Hi, Merry Christmas!

Please help, my brother's 1999 1.6 Focus will not start. It's been sitting on the driveway all day, and when trying to start, the starter turns the engine over making a loud pumping/banging noise and all the dash instruments flicker.

I guess it sounds a little like there is no fuel in the tank, but we know there is.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Could this possibly be a wiring fault, because we wired in his new Parrot handsfree kit behind the radio (with ISO connectors) today

We need to go out tomorrow so need to find a solution, thanks

Have you another car you can try jumping it off?

Hi, yes we do but it does not sound as if the battery is dying. None of the lights are dim, and when we try and start the ignition the speedo and tacho needles move up and down in time with the engine turning over (about 5 times a second)

Have you checked the spark plugs and leads? any corrosion around the battery etc?

I've checked that no HT leads have come loose, and the battery connections are tight. He drove round this morning, it only seems to have happened since installing the hands free kit which is why I wondered if it could be crossed wires... but how?!

have you double checked to make sure you haven't damaged any wiring after installing the handsfree kit?

we called out the RAC this morning and he tested the battery saying the voltage was ok but it was knackered and needed to be replaced. He jumped the car and we went and bought one from Halfrauds

Dash lights and gauges flickering like that is the battery 9 times out of 10. Glad you got it sorted.

Cheers

Rog

Agreed Rog, its a classic symptom that most the time shouts "here I am", I had this last year, I couldnt get my head around the fact Ford wanted to charge me £60+VAT to get the car to them, £60+VAT to diagnose the fact that I knew the battery was kaput and £153+VAT for a new damned Battery...

Instead I paid £2.30 VAT inc for a bus, £97.00 inc VAT for a new battery, £1.99 in energy drinks to carry the damned battery through the town back to the taxi rank (apparently your not allowed to take a car battery on a public Bus!) £4.40 for a taxi fair home, and 90 minutes work fighting the old battery out, the battery housing and replacing with the new battery...

I did laugh, I drove back to Fords, and showed them a copy of my receipt... there was a puzzled look on their faces when they realised I had sorted it myself, and wondered why I was broadcasting to them that they where trying to rip me off!!!