Focus Altenator

[darren butler]

Just wondering has anyone ever had trouble with the plug on the altenator

It's charging and driving fine but the lights go bright and dull

Touch the plug the lights go dim let go and they go bright or the other way around

Anyone any ideas never seen this before

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[Ezzy]

Hello mate,

The only advice I can give you is to get rid of the car while you can because these car are the worst cars when it comes to durability and once you get one problem that my seem small you will end up with a big problem ant the end of the day. Jus read my topic. Good luck.

[darren butler]

Ya I think u may be right

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[artscot79]

Load of rubbish mate worst cars for durability my backside the focus has its faults however i can tell you my mk2 has done 6 mots with no advisories no faults cant say the same for my mates audi or vauxhall or pugeot either the plug has 3 wires which can easily break or chaffe ford do a replacement piece of loom to fix this.

Other people have bad experiences to be honest its down to buying duff cars and not doing proper checks not doing proper maintenance or not dealing with issues in the correct way both my focis ive had and an old escort have been the least expensive cars to run and maimtain and ive had few issues except wear and tear all cars have

[stef123]

Hello mate,

The only advice I can give you is to get rid of the car while you can because these car are the worst cars when it comes to durability and once you get one problem that my seem small you will end up with a big problem ant the end of the day. Jus read my topic. Good luck.

Get rid of a car because of a dodgy connection? Bit extreme

Sounds to me like you need to look at the connector/pins and see why it's happening

[Ezzy]

I had a mondeo and a focus both serviced by ford and both were relitervly new but both gave nothing but trouble and if you saying that durability is ok on these cars even though one started mixing water and oil just two years after I bought it and the other seized the gearbox on a 58 plate and if you saying that £1700 for a gearbox is cheap then mate you can go ahead and get ripped off cause I just bought BMW 1.8 d sport on a 12 plate with a much better service package and warranty than ford could ever off and on top of that you are treated like a customer when you go to BMW and not a full like they do at Ford

[Andy.B1971]

Oh dear ^^^^^^^^^^ , My sister in law bought a brand new 1 series 250 miles later the engine detonated, Years back a customer bought a brand new car from the dealership where I worked she got 75 feet up the road and it burst into flames, EVERY car manufacturer has their failures in reliability, I can only comment from personal experience from the local ford dealer I deal with for my dad and their customer service is second to none, its the same for customer service anywhere if your not happy you go elsewhere, Sounds like you had super service from your ford dealership :P as your cars were always going wrong, now that tells you something.

Plenty of independent garages give a quality service at a fraction of the price of ford . Did you get ripped off too ?....maybe.

[artscot79]

Ive fixed more bmws than fords thats a fact german reliability is a myth and bmw are in the bottom of the reliability index . Ill tell you what they dont from experience from a garage for youre car info panels go dead wipers stop working stop start failures clutch issues constant engine management lights failed calipers engine rebuilds faulty injectors faulty control modules all on youre year and model and as for bmw service in dealing with them they dont admit to faults they say its fine no fault found like all other dealers do Ive got a 56 plate focus which has had no breakdowns no major issues no mot fails or advisories my previous focus a 2001 was the same no issues no problems i dont rely on ford servicing i also do my own checks weekly .the gearbox on the focus is actually very reliable and siezed ones are uncommon the oil and water mixing can happen on any car and is a simple fix a seized gearbox suggests the driver is at fault or the gearbox had no oil again something a driver should notice and 1700 for a gearbox is a rip off but on an 08 car you would have got it a lot cheaper arguing the case a secind hand box wouldn't have cost more than a few hundred pounds.

its unfair to put youre bad experience onto others and suggest they may have big problems a simple cable from ford which is inexpensive will cure a well known issue above is what can happen to youre car and does to that model regularly doesnt mean it will happen to you though .

to make a point anyone on here will tell you im not pro ford ill happily raise the focuses issues and failings but i will also hold my hands up and say this both focis have been the most reliable cars ive owned and the least expensive to maintain my bmw 316 was not the same nor my vw

i hope youre bmw makes you happy and you enjoy it but it has its faults many are major and they are qouted as the unhappiest drivers due to continued reliability issues if you wanted a decent car with an actually decent warranty you should have saved a fortune and bought a kia.

[artscot79]

Ive fixed more bmws than fords thats a fact german reliability is a myth and bmw are in the bottom of the reliability index . Ill tell you what they dont from experience from a garage for youre car info panels go dead wipers stop working stop start failures clutch issues constant engine management lights failed calipers engine rebuilds faulty injectors faulty control modules all on youre year and model and as for bmw service in dealing with them they dont admit to faults they say its fine no fault found like all other dealers do Ive got a 56 plate focus which has had no breakdowns no major issues no mot fails or advisories my previous focus a 2001 was the same no issues no problems i dont rely on ford servicing i also do my own checks weekly .the gearbox on the focus is actually very reliable and siezed ones are uncommon the oil and water mixing can happen on any car and is a simple fix a seized gearbox suggests the driver is at fault or the gearbox had no oil again something a driver should notice and 1700 for a gearbox is a rip off but on an 08 car you would have got it a lot cheaper arguing the case a secind hand box wouldn't have cost more than a few hundred pounds.

its unfair to put youre bad experience onto others and suggest they may have big problems a simple cable from ford which is inexpensive will cure a well known issue above is what can happen to youre car and does to that model regularly doesnt mean it will happen to you though .

to make a point anyone on here will tell you im not pro ford ill happily raise the focuses issues and failings but i will also hold my hands up and say this both focis have been the most reliable cars ive owned and the least expensive to maintain my bmw 316 was not the same nor my vw

i hope youre bmw makes you happy and you enjoy it but it has its faults many are major and they are qouted as the unhappiest drivers due to continued reliability issues if you wanted a decent car with an actually decent warranty you should have saved a fortune and bought a kia.

[darren butler]

Ok none of you are advising me on how to fix my problem

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[artscot79]

I did look at the 3 pin connector check for any issues with the plug such as water creating rusty connectors if its okay its highly likely the wiring has been damaged the fix is to get a replacement wire with plug which ford do and cut the old wire off splice the new wire on it is a well know issue on the focus as always have a free battery check done a decent auto electrician can do it if you dont wish to