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Red Light On Dash At Top Between Rev And Speed Counter?


APJ
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Anyone know what this light means?

Started my Focus thismorning (2.0tdci titanium saloon, 2005 reg) and a little red light inbetween the rev counter and speedo came on..then started flashing for about 2 minutes then went off. Its purely just a red light…..no symbol on it and its not with the main cluster of warning lights. I may of started it a bit quick before the glow plug light went off…but it did start ok.

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sounds like the immobiliser light do the dash trick and see if any dtcs were stored it usually flashes in a sequence to indicate the fault may have been just a glitch if all is working okay

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Sounds like its the alarm/immobiliser light. It's not supposed to be on while driving.

A few times though, I've started my car too quick and the lights stayed on flashing. I just stopped the car, turned it off then started it again normally and the light didn't come on.

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Damnit Arthur beat me to it by a second. I was gonna say about the sequence and to do the dash trick.

But it does sound like a glitch from starting too quick. In my case when it happened I think I managed to stall it, so I quickly started the car and noticed the light was now flashing. I pulled over safely, turned the engine off then started again normally and the light didn't start flashing again while driving.

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Cheers guys...yep will do the dash trick to see if it has thrown anything up. But i think your right, i just started it a bit quick as was late for work and it didnt like it. I didnt quite stall it but was close to stalling and just recovered it. Will be careful tonight when it start it and hopefully there will be no flashing red light issues!

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I know mate its not stall related. I was just saying my reason for starting the car quick. I stalled it, so I then started it in a hurry and this must have confused the imobiliser light.

The light stays on blinking conatantly when the engines turned off, so you know its working and also as a deterent. Then it goes off once the keys turned.

But in my case I put the key in and turned it straight away and too quickly, on this occasion, the light stayed on.

There didn't seem to be any sequence to the flashes, it was just flashing normally at low speed, I did notice though that as I sped up, it flashed more rapidly the faster I went. Still no apparant sequence, it was at a constant rate but the rate was more rapid the higher the speed.

Like I said I just pulled over, turned off the engine and started it again as normal.

Do the dash trick but I reckon in this case it is just cause you started too quick.

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Oh yes of course, its the b1oody imobiliser light isnt it. Couldnt even think what the light was for at first. Will still do the dash trick tho just incase its something more serious

cheers for the help guys

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How long did you drive the car for with the light flashing by the way? And did you notice if it flashed faster as you drove faster?

Have you started the car yet since to see if it still stays on when starting the car normally?

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I think the light stayed flashing for a good couple of minutes...to begin with it flashed quite quickly but then slowed down until it stopped...the flashing didnt seem to relate to how fast i was going.

Good news tho, no error codes. And when i started my car lastnight it was fine..no light at all so was obviously just a gremmlin in the system which sorted itself out:-)

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Can i ask you another question as you know ya onions as they say. What headlight bulbs give the best look in your opinion? At the moment i just have standard bulbs. My headlights are those ones that move as you turn the wheel. Does that limit my choice of bulb? I just want something brighter, with a whiter light...what do ya reckon?

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I currently swear by osram cool blue intense. I know many fellow members also do. But then plenty of people swear by philips too. All comes down to personal choice.

If you had a mooch through my thread found in my signature, I think about 3 quarters the way through, you'll find photos of my headlights.

I would insert the photos straight here for you but I'm currently using my phones net.

Also, fellow member Stoney871 has even uploaded a few videos of his osrams in action on country roads.

Aren't your hid's bright enough? I know you can get osram hid bulbs.

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Mine are those 'adaptive headlights' which i am amazed havnt broken yet. Am i right in thinking i currently have halogen bulbs and if i wanted HID's id have to buy a kit?

Do the osram cool blue intense bulbs just fit straight in or do i have to do some kind of conversion?

Cheers will have a look at ya pics of the osrams in action and check out Stoney871's vids

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Did your car come with adaptive headlights as standard? You got me confused with that one lol cause I haven't seen a mk2 with them before that wasn't an ST unless been retro fitted at great expense.

I'm now on the laptop so I can find the videos for you.

