A low 'State Of Charge' is a very well know cause of the faults that you have listed above.

The charging system on your car is designed to only charge the battery to a Maximum of 80% of it's capacity so that the car meets the European emissions for type approval.

During the cold weather, and the increased use of headlights and heated screens, heated seats etc. etc. the battery state of charge often falls below 70% at which point the vehicle will try to reduce the equipment in use and save battery power.

This is NOT a fault, it's just the way cars are these days which is very unfortunate.

The use of a smart battery charger every 4 or 5 weeks during the winter should help avoid problems.

Put the battery on charge for at least 12 hours. Remember to connect the negative lead to the chassis earth point - DO NOT connect to the negative battery terminal.

UNOFIX Thanks for quick reply but I don't understand how a low battery causes the braking system to fail. The dealer called me today basically they sound like they are guessing as now they want to replace the ABS Module to the tune of £1700! I am getting to the state where I think Ford have a issue  here as looking back on these reports these issues have been going on well before 2019. I ask how can a car just 5 years old with only 18000 miles need a new ABS module unless not fit for purpose? 

Have any of you actually had the problem resolved and if so what was the fault? 

Spend £25 and buy a Maypole battery charger.

Put the battery on charge for at least 12 hours (possibly a little longer). Ensue that the battery is charged while it is still connected to the vehicle. Connect the positive lead direct to the battery terminal. Connect the negative lead to the chassis earth point (Not the battery terminal).

If I'm wrong then you have bought a charger to use another time. If I'm right then you have a happy car and you have saved £1700.

The ABS pump uses a large amount of electrical power and can often throw up problems when the system voltage becomes low.

 

MAYPOLE charger - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Maypole-7423A-Battery-Charger-Electronic/dp/B009A83P1E/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3LXAKQRMY9IWI&keywords=maypole+charger&qid=1675443487&quartzVehicle=29-10519&replacementKeywords=maypole&sprefix=maypole+%2Caps%2C168&sr=8-3

Are you on commission for @StephenFord? 🤣

19 minutes ago, mjt said:

Are you on commission

He's going to get me a couple of pints when I visit Ireland 🤣

UNOFIX: Thanks for the explanation you are a real font of knowledge and thank you for sharing even if this doesn't fix it. I do think though your suggestion is more likely than the ABS failing 🤞 when I have had so many of the other problems listed before by others ( parking sensors changing sound, collision warning while driving with no obvious danger) and this fault happened while being MOT tested on braking. I have had the Ford App constantly telling me that the car is put into deep sleep to save battery as we use the vehicle mainly locally and it obviously doesn't get enough of a charge. 

I will take this information to the garage and let you know the outcome and the full story!👍

Hi UNOFIX

I wish I could give a proper update but it has gone from bad to worse and I really think the dealership is out of it's technical depth. So I contacted the dealership with some of the suggestions from here with regards the potential battery problem that may give a false ABS Module error fault and to look at the battery before going for the ABS module. It appears they may have attempted to charge the battery but probably not long enough before telling me that the ABS still fails and they had ordered the ABS module (£1700! ). They received the module at the beginning of this week and 2 days later tell me they can't set up the new module and that a Ford Technician is going to call and help them! So 3 weeks in and car is still with them failed MOT and still the Ford app tells me its put car into deep sleep to save battery!  If they had fully charged it surely within 10 days it should not be still doing that? I am now of option the Technician never considered the battery and told his boss it was the ABS as a quick fix but now new ABS module arrives and still has fault so claiming it needs setting up and that will mean I will be expected to pay for a ABS module that it didn't need. So now waiting for the next week nightmare! Oh yes and they also managed to smack the rear wheel arch while moving it in their parking area! 😡🤬🤬🤬🤬

10 minutes ago, DaveR51 said:

and told his boss it was the ABS as a quick fix but now new ABS module arrives and still has fault so claiming it needs setting up and that will mean I will be expected to pay for a ABS module that it didn't need. So now waiting for the next week nightmare! Oh yes and they also managed to smack the rear wheel arch while moving it in their parking area!

