Questions about the active grill shutters on the focus, I have piece broken out of the top left corner of the actual shutter frame and missing slats, but since going through a flood bck in January I have been getting a battery light. Long story short I traced the issue to the AGS and when these where unplugged I stopped getting the battery light and car has been running 100% since.

I am currently going to try to have a closer look at this this weekend alL being well. I had planed to just renewe the AGD motor and the wiring but since the frame im missing slats and the top is broken a bit is this worth replacing or just removing?

Also on a side note would unplugging these shutters stop my aircon kicking in?

I dont mind replacing the shutters as I like to try to keep everything OG and working properly buy Just wanted so more information on what these are actually for.

Thanks

Our Active Grille Shutter has NEVER worked since we had it (15 years).
Thankfully it has been stuck open, with a fault code which I only recently realised.
Therefore I have just left it with no effect (there may be a fuel economy impact, or not)
Supposedly it will help with that but I doubt if it makes much, if any real difference.
Waiting for other views to the contrary...

The shutters were originally designed for aerodynamics. Same reason EV's have a closed front.

The main benefit will be less CO2 emissions from petrol engines cruising motorways. I don't think think you'll notice much difference in MPG on a diesel Focus. (Although I suspect the difference on an S-Max could be noticeable!)

If you do a lot of slow speed town driving then the engine will take a long while to warm up without the shutters, which will be a secondary hit to MPG.

The shutters certainly aren't a necessity, you can definitely drive without them, but if they're cheap enough to replace then I think I would keep them personally. Mine worked fine when I had a Mk3.

14 hours ago, Shearers said:

Our Active Grille Shutter has NEVER worked since we had it (15 years).
Thankfully it has been stuck open, with a fault code which I only recently realised.
Therefore I have just left it with no effect (there may be a fuel economy impact, or not)
Supposedly it will help with that but I doubt if it makes much, if any real difference.
Waiting for other views to the contra

3 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

The shutters were originally designed for aerodynamics. Same reason EV's have a closed front.

The main benefit will be less CO2 emissions from petrol engines cruising motorways. I don't think think you'll notice much difference in MPG on a diesel Focus. (Although I suspect the difference on an S-Max could be noticeable!)

If you do a lot of slow speed town driving then the engine will take a long while to warm up without the shutters, which will be a secondary hit to MPG.

The shutters certainly aren't a necessity, you can definitely drive without them, but if they're cheap enough to replace then I think I would keep them personally. Mine worked fine when I had a Mk3.

Yeah I think I probably will replace them just to get them working again. Will the mk3 shutters fit the MK3.5? Are they the same along and from a diesel?

Also I have been reading that if the AGS isn't working it can stop the AC from kicking in, do you know anything about that? I know noticed the AC stopped working when I unplugged them but they are in the open position hence why I'm looking to replace them just to have all working.

2 minutes ago, sonic113 said:

Yeah I think I probably will replace them just to get them working again. Will the mk3 shutters fit the MK3.5? Are they the same along and from a diesel?

Also I have been reading that if the AGS isn't working it can stop the AC from kicking in, do you know anything about that? I know noticed the AC stopped working when I unplugged them but they are in the open position hence why I'm looking to replace them just to have all working.

Mk3 shutters are the same as Mk3.5 shutters for the standard 1.6/1.5 TDCI. However, there are different shutters for 1.0 EcoBoost, automatic transmission, and diesel Econetic, etc. So there are several types available.

I have seen AC working with faulty shutters. You may have to keep the motor plugged in and disconnected from the shutters, so the PCM thinks the shutters are working. Not 100% sure on that though.

I'm with Tom regarding the Aircon working or not. The PCM not only knows whether the Shutters are open or closed but also by how much. Most of the time the Shutters are only part open by varying percentages and only fully open for very short periods of time when the PCM deems it necessary.

It would follow from that if the PCM did not know if the Shutters were open or closed because the Motor or Position Sensor were either disconnected or faulty then it is likely that it has been programmed to not allow the Aircon to operate.

1 hour ago, Tizer said:

I'm with Tom regarding the Aircon working or not. The PCM not only knows whether the Shutters are open or closed but also by how much. Most of the time the Shutters are only part open by varying percentages and only fully open for very short periods of time when the PCM deems it necessary.

It would follow from that if the PCM did not know if the Shutters were open or closed because the Motor or Position Sensor were either disconnected or faulty then it is likely that it has been programmed to not allow the Aircon to operate.

Yeah, I think I'm going to source a set and just replace them and have them working. I think the pc is supposed to do a check at start up to make sure the whole system is running correctly so with me having it unplugged it may be interfering with the AC so I will just replace the shutters and make sure the wiring and connection to them are 100%.

48 minutes ago, sonic113 said:

Yeah, I think I'm going to source a set and just replace them and have them working. I think the pc is supposed to do a check at start up to make sure the whole system is running correctly so with me having it unplugged it may be interfering with the AC so I will just replace the shutters and make sure the wiring and connection to them are 100%.

Yes the PCM commands the Shutter to go through a close and open cycle once or twice, I can't remember exactly. You can Monitor it with FORScan.