Focus Tdci 1.6 2007 Died Electrically

[plunet]

Hi there, hope someone can give me some hints

I've a Focus TDCi 2007, 69k miles, never given any problems previous and owned in family since new. Just driving locally home having turned corner into residential road and engine cut out, and although I wasn't in the car at the time the car seemed to something wierd electrically. It was said that the wipers came on as the car ground to a halt but that could have been driver fluster.

All the ignition lights are "normal" including the immobiliser light which goes off after 3 seconds when ignition turned to postion two.

When you turn the key to postion three there's no activity from the engine. There's a whirring noise from the under glovebox fusebox. At the same point the dashboard goes a bit nuts, the dials shivver, and it's almost as if there's a short in the electrical system that is resetting everything due to a drop of voltage. The radio has reset its date/time back to 2007 which also kind indicates a complete loss of voltage.

The car was on a hill facing downwards when it broke down so I've tried to bump start it, rolling at 10mph and slowly releasing the clutch in 2nd gear. The engine turns when in gear but doesn't fire up electrically. at all

The only other clue that doesn't appear to be normal is that the dashboard LED display (odometer, etc) says on even when the car is locked which isn't normal afaik.

I've checked all the fuses (both under glovebox and in engine compartment) and they are all ok.

The only other hint to add is that about 1 week ago, the starter made a noise like it was just spinning without doing anything. It only did that once and then started fine on 2nd attempt. That problem hasn't reoccurred. I'm not sure that's a likely cause at the moment as I can't even bump start the car.

Hopefully someone has got a clue as to what is wrong....

Thanks in advance.

[jeebowhite]

Sounds like a battery fault to me, you see the headlights go nuts, and the instrument cluster goes bizerk! as well as the clicking in the fusebox it all points to a flat battery. have you had the red battery light come on at all?

Can you start the car enough to get it to electrics and access the trip computer?

[plunet]

Yep, you were right with the failed battery diagnostic.

New battery fitted and it's all OK now. I just wasn't convinced based upon the diagnostics I was seeing from the car and the fact that the car was being driven normally and it just stopped in its tracks that it was just going to be the battery at fault.

Thanks for the feedback.

[jeebowhite]

No worries, amongst oither things its first hand experience lol, but the symptoms for a dodgy battery can often indicate everything, but a dodgy battery... if it doesnt fit anything else, its a good place to start!