Hi all,

I'm new here but I've looked around and haven't found another post with this issue.

So the vehicle is a Focus Mk3 Zetec 1.0 EcoBoost (Manufac: 2013)

Couple days ago my parents reported their worst nightmare. Their car stalled on a busy dual carriageway and the car refused to start, luckily friendly pedestrians came to the rescue and helped push the car to one side while they figured out what to do. After waiting for 15 minutes on the side of the road the car started again and they decided to make their way home ASAP.

I decided to attempt replicating the problem. The car seemed fine initially for the first 20 minutes of driving and I decided to go to the supermarket but just before I arrived at the car park, I notice the car struggled with a gear change, the car shook a bit more than usual and my orange stability control light appeared on the dash - I initially thought that traction control was off so I went on the trip computer to disable and re-enable to see if that would work, it didn't. I noticed that as soon as this happened the auto-start stop function was automatically disabled (which is what my parents reported when it happened to them). After I found a spot in the car park, I turned off the engine and turned the ignition... nothing - the car refused to start, no matter how much I tried (tried adding gas) nothing. 

I went in and did my shopping which lasted around 10-15 minutes and when I returned to the car I started the car back up - and it worked, but the check engine light was on and the ESC light remained on too. After I got home I waited approx. 10 minutes and fired up the hidden menu and the system voltage reported between 11.6 and 11.7. 

So my question is, could it be that my battery is faulty or is about to die or could it be something more serious? 

Sorry for the long read, any help would be appreciated, thank you all.

When did you buy the car? Did you buy from dealer or public? 

Do you have warranty?  Is it automatic? 

1 hour ago, Phowa said:

When did you buy the car? Did you buy from dealer or public? 

Do you have warranty?  Is it automatic? 

Bought it from dealer who gave us 3 months warranty - which we will take advantage of but would like to self diagnose.

It is also a manual.

I think you better go back to dealer. I have exactly the same problem like you and now they are telling me tcm and gearbox fault asking 3500.

My one is Ford focus estate automatics. 

21 hours ago, Bimmer said:

So my question is, could it be that my battery is faulty or is about to die or could it be something more serious? 

How old is the battery?

Original?

6 hours ago, Carl123 said:

How old is the battery?

Original?

Not sure how old it is, don't believe it's original. Checked again today and it was registering at 12.1V after it happened again whilst test driving the car. 

My suspicion that it's battery related is slowly fading...

Update:

Went for a test drive again.

Car felt normal for approx 25 minutes into the drive, as I was accelerating in 2nd gear the car jolted heavily and ESC control light turned on again. Made my way back and parked on driveway. Turn off ignition and turned on again... nothing - refused to start no matter how many times I tried. Waited 5 minutes and car started again - no fault lights on dash. Really confused...

 

On 10/16/2021 at 6:27 PM, Phowa said:

I think you better go back to dealer. I have exactly the same problem like you and now they are telling me tcm and gearbox fault asking 3500.

My one is Ford focus estate automatics. 

Phone Ford CRC first, you may have extended transmission warranty.

Don't spend money on TCM before you have paid an auto electrician to check for broken wires in the TCM harness.

Yes I have already contacted with customer relation and now my car is in dealer garage. 

Ford customer relations agree to do free Tcm replacement but garage ask me to do gearbox as well. 

 

4 hours ago, Phowa said:

Yes I have already contacted with customer relation and now my car is in dealer garage. 

Ford customer relations agree to do free Tcm replacement but garage ask me to do gearbox as well. 

 

How easy was this to get them to have you booked in? My 3rd party warranty service wants a price quote sent to them (from any garage). Did they do fault diagnostics over the phone?

Anyone else have any ideas?

On 10/18/2021 at 3:05 PM, Phowa said:

Yes I have already contacted with customer relation and now my car is in dealer garage. 

Ford customer relations agree to do free Tcm replacement but garage ask me to do gearbox as well. 

 

Just let them do the TCM change, as part of that they should (make sure they do) check the condition of the wiring from the TCM to the transmission.

I doubt there's anything mechanical wrong with the transmission.