Hi,

I have a fiesta mk8 that I bought a year ago for my Daughter. It used to start fine but has not been driven much and now has trouble starting. When you press the start/stop button the lights and the dashboard flicker and the car clicks like it os trying to do something but there is no sound like the engine cranking. When I put a trickle charger on the battery is says that it is around 9.2V but within minutes it is up to 12.3V and the car starts. I have had Ford check the battery and they said it is ok, 53% whatever that means, and they charged me £99 for the re-charge of the battery. It was ok after that if it was driven every day but it has been left for five days and now it doesn't start and we get the flickering lights on the dashboard and a clicking when we try and start it. I noticed that if the green light on the start/stop button flashes before you press it to seat the car that it does not start but if the green light on the start/stop button is on and solid that the car starts if you press the button. I know that the battery was at 9.2V and that is probably why the car won't start but the fact that it charges within minutes and the car starts is weird. The fact that Ford checked the battery and said it was ok is also making me wonder if it is the battery or something else. My thoughts are that it might be the starter motor but if it starts after a short battery charge then I think that might not be it. It might be the start/stop system but I don't know why it is intermittent. It might be the alternator but the fact that it was starting ok as long as it is driven every day also makes me think that it is not that. It could be fuses or relays but why would it work sometimes and not others and why would it work after a quick battery charge from a trickle charger. It could be consumers draining the battery when the car is not started but again why would the car start after minutes on the trickle charger. We are turning the screen off by pressing the button twice to power it off when we go to lock the car after use. My Daughter passed her driving test on Tuesday and is eager to drive her car but the first time she went to it would not start. I could replace the battery and go from there but the fact that it charges within minutes on a trickle charger and the fact that Ford checked the battery and said it is fine makes me think that replacing the battery might be money wasted without understanding what it could be. Obviously I want her to be safe and having a reliable car is kind of important and I wondered if my description of the problem is the same as anybody has had on this forum please.

Apologies but I posted on the wrong group and have re-posted on the Fiesta group.