Hi all,

i have a 67 reg fiesta st line, which has been fitted with a thatcham approved immobiliser/alarm system.

I’ve had the car for 15 months and over the past 3 months it has died on me 3 times, needing jump starting, this has occurred after the car had been left for 2-3 days.

today I took it to Evans halshaw and they said no fault on the battery. Yet when I got home and plugged it into my charger - lights were flashing for between 50-75%.

I’ve been informed that ford batteries are known for being awful and I also do not drive far each day - I just need some advice.

do I get a new non ford battery or ....?

The problem might be that something in your car is drawing current all the time, therefore draining the battery when it's not being recharged by the alternator.

Also not driving far each day doesn't help look after your battery. You won't be giving it enough time to charge properly.

If it is your battery that's knackered, I'd go for a Bosch S5 battery. One the best quality batteries you can buy and comes with 5 years warranty. They're not cheap though, but possibly cheaper than a new Ford battery.

8 hours ago, Luke4efc said:

The problem might be that something in your car is drawing current all the time, therefore draining the battery when it's not being recharged by the alternator.

Also not driving far each day doesn't help look after your battery. You won't be giving it enough time to charge properly.

If it is your battery that's knackered, I'd go for a Bosch S5 battery. One the best quality batteries you can buy and comes with 5 years warranty. They're not cheap though, but possibly cheaper than a new Ford battery.

And how’s the best way to find if something is drawing current?

i don’t really trust them at Evans halshaw - it’s like they're blaming me and other things before actually wanting to find the issue. 

Have look at your glovebox light have had my stay on although battery was ok and think been mentions on here in the past   about  glovebox light.

Get a multimeter and set it to DC Amps. Undo the negative battery cable and put one lead onto the cable you removed and the other on the negative battery terminal (so the meter is in a series circuit). If you get a reading higher than 50 MilliAmps (0.05A) then you have some sort of fault with the car, not the battery. Most meters won't read that low, so if you don't get a reading at all, then you probably don't have enough current draw to drain the battery overnight.

If you do get a reading then go to the fusebox and start removing fuses one by one (remember to put one back before you remove another one). Once you remove a fuse, check the multimeter again to see if the reading changes. Which ever one makes it read close to 0 is obviously the circuit causing the fault and requires further investigation, but at least you know where to start looking.

2 hours ago, Luke4efc said:

Get a multimeter and set it to DC Amps. Undo the negative battery cable and put one lead onto the cable you removed and the other on the negative battery terminal (so the meter is in a series circuit). If you get a reading higher than 50 MilliAmps (0.05A) then you have some sort of fault with the car, not the battery. Most meters won't read that low, so if you don't get a reading at all, then you probably don't have enough current draw to drain the battery overnight.

If you do get a reading then go to the fusebox and start removing fuses one by one (remember to put one back before you remove another one). Once you remove a fuse, check the multimeter again to see if the reading changes. Which ever one makes it read close to 0 is obviously the circuit causing the fault and requires further investigation, but at least you know where to start looking.

Sounds like this is a bit of a person in the know job, I’m not sure where the fuses and everything are - would this be the best way to find out what’s happening?