Hi

Bought a 2016 Focus 1.5 TDci manual yesterday (full S/H and new belt/waterpump) from a small non-franchise dealer

On the drive home from the dealers (approx 150 miles) an amber warning saying 'steering assist problem, service needed' or suchlike flashed up about 20 miles from home. The car drove okay on the way home, and once home I nipped in for a quick cuppa and a few deep breaths. When I came out again to the car to investigate, the warning had changed to a red message saying "steering loss, stop safely" and the power steering had completely failed.

Phoned the dealer who was good enough to reply on a Saturday night and he reckoned that because it happened gradually it was most likely to be a defective/weak battery and sure enough after a quick google it does look like the steering on these cars are sensitive to this due to the electric power steering system. The car has been sitting unused for much of the last 6 months and the initial amber warning light did come on shortly after the auto headlights came on as it got dark.

The plan is to get a new battery for it on Monday but I just wondered what the folks here thought of that particular diagnosis given the actual sequence of events i.e. not sudden, complete failure?

Thanks in advance

ps: is there anything in particular to watch out for when fitting a new battery to these models?

Hi,

Yes, sounds like the battery is knackered.

Main thing to watch when changing the battery is the small sensor wire on the battery terminal. They get easily broken nowadays, presumably weakening over the years.

After changing the battery, the BMS should be reset using the fog & hazard button sequence.

Will resetting the BMS clear the fault codes? (I'm guessing not) Also, do you know if the fault codes need to be cleared before the steering will work properly again (if it is the battery which is at fault)

1 hour ago, Mr Adaquate said:

Will resetting the BMS clear the fault codes? (I'm guessing not) Also, do you know if the fault codes need to be cleared before the steering will work properly again (if it is the battery which is at fault)

No & no. Some codes clear themselves after battery disconnection or self-testing. You may need to drive the car a short distance and use the steering to clear other codes. If any remain after that then you will need Forscan or similar to clear them.

Sorry to be a pain, but before I tackle the battery, I know I need to disconnect the connector circled in red before removing the airbox (see attached) but what about the one circled in blue to the left of the battery itself? Can that be left in place before removing the battery?

ps: I know, I know, I've got a C Max, I had it in my thick head that the car I just bought was called a Focus C-Max hence my posting on this forum, if the mods want to move this thread then please do so, I am clearly living in the past!

One last thing, I'm kinda going by this video for guidance, does it seem okay (apart from his removing the positive terminal first which concerns me! 😬)

I had the steering issues with my 2011 focus and it was high friction in themotor and usually happened after long journeys usually on the a9 clear the code it should resolve the issue and take the car back

Local garage drove it back from my driveway to the workshop minus any power steering! New battery in, codes cleared (think it was for low voltage) Steering now fine, so looks like it must have been the battery.

Thanks for the helpful replies.

One last question (for now) Does anyone know if that generation of car requires ECU or TCM updates and how much Ford dealers in the UK might charge for this?

1 hour ago, Mr Adaquate said:

One last question (for now) Does anyone know if that generation of car requires ECU or TCM updates and how much Ford dealers in the UK might charge for this?

Good to hear it just needed a new battery.

Manual transmission doesn't have a TCM. You would need to call Ford with your reg number to check for any PCM updates.

You can also use the government recall checker to see if there are any national recalls. On that engine you might have the cracked DPF recall. However, they will only replace the DPF if it fails MOT first.

Cost for a recall is free. Cost for a PCM update is likely to be around £150.

Guess what? Took the car to the shops today. Same problem came back on the journey home, amber warning, steering a bit heavy, red warning and all power steering gone after we got it home and parked up. Don't need the hassle, only got the car from the dealers on Saturday so rejecting it ☹️

I trust you didn't have to pay for the battery.

3 minutes ago, anon said:

I trust you didn't have to pay for the battery.

No, I didn't dealer has been pretty decent so far to be fair

Well, that is a mercy. If your dealer has Forscan he would be able to read the fault codes and reset the power steering module but that alone is by no means certain to provide a durable fix. As the car has failed in a dangerous way twice in a short time, I don't expect the dealer to cut up rough. They too, unfortunately are at the mercy of unscrupulous folk who dump problem cars on them and it isn't an easy way to make a living.

1 hour ago, anon said:

Well, that is a mercy. If your dealer has Forscan he would be able to read the fault codes and reset the power steering module but that alone is by no means certain to provide a durable fix. As the car has failed in a dangerous way twice in a short time, I don't expect the dealer to cut up rough. They too, unfortunately are at the mercy of unscrupulous folk who dump problem cars on them and it isn't an easy way to make a living.

I agree, I think the dealer is as hacked off about the car as I am.