Driving along I noticed my speedo go to zero with the handbrake, abs and traction light on but sorted it’s self after a couple of seconds.. this happened twice on my way home does anyone know what could be wrong or if it’s safe to drive?

Likely to be an ABS sensor fault.

Should be safe to drive, just be aware the ABS & ESP may not work in an emergency while the lights are on.

Fault code reader may point you to which ABS sensor isn’t happy.

I had one play up on mine, turned out somehow the connecting plug had gotten damaged and wasn’t giving a full connection onto the sensor behind front wheel.

On 2/23/2022 at 3:35 PM, TomsFocus said:

Likely to be an ABS sensor fault.

Should be safe to drive, just be aware the ABS & ESP may not work in an emergency while the lights are on.

It only comes in for a few seconds all 3 flash a couple of times then disappear 

What year is it? 

18 minutes ago, Focus_ said:

What year is it? 

I'm feeling lucky so I'm going to guess it's a ........... 2013

12 minutes ago, unofix said:

I'm feeling lucky so I'm going to guess it's a ........... 2013

If it's a MK2, MK2.5 or MK3 I'm feeling lucky and going to guess it's an instrument cluster fault 😉

2 minutes ago, Focus_ said:

If it's a MK2, MK2.5 or MK3 I'm feeling lucky and going to guess it's an instrument cluster fault 😉

Think you will find it's like Tom said, it's a probably a fault with an ABS sensor.

19 minutes ago, unofix said:

Think you will find it's like Tom said, it's a probably a fault with an ABS sensor.

The handbrake light and Speedo dropping off tells me it's not an ABS sensor, unless it's a gearbox speed sensor then it could well cause all those symptoms. 

I've never seen an ABS sensor affect the speedo or bring up the handbrake light.

Cluster faults usually bring up ABS, Handbrake and EML as well as dropping the Speedo, the MK2.5 onwards usually brings up traction control too

Anyway, the year of the car and a list of any fault codes would be incredibly helpful from the OP, otherwise we're all just peeing in the wind 😀

9 hours ago, Focus_ said:

The handbrake light and Speedo dropping off tells me it's not an ABS sensor, unless it's a gearbox speed sensor then it could well cause all those symptoms. 

I've never seen an ABS sensor affect the speedo or bring up the handbrake light.

Not worked on anything post Millennium then?  Gearbox sensors went out with the 90's.  Road speed is measured by the ABS sensors on modern cars.  

24 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Not worked on anything post Millennium then?  Gearbox sensors went out with the 90's.  Road speed is measured by the ABS sensors on modern cars.  

My MK2 Focus came up with a fault for VSS when the cluster packed up, that misled me. You are right that all modern cars use the ABS sensor data to determine speed 👍

Having said that, in my defence, I've never had to diagnose a speedo fault for donkeys years now so in that regard you are probably right! 😄

As I said, it's very unlikely that one faulty ABS sensor would drop off the speedo as it gets the calculation from all of them. Unless the ABS module has got a problem and isn't communicating speed from any sensors, or for some other reason it isn't getting info from any of the ABS sensors. That is why I say it's not likely to just be one sensor at fault.

If it was one sensor I'd only expect to see the ABS and maybe traction control warning lights

But anyway, to come to any sort of conclusion we need a list of fault codes! If there's no CANbus communication codes then the cluster is ruled out 😄

19 hours ago, unofix said:

Think you will find it's like Tom said, it's a probably a fault with an ABS sensor.

It’s booked in for Monday hopefully it is just a sensor but would that cause all 3 lights to flash and speedo to drop?

51 minutes ago, Murph1005 said:

It’s booked in for Monday hopefully it is just a sensor but would that cause all 3 lights to flash and speedo to drop?

As I said, possibly not. However I now notice you have a 2013 Focus so unlikely to be the cluster. If you dont get very far with the garage, ask for the exact fault codes. You're paying for it so you're entitled to have it 🙂 

2 hours ago, Murph1005 said:

It’s booked in for Monday hopefully it is just a sensor but would that cause all 3 lights to flash and speedo to drop?

and as Tom and myself have said, probably yes. It is almost certainly not a problem with the cluster as it's a 2013.

