Midland45 Posted December 31, 2019 Share Posted December 31, 2019 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Heaton Posted December 31, 2019 Share Posted December 31, 2019 The salesman tried to put you off the sale? 😀 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianincheshire Posted December 31, 2019 Share Posted December 31, 2019 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. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomsFocus Posted December 31, 2019 Share Posted December 31, 2019 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? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iantt Posted December 31, 2019 Share Posted December 31, 2019 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. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianincheshire Posted December 31, 2019 Share Posted December 31, 2019 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. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midland45 Posted December 31, 2019 Author Share Posted December 31, 2019 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 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midland45 Posted December 31, 2019 Author Share Posted December 31, 2019 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comares2001 Posted December 31, 2019 Share Posted December 31, 2019 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. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomsFocus Posted December 31, 2019 Share Posted December 31, 2019 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iantt Posted December 31, 2019 Share Posted December 31, 2019 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. 😂😂😂 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete14tc Posted January 1, 2020 Share Posted January 1, 2020 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. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elvinomarqs Posted October 23, 2021 Share Posted October 23, 2021 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 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntonyMichael Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unofix Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 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% 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenFord Posted March 6, 2022 Share Posted March 6, 2022 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... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iantt Posted March 6, 2022 Share Posted March 6, 2022 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. 🤣🤣🤣 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexis94040 Posted March 6, 2022 Share Posted March 6, 2022 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... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
south_bound Posted March 6, 2022 Share Posted March 6, 2022 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimrodmk8 Posted March 7, 2022 Share Posted March 7, 2022 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? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveT70 Posted March 7, 2022 Share Posted March 7, 2022 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenFord Posted March 7, 2022 Share Posted March 7, 2022 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 👍 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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