Hi

I have an issue with intermittent starting on my wifes ford focus.  On pushing the start button,the car will crank once or twice, before going back to starting cycle again. There are no fault codes. Battery was checked by the AA when they tried to find fault. Also the car will bump start! fitted a new startere motor and the problem went away for a couple of weeks but it has now done it again!

Any help or advice would be greatfully recieved, thanks

Fit a new battery.

On 3/25/2025 at 4:17 PM, unofix said:

Fit a new battery.

Battery has been tested and is good. 

On 3/25/2025 at 4:17 PM, unofix said:

Fit a new battery.

Battery has been tested and is good. 

2 minutes ago, Jedders62 said:

Battery has been tested and is good. 

Not that I'm doubtful, but I've seen batteries tested many times before which have then been found to be faulty, but if your sure it's fine then the next option would be the Starter Motor. You say that you replaced the starter motor and the problem went away for a few weeks. So either the new starter is faulty (it does happen) or you have a loose or corroded cable to the starter.

Check also the Mega fuse in the high current battery junction box. They can work loose or even crack.

On 3/25/2025 at 4:02 PM, Jedders62 said:

Hi

I have an issue with intermittent starting on my wifes ford focus.  On pushing the start button,the car will crank once or twice, before going back to starting cycle again. There are no fault codes. Battery was checked by the AA when they tried to find fault. Also the car will bump start! fitted a new startere motor and the problem went away for a couple of weeks but it has now done it again!

Any help or advice would be greatfully recieved, thanks

Hi 

I have the 1.6TDCI Zetec engine in my Focus.

This may be relevant to your issue or not.

I had an issue recently in which my car replicated the fault you report with your wife's car.

Green Flag visited me at my home to investigate.

He suggested my battery was failing, so I advised him to replace. Fault remained.

He then said it was a matter of elimination and he felt the only culprit now was the starter motor. Asked him to replace for me. Fault remained.

He then aborted and arranged for an auto electrician to visit.

A few hours later, this chap turned up.

He suggested I had the right charging voltage from alternator and that the battery was good (clearly, it was new)

He tested the starter motor and said his tests were as he expected and it was not showing a fault. (understandable, as it too was new)

He then asked me about any other faults I may have seen, during my ownership of the car. He asked if any other lights had illuminated. I said not to my knowledge 

He then removed the circuit board in my instrument cluster and suggested that hair line cracks in the solder may be causing the issue.

He re-soldered that same board and refit to the car.

He then asked me to start the car. To my amazement, it started!

Having driven the car now for several months following his visit, the non-starting issue seems a distant memory.

He charged me £45 and that I believe and still do, the bargain of the century.

Might be worth checking on yours?

Good luck!

45 minutes ago, Kerrie_S said:

Might be worth checking on yours?

Problem there is that the infamous dry solder joints doesn't affect the 2013 model.

Having a simular issue with a 63 plate I recently purchased had a single occasion vehicle clicked on start.  Didn't turn over. Put into gear and rocked car back and forth and surprise surprise she started.  1st port of call for me is to check Starter motor. However it checks out fine. Did push the car by applying pressure to the steering wheel though.  Train of thought should it happen again will be a good thump on the top of the instrument cluster first.