Hi, have been reading the forum for a while but first time posting here.

Focus mk2 2004 1.6 petrol. Looking for advice on the following problem.

I drove home this evening in torrential rain, had no problems.

Then a couple of hours later with car locked on the drive and still raining noticed indicators flashing, wipers juddering across the screen, dash lights flashing, relays clicking on interior fusebox. Started the car and everything worked as normal, turned engine off and it went crazy again. Started car again and drove a short distance with no problems, turned off and it was mayhem again.

I have disconnected the battery and left it until the morning to have a closer look.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

Thanks.

 

This is a known problem on the older Focus Mk2.

Water is getting in to the Body Control Module (BCM) which is part of the fusebox in the passenger compartment.

If you disconnect the battery and remove all connectors from the BCM you will most likely find signs of water ingress and corrosion on the plug pins. The circuit board inside the BCM is also likely to have corrosion of the tracks.

 

Hi, yes it was water in one of the plugs on the fuse box / GEM module. Cleaned and dried it ok (24 hours in airing cupboard) refitted and tested ok, luckily no damage.

Cannot see any evidence where the water came from, no drips, no wet carpet but it happened during torrential rain.

Just to be safe i have covered the fuse box with cling film and a paper towel and will check it occasionally.

 

It was nothing to do with the well known washer pump wiring problem as that is a different plug.

Final update in case it helps anyone else in future.

I removed the exterior plastic panel from below the windscreen and the one underneath it. This exposed all the wiper mechanism and the air intake for the heater blower.

I could see several weak points which could allow heavy rain to drip down into the heater assy. So i modified the shape of the air intake duct and applied silicone to seal it to the metal bulkhead. Then refitted the plastic panels making sure the top one engaged correctly on the bottom edge of the screen and sealed with silicone.

Hope that's it for this problem. Now on to water leaks in the boot !