19 minutes ago, Focus_ said:

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

 

They’ve cleared the codes and told me as soon as they come back to take it back.. think I’m gonna find a new garage tbh. 
 
 

il ask for the codes tomorrow when there open and let yous know

26 minutes ago, RL123 said:

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

 

Where is the cluster? 

1 hour ago, Murph1005 said:

Where is the cluster? 

Instrument cluster, (the speedo,rev counter, fuel gauge).

3 hours ago, Murph1005 said:

They’ve cleared the codes and told me as soon as they come back to take it back.. think I’m gonna find a new garage tbh. 
 
 

il ask for the codes tomorrow when there open and let yous know

Ok, yes the codes will be paramount for us to help. 

But if they've cleared them, unless they made a record, they won't know. 

Sorry I thought I commented earlier but it's not showing up. Regarding the wishbone, assuming it's the front lower arm they're referring to then the going rate is around £120-150 in my opinion. £160 is on the high side but not outrageous especially if they would be fitting a quality arm and not a cheap eBay pattern one that might last a year or two. 

If you post up the codes we'll tell straight away if they are the common ones brought on by a faulty cluster. 

As mentioned above, if you whack the dash above the cluster when the fault occurs, if it goes away then that's pretty conclusive

11 hours ago, Focus_ said:

Ok, yes the codes will be paramount for us to help. 

But if they've cleared them, unless they made a record, they won't know. 

Sorry I thought I commented earlier but it's not showing up. Regarding the wishbone, assuming it's the front lower arm they're referring to then the going rate is around £120-150 in my opinion. £160 is on the high side but not outrageous especially if they would be fitting a quality arm and not a cheap eBay pattern one that might last a year or two. 

If you post up the codes we'll tell straight away if they are the common ones brought on by a faulty cluster. 

As mentioned above, if you whack the dash above the cluster when the fault occurs, if it goes away then that's pretty conclusive

They’ve not recorded the codes🤦🏻‍♂️ They said if it happens again go back and get it plugged in again.. I think it might be a faulty instrument cluster though as the little screen has been going off when the speedo drops.. not really sure found a new one with the bigger screen quite cheap so might just try that

37 minutes ago, Murph1005 said:

They’ve not recorded the codes🤦🏻‍♂️ They said if it happens again go back and get it plugged in again.. I think it might be a faulty instrument cluster though as the little screen has been going off when the speedo drops.. not really sure found a new one with the bigger screen quite cheap so might just try that

I thought as much! Definitely get the codes out of them when you can. 

Does the rev counter and temperature guage drop to zero as well when it happens? 

Another thing you can do is simply start the car, let it idle and start hitting the dash above the cluster. If the fault happens then that's pretty conclusive. Then you could get the garage to read and give you the list of codes. 

You would need to get your existing cluster repaired. You can't replace or upgrade it without having it coded in with the ECU, BCM and keys. Alternatively you would swap the above lot in as well from another precisely the same car/engine etc. But you would only do that if your existing cluster was beyond repair

2 hours ago, Focus_ said:

I thought as much! Definitely get the codes out of them when you can. 

Does the rev counter and temperature guage drop to zero as well when it happens? 

Another thing you can do is simply start the car, let it idle and start hitting the dash above the cluster. If the fault happens then that's pretty conclusive. Then you could get the garage to read and give you the list of codes. 

You would need to get your existing cluster repaired. You can't replace or upgrade it without having it coded in with the ECU, BCM and keys. Alternatively you would swap the above lot in as well from another precisely the same car/engine etc. But you would only do that if your existing cluster was beyond repair

yeah everything drops to zero, how would I get it coded to my car? I was under the impression it would go straight in as it’s of the same car and same engine

The instrument cluster is programmed to your car. It is not a straight swap. It is also part of the vehicle security system. In addition to the above you need to have a replacement instrument cluster with less miles than the original, since it is only possible to adjust mileage upwards.

Replacing the instrument cluster would be the very last resort.

As mentioned above swapping the cluster is complicated and requires programming for keys and and modules. I think maybe this function is no longer in Forscan due to anti theft reasons. Mileage cannot be reset backwards either. Far simpler to get the cluster reconditioned if faulty. A lot cheaper too.

1 hour ago, Murph1005 said:

yeah everything drops to zero, how would I get it coded to my car? I was under the impression it would go straight in as it’s of the same car and same engine

Ok, so as I initially suspected right from the start the cluster is most likely at fault 🙃

You would need to get an autoelectrician to deal with it all, and as the others have rightly pointed out above which I had initially forgot about you would introduce a mileage discrepancy. 

I have never done one as new as 2013 so not sure if it's exactly the same procedure to repair, but all you need is to have someone resolder the 32 pin connector on the cluster. It takes about half an hour to an hour to do yourself but not something for the inexperienced to try. Especially as you could bork it beyond repair if you're not careful with the soldering iron.

It costs about £60-£80 to have the MK2 cluster done. I can't imagine the MK3 would be much more. Maybe £100-120? 

Speak to some local auto electricians, get them to diagnose it and if necessary a price to repair it

31 minutes ago, Focus_ said:

Ok, so as I initially suspected right from the start the cluster is most likely at fault 🙃

You would need to get an autoelectrician to deal with it all, and as the others have rightly pointed out above which I had initially forgot about you would introduce a mileage discrepancy. 