Very sorry to hear the problems continue. Any main Ford dealer has the programming equipment needed to set up a new ABS module, whether they have the technial knowhow is a different matter. I share your feeling that the truth is the new ABS module has not fixed the fault and they are stalling for time. As regards damage to your car, I can relate to the frustration and annoyance having had a car damaged in 4 seperate places all on the same visit to a Ford dealer - perhaps it's little wonder they have long since closed down.

On 2/2/2023 at 10:09 AM, unofix said:

The state of charge of the battery is low.

Charge the battery for at least 12 hours with a Smart Charger.

 

On 2/3/2023 at 4:40 PM, unofix said:

A low 'State Of Charge' is a very well know cause of the faults that you have listed above.

The charging system on your car is designed to only charge the battery to a Maximum of 80% of it's capacity so that the car meets the European emissions for type approval.

During the cold weather, and the increased use of headlights and heated screens, heated seats etc. etc. the battery state of charge often falls below 70% at which point the vehicle will try to reduce the equipment in use and save battery power.

This is NOT a fault, it's just the way cars are these days which is very unfortunate.

The use of a smart battery charger every 4 or 5 weeks during the winter should help avoid problems.

 

 

On 12/3/2019 at 11:01 AM, WU69YWN said:

I have a 69 plate ST, in the last 5 weeks its had several issues that you've mentioned. The Anti collision warning went off when there was no one else on the road and subsequently is now off line altogether. The parking sensors go through various phases of different noises (when they work). The auto stop is just offline altogether, the computer screen on the dash goes blank and cannot be revived even when you turn it off and back on (not ideal when you're following the sat nav), 8 times out of ten it wont connect to my phone. The last time I took it back to the dealership every system had gone down one by one including traction control, the car coughed and spluttered. O took it in and they told me trhey could see all the errors but not what the root cause was. They also told me the battery was extremely flat. They have subsequently reset all of the computers which made the car a dream to drive for a week and now its going back in to the dealer again. 

I'm pretty upset really, you spend this much on a car with all the bells and whistles and when it doesn't work, what can you do? I would really like them to take it back and issue me with a new one which works to be honest, this one has had problems from the moment it left the forecourt.. but I doubt that will happen. 

 

On 12/18/2019 at 8:39 PM, Nigel Cookson said:

I have read with interest the posts regarding the faults and the possible causes and would like to add my experience to the list.

I have a 2018 Ford Focus Titanium X 1.5 diesel.

M y car has been to Bristol Street Ford on two occasions for the faults, these being (pre collision not available & hill start not available).

The first time they supposedly carried out a software update!

Unfortunately the faults persisted and over the last two months I have had 48 notifications and the car is back in the garage.

The garage contacted me to say that they were contacting Ford Technical as they weren’t sure how to proceed and they are keeping the car for further tests.

I am retired and as such I don’t cover many miles so the battery charging may be an issue and the start stop rarely functions!

I will post again as and when the garage return my car.

 

nigel

 

On 2/3/2023 at 4:55 PM, unofix said:

Spend £25 and buy a Maypole battery charger.

Put the battery on charge for at least 12 hours (possibly a little longer). Ensue that the battery is charged while it is still connected to the vehicle. Connect the positive lead direct to the battery terminal. Connect the negative lead to the chassis earth point (Not the battery terminal).

If I'm wrong then you have bought a charger to use another time. If I'm right then you have a happy car and you have saved £1700.

The ABS pump uses a large amount of electrical power and can often throw up problems when the system voltage becomes low.

