler - Hope they are fixing it and diagnosed it right, so many of these faults are so similar to diagnose! in response to an earlier question you posed about "would the computer see it" Yes and No - yes if it was detected by a sensor, No if its "mechanical" because I had air leak into the fuel line, it just got spat into the engine and thats why it cut out, nothing was recorded, no errors, just as if I had stalled, however the Ford PC picked up a "Low Fuel Pressure" and thats how they fathomed it. Unfortunately the DTC codes on the car are very little to go by! one day I will invest in my own OBDII reader / Software! @Geoffrow - as for tapping the dash, it depends on the fault, I suppose a loose cable that is nocked back into place by tapping the dash is plausible, but at the sort of price for the cluster, I would hope for both your sakes, that they diagnose it right... Shame that dealers dont have the approach of "Im sorry we mis-diagnosed that and charged you an absolute fortune, here, allow us to shave an amount of the rediculous price that we need to try for the next fix. Since we incorrectly diagnosed and charged you £640 for a part you dont need..." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babbler Posted January 7, 2011 Author Share Posted January 7, 2011 Ive got it back. It was a CAN line fault on the instrument cluster. Driven it a few journeys and seems ok. I made sure that they knew I would ask for a FULL refund if the problem is not fixed and they guaranteed me this is the fault and it is fixed. Time will tell but touch wood seems ok. Early to tell... My investigations will continue. Geoffrow if you are told its the instrument cluster let me know. You have a similar car to mine! If we can gather evidence of this being a "recall" fault we could get our money back. I suspect this is the case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoffrow Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 Just got my car back and the instrument cluster has been replaced fingers cross that has fix my problem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babbler Posted January 15, 2011 Author Share Posted January 15, 2011 Just got my car back and the instrument cluster has been replaced fingers cross that has fix my problem Be good to know if it did! :@) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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