 

22 hours ago, unofix said:

I'm feeling lucky so I'm going to guess it's a ........... 2013

what ever the answer is, please come back and let us all know what the problem was, and I hope it's not too expensive to get fixed 👍

58 minutes ago, unofix said:

and as Tom and myself have said, probably yes. It is almost certainly not a problem with the cluster as it's a 2013.

 

what ever the answer is, please come back and let us all know what the problem was, and I hope it's not too expensive to get fixed 👍

Lol I feel so daft 🤦😂 

Totally missed 2013 on the profile! I am a newbie to the forum, so hopefully can be let off. 

Yep as I said, now I know it's a 2013 it's probably not the cluster 👍

It looks like the instrument cluster fault I had on my 2013 Focus.... Just an cold solder joint in the connector, caused by excessive wiring harness movement.

43 minutes ago, Fillipe said:

It looks like the instrument cluster fault I had on my 2013 Focus.... Just an cold solder joint in the connector, caused by excessive wiring harness movement.

Ah so you suffered instrument cluster failure in a 2013 Focus? I haven't seen it happen in one that new so good to know. I did think it was a cluster fault too, but the original poster has disappeared so I assume they've sorted it now!

On 2/25/2022 at 7:07 PM, Murph1005 said:

It’s booked in for Monday

As the OP said, it's not going to be looked at until Monday 

9 hours ago, unofix said:

As the OP said, it's not going looked at until Monday 

Sorry I've done it again and got it mixed up with someone else 🤦😂

Had it looked at they’ve said the battery voltage is too high but there not sure that has anything to do with it, gonna change the battery to see if it helps.. 

also need a new wishbone 🙄

6 minutes ago, Murph1005 said:

they’ve said the battery voltage is too high but there not sure that has anything to do with it, gonna change the battery to see if it helps

Well that's a first !!!

A battery with a voltage that's "too high".  Did they happen to say what the voltage was just out of interest ?

I think you need to find a garage that has a electrical technician/auto electrician. 'If' and I say 'if' the battery voltage is too high (that would be normally more than 14.6V) then the problem is the alternator / charging circuit, the fault would certainly not be the battery.

1 hour ago, Murph1005 said:

Had it looked at they’ve said the battery voltage is too high but there not sure that has anything to do with it, gonna change the battery to see if it helps.. 

also need a new wishbone 🙄

Did they scan for fault codes? I wouldn't be giving them the wishbone job either if they can't sort your main concern

As mentioned above, dtc codes via the obd would be a good start. Battery voltage with engine running can be upto 15.2 volts with stop/start EFB type battery. 
Cluster issues most reported on mk 2 or 2.5. But not exclusive.

Slapping the dash above the cluster sometimes induce or clears the fault if it is the cluster

 

Ford's smart charge system can charge between the range of 12v-17v depending on load and if it needs that extra power. I wouldn't advise swapping the battery or any other parts without seeing a list of fault codes. 

On any modern car, the first thing I'd expect a garage to do is plug the OBD2 scanner in as part of any diagnosis, especially when there's warning lights involved.... 

I wouldn't be very happy if I was told it might be the battery oh and by the way your wishbone needs doing as well!

Your wishbone may well need doing, it's a common issue but get them to find the fault properly first

 

2 hours ago, unofix said:

Well that's a first !!!

A battery with a voltage that's "too high".  Did they happen to say what the voltage was just out of interest ?

I think you need to find a garage that has a electrical technician/auto electrician. 'If' and I say 'if' the battery voltage is too high (that would be normally more than 14.6V) then the problem is the alternator / charging circuit, the fault would certainly not be the battery.

They didn’t tell me the voltage just said it was to high, apparently that’s the fault what comes on when the 3 lights come on my dash🤷🏻‍♂️ 

 

23 minutes ago, Focus_ said:

Did they scan for fault codes? I wouldn't be giving them the wishbone job either if they can't sort your main concern

They did scan for codes but didn’t tell me much, how much should it cost for a wishbone replacement they said it would be 160 not sure if that’s good