 

MAYPOLE charger - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Maypole-7423A-Battery-Charger-Electronic/dp/B009A83P1E/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3LXAKQRMY9IWI&keywords=maypole+charger&qid=1675443487&quartzVehicle=29-10519&replacementKeywords=maypole&sprefix=maypole+%2Caps%2C168&sr=8-3

 

On 2/4/2023 at 6:57 AM, DaveR51 said:

UNOFIX: Thanks for the explanation you are a real font of knowledge and thank you for sharing even if this doesn't fix it. I do think though your suggestion is more likely than the ABS failing 🤞 when I have had so many of the other problems listed before by others ( parking sensors changing sound, collision warning while driving with no obvious danger) and this fault happened while being MOT tested on braking. I have had the Ford App constantly telling me that the car is put into deep sleep to save battery as we use the vehicle mainly locally and it obviously doesn't get enough of a charge. 

I will take this information to the garage and let you know the outcome and the full story!👍

 

On 2/18/2023 at 1:05 PM, unofix said:

Very sorry to hear the problems continue. Any main Ford dealer has the programming equipment needed to set up a new ABS module, whether they have the technial knowhow is a different matter. I share your feeling that the truth is the new ABS module has not fixed the fault and they are stalling for time. As regards damage to your car, I can relate to the frustration and annoyance having had a car damaged in 4 seperate places all on the same visit to a Ford dealer - perhaps it's little wonder they have long since closed down.

UNOFIX : Hopefully the final update on this, I got my vehicle back yesterday and so far working  they apparently fitted a new ABS module that the Ford Engineers had to completely reprogram and fitted a new battery!  Initially the garage wanted to charge me for the battery but Ford came through for me and actually picked up the full cost of repair including the battery so BIG "THANK YOU" to Ford even if it took the dealer one month to get repair complete. Of course still waiting now for the body repair at a later date but dealer will fully pay and loan a vehicle. 

Thanks for all your advice as I think it really helped with my case to Ford.

Good evening all,

We have had this same issue magically appear this evening. An ESC Service is required and then several other warnings - Hillstart assist not available and pre-collision assist not available. Looking through this post with interest the common culprits appear to be:

1. Battery not charged sufficiently

2. Something blocking or obstructing a sensor

3. A software update required.

I tried to clean the front of the car grill near the numberplate as best I could as it was abit grubby from winter driving but I’m not exactly sure where the sensor is located along here? 
 

I also checked the voltage of the battery with my multi-meter and it read 14.23V which seems quite high. The engine was not running for this reading. 
 

We haven’t updated the software for sometime so this could be the issue too.

Many thanks

Jody

12 minutes ago, JodyGibbons said:

I tried to clean the front of the car grill near the numberplate as best I could as it was abit grubby from winter driving but I’m not exactly sure where the sensor is located along here?

Only cars with Adaptive Cruise Control or very early MK4's possibly only Vignale's have the Sensor low down on the Front Bumper, all other cars have a Sensor on the Windscreen behind the Rear View Mirror.

16 minutes ago, JodyGibbons said:

I also checked the voltage of the battery with my multi-meter and it read 14.23V which seems quite high. The engine was not running for this reading. 

Can't be. 

1 hour ago, JodyGibbons said:

with my multi-meter and it read 14.23V which seems quite high.

Somethings not right. A 12V car battery can't have a standing voltage that high. The maximum would be 12.8V and that would be just after it had come off charge.

On a 2019 Focus the charging system is factory set at 80% Many of us have used FORScan to change that to 95%

8 hours ago, Tizer said:

Only cars with Adaptive Cruise Control or very early MK4's possibly only Vignale's have the Sensor low down on the Front Bumper, all other cars have a Sensor on the Windscreen behind the Rear View Mirror.

Can't be. 

Thank you Tizer. That’s good to know there isn’t another sensor in the front grill. I did clean the windscreen in front of the sensor behind the rear view mirror yesterday though 👍🏼
 

7 hours ago, unofix said:

Somethings not right. A 12V car battery can't have a standing voltage that high. The maximum would be 12.8V and that would be just after it had come off charge.

On a 2019 Focus the charging system is factory set at 80% Many of us have used FORScan to change that to 95%

Thankyou unofix - Umm yeah I must be taking this reading wrong! I thought it was checking the reading but putting the red lead on battery positive and black lead on the negative as shown in the picture?

