Hi all,

I've had an intermittent fault with my 2019 (68 plate) Focus ST-Line X headlights over the last couple of months, and wondered if anyone else had experienced this. (The car is still under manufacturer warranty until early February 2022 and has done under 9,800 miles since new.)

I occasionally get the error message "Check adaptive headlamps - see user manual" when starting the car. Sometimes when this happens, I've noticed the lights do not 'dance' (adjust then dip) when coming on.

I've also had instances recently when the main beams do not come on (even though the blue light appears on the dashboard) - this is the case whether you are just 'flashing' the beams, or looking to turn them on permanently. It has also happened even when the auto high beams activate. I'm not convinced the error message is directly linked to the high beams not working as it happened this morning (the beams didn't work when I tried to flash them, but I hadn't got the error message).

Turning the car off then back on again seems to resolve the issue and everything then works as it should until the fault occurs again. The issue has occurred twice now over the past week so I've booked it with Ford to investigate under warranty as I expect them to cover it, but because the fault is intermittent, I'm concerned they're just going to turn round and say "we can't find anything wrong". I did have the presence of mind to record an example of the fault on my phone to show them. I know these headlamp units are upwards of £700 each which I will not be forking out for - and is why I want to get it sorted under warranty!

Has anyone else experienced this issue? If so, what was the fault, and was it covered under warranty? 

Any advice greatfully received.

 

Michael

Probably needs a software update on the HCM, especially as you are a 2018.

Probably a good idea, as you're about to go out of warranty, to get them to update all the modules

1 hour ago, DaveT70 said:

Probably needs a software update on the HCM, especially as you are a 2018.

Probably a good idea, as you're about to go out of warranty, to get them to update all the modules

Thanks for the advice, I'll mention it on arrival.

Hi,

I had this issue with my car also. Back and forward to Ford three times. Even did it the day after i got it back. On the last visit Ford Etis indicated that that they indeed did update the cars software. My fix was to charge my battery fully and set the SOC up to 90% using Forscan, No errors from lights. Also found that due to car having a low engine speed even on motorway that battery was not reaching required charge levels. I use sport mode every now and then to have car increase engine speed to charge battery. Checked this via Forscan and it is working for me. My car was not charging the battery correctly even though Ford said no issue with battery or charging system. 

I did see that when the battery voltage was low the car would start but the HCM module would report a fault due to the battery drop during start-up.

Same for me, restart car and headlights ok, until the next day again.

Why did ford not design in a delay to allow car to start then activate headlights, thus no battery voltage drop and full power to headlight motors post start-up.

Hope this helps.

Have you noticed if the car is turning off other items due to the battery being low .

Mark

25 minutes ago, Dark Magician said:

Hi,

I had this issue with my car also. Back and forward to Ford three times. Even did it the day after i got it back. On the last visit Ford Etis indicated that that they indeed did update the cars software. My fix was to charge my battery fully and set the SOC up to 90% using Forscan, No errors from lights. Also found that due to car having a low engine speed even on motorway that battery was not reaching required charge levels. I use sport mode every now and then to have car increase engine speed to charge battery. Checked this via Forscan and it is working for me. My car was not charging the battery correctly even though Ford said no issue with battery or charging system. 

I did see that when the battery voltage was low the car would start but the HCM module would report a fault due to the battery drop during start-up.

Same for me, restart car and headlights ok, until the next day again.

Why did ford not design in a delay to allow car to start then activate headlights, thus no battery voltage drop and full power to headlight motors post start-up.

Hope this helps.

Have you noticed if the car is turning off other items due to the battery being low .

Mark

What do you mean by a " low speed " on motorway ?

Also are you suggesting by driving in sport mode that it puts more charge back into the battery ?

Hi David,

Sorry, what I meant was that when you sit on the motorway the engine revs are low, thus the alternator output is not at its best. At 60 on the motorway my car is just over 1000 rpm, I had the "check adaptive warning" for months. Back and forward to Ford several times with no solution, they said nothing was wrong.

Even tried a new battery and still had the same issue after a few weeks. So Ford updated my cars software at my request and the very next day, same error on dash when I started the car. If you are taking the car to Ford ask what the state of charge is on your battery.

They tested my battery and charging system and said they could not find any fault. You will see lots of posts regarding issues that others have had due to low battery charge. Car turns off heated screens / door touch control unlock etc etc, trying to save battery power.

 

Due to the low state of charge of the battery, at one point mine was below 60%, when you start the car the battery voltage is already low and this causes cranking voltage to drop below the cars design lower limit. That's the reason for the fault not coming back once you restart the car if you have ran the car for a short time. battery voltage is slightly higher.

Ford also said to me that the car had no fault codes, another little white lie. I connected Forscan and found errors in HCM module related to motor travel. I think that this was caused by the lights conducting there set-up along with the battery voltage drop during start-up.

Ford indicate that the engine revs have to be above 1500 to properly test the charging system, tis also in the workshop manual. I think that Ford have the specs of the car way too tight. If you use electric seats etc etc and travel short trips then battery won't be properly charged. You will even see videos online from Ford saying that people don't use their car enough ti charge the battery...... what ?

Anyway, cleared codes and set battery state of charge target to 90% and have never had another issue. That was four months ago.

When you crank the car to start does the led light on the headlight control rotary switch dim or switch off when cranking ?

I can only comment on my own situation, however it might help.

 

Mark

 

 

 

Thanks for the reply. All I can add is that my SOC was 50% as of last week when the car went in for a recall.

I don't get the dimming of led or anything untoward.

The car only goes 3 miles for 4 days a week and at most a 20 mile round trip shopping. Heated screen front and rear both work and all four doors allow the car to be locked and unlocked along with all other electric functions.

The only bit I seem to struggle with is getting more charge into the battery even if I have it on a smart charger within 2/ 3 days it's back to square 1 even though the charging system has been set to 95% but saying that I don't drive it hard when it does go for a "run" and very rarely over 1750rpm unless it's up a big hill or doing a short swift overtake manoeuvre.

 

Hi David,

I think that it is a combination of your short trips that are reducing the battery SOC. Even if you use the smart charger the car will not put the charge back into the battery in such a short time / number of trips.

Maybe you have something else going on. 

I hope that Ford can help you get to the bottom of things.

As I said Ford could not find anything wrong with my car, for me increasing the SOC target and using sport mode had kept my battery charged.

Mark

 

 

On 1/2/2022 at 4:59 PM, Dark Magician said:

Hi David,

I think that it is a combination of your short trips that are reducing the battery SOC. Even if you use the smart charger the car will not put the charge back into the battery in such a short time / number of trips.

Maybe you have something else going on. 

I hope that Ford can help you get to the bottom of things.

As I said Ford could not find anything wrong with my car, for me increasing the SOC target and using sport mode had kept my battery charged.

Mark

 

 

Hi

Where is the  option in forscan to increase to 90% I have encountered some of these problems so will try your solution.

Thankyou

 

Paul