I have never done one as new as 2013 so not sure if it's exactly the same procedure to repair, but all you need is to have someone resolder the 32 pin connector on the cluster. It takes about half an hour to an hour to do yourself but not something for the inexperienced to try. Especially as you could bork it beyond repair if you're not careful with the soldering iron.

It costs about £60-£80 to have the MK2 cluster done. I can't imagine the MK3 would be much more. Maybe £100-120? 

Speak to some local auto electricians, get them to diagnose it and if necessary a price to repair it

I’ve got the codes…

U300317/313 - battery voltage 

u041500 - can coms with abs/eps - invalid data 

 

that’s what they’ve wrote down they also wrote down possibly an electrical fault in head unit may need specialist repairs. 
 

 

48 minutes ago, Murph1005 said:

I’ve got the codes…

U300317/313 - battery voltage 

u041500 - can coms with abs/eps - invalid data 

 

that’s what they’ve wrote down they also wrote down possibly an electrical fault in head unit may need specialist repairs. 
 

 

Hmmmm... Yeah there's something going on here. 

So it's detecting that the battery voltage is too high. (Above 18v to trigger that first code) so something is seriously awry. 

Invalid data is possibly because the voltage is far too high which is confusing the ABS module

It might be the alternator

I think you'd ought to see an autoelectrician who knows what they're doing to properly diagnose this. I wouldn't be trusting this garage as they keep picking up other things. 

A good autoelectrician should find every fault, every fault code, correlate them all together and come to a diagnosis. 

Your cluster may well be faulty and you're getting two faults combined into one but hold off on the cluster idea just for now

I think the alternator should be a prime suspect here, more specifically the voltage regulator

Have you tried slapping slapping the dash above the speedo with the ignition on?

any reaction from the cluster ?

6 minutes ago, RL123 said:

Have you tried slapping slapping the dash above the speedo with the ignition on?

any reaction from the cluster ?

The elusive question which has been doing it's rounds for about a week now unanswered 🙃😉

36 minutes ago, RL123 said:

Have you tried slapping slapping the dash above the speedo with the ignition on?

any reaction from the cluster ?

 

30 minutes ago, Focus_ said:

The elusive question which has been doing it's rounds for about a week now unanswered 🙃😉

I have actually nothing happened 😂

50 minutes ago, Focus_ said:

Hmmmm... Yeah there's something going on here. 

So it's detecting that the battery voltage is too high. (Above 18v to trigger that first code) so something is seriously awry. 

Invalid data is possibly because the voltage is far too high which is confusing the ABS module

It might be the alternator

I think you'd ought to see an autoelectrician who knows what they're doing to properly diagnose this. I wouldn't be trusting this garage as they keep picking up other things. 

A good autoelectrician should find every fault, every fault code, correlate them all together and come to a diagnosis. 

Your cluster may well be faulty and you're getting two faults combined into one but hold off on the cluster idea just for now

I think the alternator should be a prime suspect here, more specifically the voltage regulator

Deffo gonna get it in the auto electrician this week hopefully they can sort it for me. I won’t be going back to the garage after that 

Yeah that makes sense. I think you need the high voltage fault diagnosed first as you cant diagnose any electrical faults if the voltage is too high. Hopefully the high voltage hasn't nuked something in the ABS module, but an auto electrician should be able to tell you the best course of action.

Maybe once this is all sorted get a second opinion and price on the wishbone 

The "bash test" isnt fully conclusive as I had to physically remove my cluster and fiddle around with the wiring harness to get it to play up, however I'd rule it out temporarily and just keep it in the back of your mind 

haven’t managed to get it into an auto electrician but one I’ve spoke to seems to think it may have the wrong or a faulty battery… gonna give it a try as I was going to put a new battery in it anyway hopefully it is just as easy as that but I doubt it with my luck 😂

46 minutes ago, Murph1005 said:

haven’t managed to get it into an auto electrician but one I’ve spoke to seems to think it may have the wrong or a faulty battery… gonna give it a try as I was going to put a new battery in it anyway hopefully it is just as easy as that but I doubt it with my luck 😂

Well I'd get the battery checked and tested first but up to you 

Parts darts is never the solution!

Well if the charging circuit is faulty and the voltage is too high then you may as well fit the new battery, it will give the alternator something new to cook !!! 🤔

Your car, your battery

If you're thinking you need a battery, what makes you think there's something wrong with it aside from the main issue you describe?

As unofix says above, if the alternator is overcharging it might be that which has killed it and you're likely to end up either wasting your money on a battery for no reason or killing a new battery without knowing the true underlying issue

Someone's probably fitted a non silver calcium battery.  Many people get away with it for short periods, but I have seen them wreck alternators more than once.

1 hour ago, TomsFocus said:

Someone's probably fitted a non silver calcium battery.  Many people get away with it for short periods, but I have seen them wreck alternators more than once.

That's a good shout

@Murph1005 can you tell us the brand and model of the battery?

2 hours ago, Focus_ said:

That's a good shout

@Murph1005 can you tell us the brand and model of the battery?

I’m not sure what battery was in it I don’t have it anymore, it wasn’t the same battery what’s in now tho and not had the lights come back on since🤞