68 plate Focus: ESC Service Required and other faults

[unofix]

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.

[DaveR51]

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? 

[DaveR51]

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

[unofix]

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

[mjt]

Are you on commission for @StephenFord? 🤣

[unofix]

19 minutes ago, mjt said:

Are you on commission

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

[DaveR51]

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!👍

[DaveR51]

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! 😡🤬🤬🤬🤬

[unofix]

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.

[DaveR51]

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.