I have recently purchased a 56 plate S-Max titanium. I have two queries, firstly, within the past two days I noticed a dash info indication of 'low battery' and then 'alarm dervice due'. Secondly, following a long motorway trip, after swithching off the engine it fails to restart wehn tried, as if the immobiliser is active. i have recyled the alarm leaving up to 10 mins before attempting to start the vehicle but to no avail. Any ideas?

Hi, firstly alarm service required means there is a fault with the system, this will either be the alarm siren or the interior scanners. Secondly the starting may well be due to low battery voltage as indicated on the dash.There are so many modules on the vehicle if the vehicledoes not see a good 12 volts on cranking it will crank but there will be insufficient power to engine management. Jouxy

Jouxy

Any thanks for your prompt reply and advice provided. I have checked the battery, using a multi-meter and intelligent charger and the battery appears to be holding sufficient voltage.

The one time I managed to start the vehicle was by setting the alarm, whilst sat inside, and forcing the alarm system to activate. On unlocking the vehicle, and de-arming the system via the key fob, the vehicle started. However, once the vehicle was switched off, and the alarm activated and subsequently deactivated, I was back to square one, which leads me to believe the immobiliser is not deactivating when deactivating/unlocking the vehicle.

I too have a cold starting problem with my 56-regd S-Max 2.0 TDCI titanium. It churns over and feels as if it is on the point of firing but usually fails on the first attempt. Sometimes fires on the second churn or the third. Is this usual for TCDI engines. My previous Ford Galaxy TDI fired up first time every time.

I live in Cornwall which is hardly the coldest part of the UK, and if these problems are arising during the summer.....

Any views welcome

Thanks

DavidL

It's to do with the DMF and is quite common on these engines.