Hi everyone, greetings from the Netherlands! I am driving a borrowed Ford Focus 2000. Lately as I drive along, particularly as I accelerate, but not only, the headlights dim slightly and at the same time the heater blower eases off, and then comes back.

I'm not car savvy and I don't have any tools apart from household stuff. But if I know what the problem is I can take it to a professional.

I've googled headlights dimming, by itself it seems it could be several things. Battery, alternator, exposed wiring, loose contact... But I'm hoping that the heater blower also being affected might enable someone to narrow it down a bit. The battery is quite new, and not showing any other problems.

I've tried searching your forum but it keeps asking me to wait some time between searches, so I'll just jump in with a post.

Cheers.

Start with the easy things first.

Remove the main battery negative lead from where it is bolted on to the bodywork. clean and remove any paint/rust under the lead and make it has a good clean contact with both the car bodywork and the negative terminal of the battery.

1 hour ago, unofix said:

Remove the main battery negative lead from where it is bolted on to the bodywork. clean and remove any paint/rust under the lead and make it has a good clean contact with both the car bodywork and the negative terminal of the battery.

Good call, a dodgy -ve connection causes so many 'random' faults, and a 22 year old car will likely need a good cleaning anyway... (once cleaned, worth putting a smear of Vaseline on the connector too to keep it protected)

Hi both and thanks for your replies.

Reckon I can give that a go, I'll reply tomorrow if it makes a difference or not. I understand that little things can make a big difference, had an old mini once and the engine was shaking about fit to bust, could have been something really costly, fortunately the honest mechanic (bless!) said it was just the engine mounting rubbers needed replacing, they cost about a pound each (at the time).

Thanks again, I'll keep you posted, have a good weekend!

8 hours ago, StephenFord said:

smear of Vaseline

I was going to say that, but when I realised he was in the Netherlands I thought he'd probably wonder what Vaseline is 🤣

Just now, unofix said:

I was going to say that, but when I realised he was in the Netherlands I thought he'd probably wonder what Vaseline is 🤣

LOL, I actually thought that too but then thought even they have 'google', bound to be some local equivalent 😁

Hi guys, thanks for the advice, it seems to have done the trick! I removed the battery cover, air filter cover, lifted the air filter housing (note to self: replace air filter!) and removed the screw to release the earth cable. The screw was rusty as my old nan's hips and I had to buy a new socket set but well worth it and happy to have it. I sandpapered the connection which has some white gunk on it and put it all back together, and tightened the battery connections which were not completely tight. As far as i can tell the problem has disappeared. So thanks a bunch!

As you surmise 'even' we do indeed have search engines here in the Netherlands, though of a somewhat primitive nature. I'm still unclear what this 'vaseline' is of which you speak, all I can find out for the moment is that it is particularly popular with your British public schools, the upper echelons of your government and UK drivers of Ford motor vehicles.

Hoping to learn more I clicked on 'shopping' on the search result page but it came back with only one result, a product named 'Happy Valley Heavenly Bum-Bum Cream', I don't really know what to make of that and the accompanying illustrations were rather bewildering.

At least it's good to know that you Brits have something to keep you occupied when the lights go out. We miss you, and worry about you.

Stay safe, and thanks again for the advice. You guys rock!

PS Donuts all round!

 

14 minutes ago, letsstayfocused said:

As you surmise 'even' we do indeed have search engines here in the Netherlands, though of a somewhat primitive nature. I'm still unclear what this 'vaseline' is of which you speak, all I can find out for the moment is that it is particularly popular with your British public schools, the upper echelons of your government and UK drivers of Ford motor vehicles.

Vaseline is simply the brand name of, 'petroleum jelly', a gooey white greasy substance sold in small jars with a multitude of uses (like a solid WD40 LOL) Glad you got sorted, and thanks for the doughnuts!

mmm... on re reading your response, I feel you are taking the mickey out of our beloved Vaseline 🤣

From my school days Vaseline was good for making scalextric speed controllers run more smoothly , Vaseline applied to the coil where the moving contact slid (or scraped) along it. 

12 hours ago, letsstayfocused said:

all I can find out for the moment is that it is particularly popular with your British public schools, the upper echelons of your government and UK drivers of Ford motor vehicles.

Hoping to learn more I clicked on 'shopping' on the search result page but it came back with only one result, a product named 'Happy Valley Heavenly Bum-Bum Cream', I don't really know what to make of that and the accompanying illustrations were rather bewildering

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

 

12 hours ago, StephenFord said:

Vaseline is simply the brand name of, 'petroleum jelly', a gooey white greasy substance sold in small jars with a multitude of uses (like a solid WD40 LOL) Glad you got sorted, and thanks for the doughnuts!

mmm... on re reading your response, I feel you are taking the mickey out of our beloved Vaseline 🤣

Haha, reminds me of a situation a few yrs ago at one of our local parkruns.

After the run itself a group of us was talking about the upcoming HM in a couple of weeks time when one of the ladies mentioned that she was struggling with sore thighs when going above 10 miles so someone suggested " Easyglide" as it's a lubricant to stop chaffing for thighs, underarms and nipples(male n female) never heard of it she says but then went on to ramble along that she has some "KY jelly" and would that suffice........lots of laughter and red faces for a while.

40 minutes ago, Wino said:

...she has some "KY jelly" and would that suffice........lots of laughter and red faces for a while.

Probably prevents battery terminal corrosion too LOL