Jump to content
Do Not Sell My Personal Information


Focus Mk3 - Engine will not turn off after stop button pressed, battery drain


Billyygibson
 Share

Recommended Posts

Hey, need a bit of assistance please. 

I am having the same problem as these two threads : Thread 1, Thread 2.

My 14 plate Focus Mk3 (1.6 TDCi) will not stop idling until I open driver's door. Ergo I will park up, engage handrake, slap it in neutral, then press the stop/start button. The interior light will come on as usual, but the engine doesn't stop. 
The engine doesn't stop until I open the driver's door, which is when the radio will cut off too. This happened for a few days with no other symptoms (except the active citystop button telling me it is disengaged) until one morning the battery was drained. Since then I have jump started but the battery is being drained overnight. I'm even failing to jumpstart using Halfords 6-in-1 jump starter, most of the time. 

The garage said the battery and alternator are both fine. They said something else is draining the battery. I believe it's related to the engine not stopping. 

How do I troubleshoot to find the root cause? 

Ford have quoted a minimum of £300 to find the fault and no auto-electricians in my area are available until January. 

Thanks in advance

Link to comment
Share on other sites


22 minutes ago, Billyygibson said:

How do I troubleshoot to find the root cause? 

Ford have quoted a minimum of £300 to find the fault and no auto-electricians in my area are available until January. 

You need a laptop. Download FORScan (it's free for laptop use). Also you will need a vLinker FS cable £30

Then you can read all the Ford specific DTC's and check operation of relays etc. You can also monitor live data with FORScan.

FORScan: https://forscan.org/download.html

vLinker FS cable: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vgate-vLinker-Adapter-FORScan-MS-CAN/dp/B0952P4MLP/ref=asc_df_B0952P4MLP/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=534732308385&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=4351099308657272217&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006688&hvtargid=pla-1430824679036&psc=1

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

@unofix

Thanks. I’ll order the cable now. Is the program easy to interpret? Does the car need power in order to be read? 
 

What do I do with the information I gleam from FORScan? 
 

Really appreciate the help. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The joys of having a Ford in the South West.  I've had a battery drain on my Mk3 Focus for two months now and last week was the first date I could get with Vospers in Exeter.  They've had it for a week and told me that there is nothing wrong with the car, and no drain, but that the Halfords battery wasn't up to the job.  This was fitted on the 11th October this year and was the one recommended by Halfords.  

Anyway Vospers told me it was ok so I went to collect it - only to find that it had a totally flat battery outside the workshop where they had put it.  They had to jump start it to get it going but I've had to do that every day for the past two months and have bought a jump start pack.

I've arranged for Vospers to fit a replacement battery - guess what - they had none in stock!  They should have one in for Monday or Tuesday.  In the meantime, I've been Googling Halfords and their batteries and there are a lot of complaints about them, and their warranty.  I've been blaming Ford and Vospers but it may just be the Halfords battery.

I would have had a go at diagnosing the fault myself - if I could get the battery out to disconnect the earth.  Who on earth (no pun) thought it was a good idea to bury half of the battery under the bodywork?

One thing I have learnt, is not to have a Ford if you live in the south west because of the lack of service support.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Now that I’ve got the fault codes, can anyone help me interpret? There seems to be a lot and I don’t even know which bit to google. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Take some screen shots of the DTC's and save them. Most will be old and not of any relevance.

Use FORScan to clear all DTC's, and then try and recreate the problem. When you check again with FORScan you should probably find you only have a few. My guess is that there will some DTC's beginning 'U.........'  which is communication problems.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Further to my post of the 15th December 2022, my battery problem has been fixed.  The Halfords battery fitted was  650amp - 650h, which should have been good enough, but Vosper Ford had the car for a week and was adamant that the battery (I was told the one I needed on the Halfords website by putting the regd number in). was not the right one.  They fitted their battery on the 15th Dec 2022, and it has worked perfectly since (now 21 Jan 23).  Vosper Ford suggested that I contact Halfords as the battery was not fit for purpose.  I must point out though, that it was not a complaint about any Halfords branch, or their staff - it was a problem with the website.  Halfords have now refunded all of my expenses since the original Halfords battery was fitted, other than paying for the proper Ford battery.  I could not really have asked for more from them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share




×
×
  • Create New...

Forums


News


Membership