I would check the calibration of your meter, or try a different one. That can't be right.

6 hours ago, JodyGibbons said:

but putting the red lead on battery positive and black lead on the negative as shown in the picture?

Nothing wrong with how you are taking the reading, but there is a concern with the calibration of your multimeter.

With the engine off and checking the battery voltage even just 15 minutes later, the maximum you could measure would be 12.80V

What does the multimeter show when the engine is running ?

Ah OK, thanks for confirming this. I did have the engine running probably 3-4 prior to taking to reading? Not sure if that’s the reason for the elevated reading but I will double check it again this evening when back from work both beforehand and with it running 👍🏼
 

I’ve had the multimeter a few years so it may well be out of calibration. I’ll look up how to reset it.

Evening all, my multimeter is certainly out. I tried it on a 2009 VW polo battery and got 13.2V without the engine running. The Ford Focus was reading 13.8V this time also without the engine running. So while inaccurate, I could probably infer that the battery’s probably OK going off that two separate readings for the Polo & Focus? As the Polo has no running issues or known battery problems.

I started to do the automatic system updates over Wi-Fi as this has never been completed by us and we’ve owned it from new - not sure if it’s something garages do when it’s in for an annual service with a computer? But after setting this up and linking to our Wi-Fi it seemed to be ‘crashing out’ when I asked it to ‘search for updates’ and just going back to the previous screen. Also, should I get it to eventually update, I suspect the ignition may need to be left on to do this?

Currently still get the same warnings on the dash of ESC service, Hill assist not working and pre collision not working. Perhaps a software update may resolve this.

Many Thanks

Jody

46 minutes ago, JodyGibbons said:

I could probably infer that the battery’s probably OK going off that two separate readings for the Polo & Focus?

You are only looking for a reading between 12.20 and 12.42 to have an idea of how good the State Of Charge is. With those meter readings I personally would have no idea what your true SOC is, only that it is somewhere between 50 and 150% 🤣

46 minutes ago, JodyGibbons said:

not sure if it’s something garages do when it’s in for an annual service with a computer?

Only if you pay them an extra 1 hours labour, which at Ford rates is at least £100 or more.

46 minutes ago, JodyGibbons said:

Currently still get the same warnings on the dash of ESC service, Hill assist not working and pre collision not working. Perhaps a software update may resolve this.

At a guess I'd say one of your ABS wheel sensors may be faulty if you're happy that the battery is good.

The best thing you could do is to get another Meter, they are not expensive.

If your Battery is original then it will be well past its best by now, the factory fitted ones were never very good on that car.

For that car there are two kinds of remote updates. One is for the Sync Screen and Maps, you need to switch Automatic Updates on for that and it can take weeks.

The other was for updates to the Telematics Control Unit, these happen without Automatic Updates being switched on but I think you need Connectivity Services enabled. If that was enabled in the first few years of the cars life then it will be up to date because there has not been an update to the TCU for a few years now. 

1 minute ago, Tizer said:

updates to the Telematics Control Unit, these happen without Automatic Updates being switched on but I think you need Connectivity Services enabled.

Yes, and I believe they don't start unless the SOC is better than 70% so again we are back to the battery condition being a factor.

I had similar fault on my old MK4, dash lit up like a Christmas tree and warnings right left and centre. Dealer diagnosed as ABS sensor fault but actually turned out to be a nick in the wiring to an ABS sensor.

Good evening all,

Thank you for your replies to my queries and questions. We have now got a new battery fitted.

We had an RAC mechanic look at and he said the battery was charging via the alternator but its volts were abit low. He run a diagnostic test, reset the system and after that the warning lights disappeared. He said that it would probably pay to get a new battery - which is what we have now done. In the meantime, I will look to get another multimeter 🙂

I have also setup the WiFi connectivity on the car so hopefully that'll update in due course as its never been connected before, so could take awhile! But thank you for the clarification on how the different updates work.

Thank you for all your help!

Cheers
Jody