I'm considering changing my Focus Mk3 Zetec S for a MK4 ST Line X. I went to test drive one recently and the battery had gone flat. Speaking to the salesman he said a lot of the newer Fords would drain their batteries over the course of a week or so if not started and run regularly. Is this correct as my present Focus which is left for 3 weeks while I'm away working, always bursts into life on my return?

 I have heard that some Mk4s are known to have electrical issues so I'm wondering if the car I looked at had a faulty battery or isn't going to standby correctly and dropping to sub 50mA current drain.

Thanks for any info

The salesman tried to put you off the sale?  😀

 

Salesman was talking rubbish! Unless the car has a fault then it wont discharge the battery for a few weeks. I've left my Mk4 and my previous car , a Mk5 Mondeo, for 6 weeks with no problems.

Tbh I'm more surprised your current Focus lasts 3 weeks parked without draining the battery! 😮

I can only assume it gets a good run when you're home, and isn't just a mile to the shop and back?

MK4 no different to any other car. They all go to sleep after 30 mins or so and draw very little current. We have them stood for months on end and most start ok. Get the occasional one but then we don't know state of charge before being left for long period of time. 

Some transits can be stood for 6 months and start. 

I'm retired now so the car only goes out twice a week, except for holidays, but both trips are a reasonable distance and no short trips. I was a bit sceptical about the Mk4, especially as I'd only had it for 3 weeks when I left it to go on my winter break to warmer climes. IIRC I did turn off all the communications options just in case...

TBH  the only car I had a problem with was a Mk4 Mondeo, that didnt discharge the battery but it shut down the remote locking and I had to get the blade out of the key fob to manually open the drivers door. Once that was done it was fine.

5 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Tbh I'm more surprised your current Focus lasts 3 weeks parked without draining the battery! 😮

I can only assume it gets a good run when you're home, and isn't just a mile to the shop and back?

It gets a 275 mile run before its left, and 275 mile run back home, so the battery is definitely getting fully charged 🙂

Thanks for all your replies

8 minutes ago, ianincheshire said:

I'm retired now so the car only goes out twice a week, except for holidays, but both trips are a reasonable distance and no short trips. I was a bit sceptical about the Mk4, especially as I'd only had it for 3 weeks when I left it to go on my winter break to warmer climes. IIRC I did turn off all the communications options just in case...

TBH  the only car I had a problem with was a Mk4 Mondeo, that didnt discharge the battery but it shut down the remote locking and I had to get the blade out of the key fob to manually open the drivers door. Once that was done it was fine.

I did have that once on my Mk3 Focus when I'd been away to Australia for 5 weeks, I had to get the blade out to open the door, but once inside the car started as normal. Bit annoying as my wifes BMW just started immediately without issue

46 minutes ago, Midland45 said:

I did have that once on my Mk3 Focus when I'd been away to Australia for 5 weeks, I had to get the blade out to open the door, but once inside the car started as normal. Bit annoying as my wifes BMW just started immediately without issue

That's normal for MK3 it goes into deep sleep after about 2 weeks and needs to be opened with key to restore. 

57 minutes ago, Midland45 said:

It gets a 275 mile run before its left, and 275 mile run back home, so the battery is definitely getting fully charged 🙂

Thanks for all your replies

Ah with that mileage it should be fine then! 

There have been loads of flat batteries around here the last few days as there always are after not being used over the Xmas break.  Most people don't drive far around here though as we've got so many local shops etc.

7 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Ah with that mileage it should be fine then! 

There have been loads of flat batteries around here the last few days as there always are after not being used over the Xmas break.  Most people don't drive far around here though as we've got so many local shops etc.

What you really  mean there's a trump style wall around your area to stop you escaping to the real world. 😂😂😂

Just returned from a 12 day holiday and my Mk4 started no problem at all. Missed what came up on the display when I first got into the car but what something like the car was in sleep mode. Even after a 20 minute run the stop start also worked which quite surprised me.

HELP ...... My Ford Focus SW 1.0 ecoboost 125cv, after a year the battery died. In The ford dealership they put in a new battery and after a month the star and stop stopped working, and I started getting a message on the screen to turn on extra power. Yesterday I took the car to the dealership, at the end of the day I went to get the car, they say the problem is solved. 5 minutes after leaving the dealership, I had to stop in traffic and what was my surprise when I found that the start and stop didn't work, today I started to receive messages on the screen to turn on additional energy. does anyone know the solution to this problem??? I'm already thinking about selling the car, as I see it's an unsolvable problem, a chronic problem

I am having this issue now with my ecoboost 1.0L my stop start doesn't work and hasn't for the 2 weeks I have had the car. Got a car charger hooked up to it overnight and was at 25% checked before I went to bed and it was at 75% then in the morning back at 25% I am so confused! Then I am not sure if I have connected te negative to the wrong port so tried the port that is on the Chassis so let's see what happens tomorrow 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Think you need to charge the battery properly. Connect the negative of the charger directly to chassis main earth point. Connect the positive direct to the battery positive terminal.

After a good 12 hours charge disconnect the charger and then reset the BMS.

If you want a permanent solution then you need to set the State Of Charge (SOC) in the cars BCM from the 80% factory setting and adjust it to 95%

10 hours ago, AntonyMichael said:

Got a car charger hooked up to it overnight and was at 25% checked before I went to bed and it was at 75% then in the morning back at 25% I am so confused!

In addition to the above post, it would be much more useful if you could quote us actual voltages rather than an ambiguous %age...

3 hours ago, StephenFord said:

In addition to the above post, it would be much more useful if you could quote us actual voltages rather than an ambiguous %age...

Then you will want miles and not km, pounds and not kg. Pounds and not euros, actually Shillings , not pounds.  🤣🤣🤣

On 12/31/2019 at 6:57 PM, ianincheshire said:

Salesman was talking rubbish! Unless the car has a fault then it wont discharge the battery for a few weeks. I've left my Mk4 and my previous car , a Mk5 Mondeo, for 6 weeks with no problems.

You are so right!

My MK4 Diesel focus was left for about 15 days without even an unlock to the doors...and after i got in and pushed the start-stop button everything went ok..

My battery runs without any problems for one year and a half...but it is too early for conclusions...

Same here, 2-3 weeks stood on the driveway and no issues starting.  It does take a couple of seconds to "wake up" after pushing the start button on those occasions which makes m nervous having read all the comments on here about battery problems.

My car was not used for 2 weeks over Christmas, it started fine when it was time to get back to work, I always turn off the stop start, I guess that would help drain the battery?

For a decent charge it's best to remove the negative terminal from the battery and connect the charger to the battery direct.

Then reset BMS

1 minute ago, DaveT70 said:

For a decent charge it's best to remove the negative terminal from the battery and connect the charger to the battery direct.

Then reset BMS

I quite like this 'old school' suggestion, imagine, just charging the actual battery 👍