Fiesta Failing to Start - Video

[AJS_]

2003 Ford Fiesta, Petrol 33,000 Miles.

Yesterday, my car has been failing to start, which came out of no where. I was driving it for around 6 hours, then pulled over for 10 minutes to have a break. When attempting to start the engine back up, it didn't start.

As you hear in the video, your hear a fast ticking noise when trying to start it. That suggests a flat battery? So I called the RAC out and they fully charged the battery, and it worked.

HOWEVR, 5 minutes into driving again I flashed my light at someone to give way then the car cut out straight away again, specifically when I flashed my light?

Called RAC out again, fully charged the battery, and on my way again. This time I didn't use any lights, radio etc and I got home okay. I thought, now I'm home, I may aswel try to restart the engine, and surprise.. it didn't work.

What could this be?

Here is the video the problem I taken today:

 

[Ryan_Tango]

Perhaps battery needs replacing? Or a dodgy earth?

[isetta]

"specifically when I flashed my light?"   if the battery is poor and the engine was idling then the flashing of the lights probably caused the voltage to drop below what was needed for the ignition system to work so engine stopped. 

Does sound likely to be a dead battery but like with all things on cars it might not be the most likely thing.

If the battery is no good it seems strange that the RAC did not test the battery and declare it dead and then try to sell you a new one (at a high price).

How long did it take them to fully charge the battery?   A battery takes hours and hours to fully charge from flat, unless you 'force feed it' at an unreasonably high charge rate which causes the battery to get hot and the plates within it to buckle which in itself damages the battery.

Form what you have said so far we can not rule out the alternator being faulty. Although I would have expected the RAC to check that also, a basic check only takes a minute with a voltmeter when the engine is running 

[AJS_]

1 hour ago, Ryan_Tango said:

Perhaps battery needs replacing? Or a dodgy earth?

 

57 minutes ago, isetta said:

"specifically when I flashed my light?"   if the battery is poor and the engine was idling then the flashing of the lights probably caused the voltage to drop below what was needed for the ignition system to work so engine stopped. 

Does sound likely to be a dead battery but like with all things on cars it might not be the most likely thing.

If the battery is no good it seems strange that the RAC did not test the battery and declare it dead and then try to sell you a new one (at a high price).

How long did it take them to fully charge the battery?   A battery takes hours and hours to fully charge from flat, unless you 'force feed it' at an unreasonably high charge rate which causes the battery to get hot and the plates within it to buckle which in itself damages the battery.

Form what you have said so far we can not rule out the alternator being faulty. Although I would have expected the RAC to check that also, a basic check only takes a minute with a voltmeter when the engine is running 

 

I was thinking that, I seen a similar video on youtube that does exactly the same as mine. He mentioned in his video that Ford have a Safeguard so that if your battery is on its way out, it won't let you start it to avoid breaking down. I don't know how true this is, but he fixed his by replacing his battery.

I'm more than happy to replace the battery, but don't want to jump straight into it and throw money around without researching properly. 

I'm not sure if this will help, but my remote fob hasn't been working for over a year, I thought the batteries had gone. However, since the car failed yesterday, the car fob has been working bang on, I can lock and unlock the car which I haven't been able to do in over a year?

Thanks guys for helping, I really do I appreciate it, thank you.

[CyprusPluto]

Sounds like a dead battery to me as well. It's possible that the battery is simply not holding charge any more and so the car will run once it has been started, but won't start again. Or a big drain on it such as flashing your lights is causing a total electrical shutdown. Should be a simple test for an RAC.

As others have said it may be that the alternator is the fault in that it is not charging the battery. Or it may be something much simpler like a connection in the recharging process has worked loose. Again the RAC should be able to easily test these things

[Luke4efc]

The RAC should've really tested this when they were called out, especially the second time, it should have sent off alarm bells for them. Alternator test is easy enough to do yourself with a voltmeter. Enough good videos on YouTube - no need for me to link a particular one.

If you call them out again, don't buy a battery off them. The call out rate is high enough, don't let them rip you off by getting a battery off them, far cheaper elsewhere.

[AJS_]

Hi guys,

Today I fitted a new battery, the car at first was struggling to start. It fired up, but then right back down again and turned off. The only way I managed to keep it running is by revving the car. 

After a few attempts I seem to have got trough it, and after every attempt it has worked brilliant so far. I just taken it on the moterway and when I arrived home, I turned the engine off and on again a good few times, and still works perfectly.

Although Im greatfull its working, why was it struggling at the start after I changed the battery.. should I be worried?

[AJS_]

Can anyone put my mind to rest?

[CyprusPluto]

I'm not a mechanic, so it's difficult for me to put your mind at rest. You really need a garage mechanic to test these issues.

You've changed the battery and it's not that. The other possibilities are things like the alternator (this can be intermittent), the starter motor, the spark plugs (especially if it's problematic when actually driving), the injectors, a general electrical problem causing engine shutdowns. It may be one or other of these or a combination. There may be others, but as I said I'm not a mechanic

I know, not much comfort I'm afraid, but someone with the skills and diagnostic tools needs to look at it before you spend any more money on parts

[Tuha]

check throttle valve (responsible for idle). You just might need to clean it.Also MAF might be worth looking/cleaning.Do you have any OBD scanner?

[AJS_]

Its been working all day so far, there has been no problems apart from the first minute of changing the battery.

Is there no such thing as the new battery power has to reach through the car properly? Or, maybe it took a moment for the EAC fail message to clear to allow the car to run normally? I'm really just guessing.

[Tuha]

Fail message it should clear it self after couple starts (ECU is scanning car and if error appear it will re scan and if`s no longer valid should clear it self or just save as inactive error which can be deleted by any scanner).After battery change car should work fine immediately.If problem appear again(no idle) i would suggest what i mention before.So far drive and keep an eye on.Hope it was only 1 time incident:)

[isetta]

so we still do not know if the alternator is fine. A brand new fully charged battery could last a few days before going flat (depending on driving time and using lights or not).

To do a rough test on alternator: when it is dark start the car. turn all of the lights on and the heated rear window and the heater fan and quickclear windscreen (if you have one) to get the max electrical load on it. 

Let engine idle . Now increase the revs slightly. do the headlights get slightly brighter?  if so, this indicates the alternator is doing something. It is not a 100% test that there is no alternator problem but it is better than nothing and reassuring to a certain degree . if the car is idling at the correct rpm (700rpm roughly maybe) and the lights do NOT go slightly brighter when you increase the revs then it could be a dodgy alternator

[AJS_]

Hi guys,

I don't want to be one of those that come on here for help and never update or thank the posters. So I just wanted to say, that so far so good with the car, no problems since.

If it wasn't for this forum, I may have taken my car to the garage and got ripped off.

Once again, thank you to you all.

[CyprusPluto]

9 hours ago, AJS_ said:

Hi guys,

I don't want to be one of those that come on here for help and never update or thank the posters. So I just wanted to say, that so far so good with the car, no problems since.

If it wasn't for this forum, I may have taken my car to the garage and got ripped off.

Once again, thank you to you all.

Thanks for the update. I'll have my fingers crossed for you