Hi all. I bought a 2011 1.4 fiesta in March. After a few weeks one of two things occurs every couple hundred miles or so.

While driving, either the battery light comes on (thought the belt or alternator had failed, but not the case)

Turn the ignition off then start up again and its back to normal

Or,  while driving the radio and instrument binicle switch off (except for the fuel guage) after a few seconds the radio comes back on, but the rev counter and speedometer don't work and the PAS isn't working. Again, switch off and restart and all is fine again.  Doesn't seem weather related. Has anyone any ideas 🙏?

Have you checked the battery leads are tightly fastened on the posts ?

Also check the earth strap between the engine and the chassis. Lastly it could be the infamous solder faults on the instrument cluster, which are a common fault on the Focus of the 2011 era, but does also effect some Fiesta.

8 hours ago, unofix said:

Have you checked the battery leads are tightly fastened on the posts ?

Also check the earth strap between the engine and the chassis. Lastly it could be the infamous solder faults on the instrument cluster, which are a common fault on the Focus of the 2011 era, but does also effect some Fiesta.

Thank you for the reply. The wires are all secure and the earth strap is secure...what is the solder fault and how costly is it to put right if it is that?

There was a period of time, approx 2008 to 2013 when Ford used lead free solder on a number of instrument clusters. Over time the solder has become dry and brittle leading to cracked joints and high resistance which causes many random faults.

A full refurbishment and reflow of all the solder joints costs around £90. You simply remove the IC and send it off to one of the many repair companies that offer a repair service on these. It normally takes about 3 days.

One of the guys on the forum here offers a repair service @rd457

Thank you!

Next time your speedo stops, give the top of your instrument cluster a bang with your fist, if it starts again, pretty good diagnosis of the 'solder issue', just had it myself recently...

2 hours ago, unofix said:

One of the guys on the forum here offers a repair service @rd457

@pootle grump I concur that the common cracked instrument cluster solder joint issue is most likely responsible. You'll find links to my ebay-based repair service for this in my signature below. The description of my standard listing details the background, process, etc and is offered at a competitive price.