Scroll half way down this page for the videos:

http://www.fordowner...ad/page__st__45

And here's my photos

2012-09-01053930.jpg

2012-09-01053623.jpg

2012-08-11%2022.34.17_zps45d50d63.jpg

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From what i could gather from the previous owner (who bought the car from new), he said he opted for all available optional extras when he bought the car, except for cruise control. So i guess the adaptive headlights were an optional extra? I think some of the top spec Titaniums and Ghias did have the option of adaptive headlights. Not sure how much extra they cost, maybe not many people opted for them cos was probably quite expensive. Im glad ive got em tho, as i said no issues with them so far...which im surprised by as i guess theres a little motor somewhere that turns the lights.

Cheers for the pics and videos...they look well bright! and a nice clean light too. Might have to go with the osram cool blue intense, thats if i can just fit em straight in?

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Mines the ghia so has cruise control but unfortunately the original owner never opted for adaptive lighting.

There has been many a discussion on retrofitting it and a few members are in the process of doing so but it will be a great expense and a lot of hassle.

I believe you require something along the lines of these type of bulbs:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=osram+hid&_sacat=0&_from=R40

Should be a straight swap though.

Although my area of expertise doesn't extend that far into adaptive lighting so hopefully other members can advise better on this.

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can imagin retro fitting adaptive lighting would be a right b*tch. Think a replacement would set me back £230ish for 1 unit. Thankfully i havnt had to do that yet.

If these fit my type of headlights i'll try these out first http://www.powerbulbs.com/product/cool-blue-intense-h7-two-bulbs

But will look into the whole HID conversion in the longterm

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Think I'm confusing myself, I thought adaptive lighting are hids?

Do your headlights have washer jets?

If your bulbs are the same fitment as standard headlights then yes you need h7 for the dipped beam and h1 for the low beam.

The ones you just linked are exactly what I have.

Don't buy the ones you linked though, cheaper on eBay

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OSRAM-H7-COOL-BLUE-INTENSE-PAIR-12v-55w-BARGAIN-/150935456635?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item2324744b7b

Same ones you just linked from power bulbs but for 10quid less ;)

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No im pretty sure mine arnt HID's.....but they are the headlights that move with the steering wheel. I think adaptive lighting just means they turn with the wheel.

Nope, no washer jets on mine:-(

'A car with adaptive headlights uses electronic sensors to detect the speed of the car, how far the driver has turned the steering wheel, and the yaw of the car. Yaw is the rotation of the car around the vertical axis -- when a car is spinning, for example, its yaw is changing. The sensors direct small electric motors built into the headlight casing to turn the headlights. A typical adaptive headlight can turn the lights up to 15 degrees from center, giving them a 30-degree range of movement. The sensors in an adaptive headlights system prevent the lights from turning when they don't need to. If the car isn't moving or is moving in reverse, the adaptive headlights won't activate. This helps keep the lights from inadvertently blinding other drivers.'

I think mine are the same fittment as standard, if so will get exactly the same as what you've got ,but from eBay rather than power bulbs:-)

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Thoughtso mate sorry, was knackered earlier, still am lol. And my poor head can't function properly.

As you don't have the washer jets it's safe to say they aren't hids.

So by the sounds of it they are standard bulbs, in which case you should join the cool blue intense club ;)

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I have the adaptive halogen projectors like yours in my Titanium, and would be interested to see your results with the new bulbs. Just to confirm as you thought yourself, they are standard halogen bulbs, same fitment as standard headlights, but just encased in the adaptive/cornering projector lenses.

I had cheap 'xenon effect' bulbs in a previous car and found them fine in terms of light output and really liked the colour. But when I transferred them to the projectors in the Focus they were worse than the proverbial candle in a jam jar. I got my hands on a set of ST xenons which I'm using at the minute, but they came with a set of HID bulbs also (which I removed and put back to OEM bulbs and ballasts) and I've been tempted to try them in the adaptive projectors. Just wary of tampering with them at all, as you say they're pretty rare and perhaps worth a few quid if I decided to sell them. Also unsure if the adaptive function will be effected/inhibited if I were to fit them.

Happy enough with my xenons at the minute anyway, but will keep an eye on any results you come up with if you do go for new bulbs.

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At last.. someone else with adaptive halogen projectors! Thanks for confirming that i do have the standard halogen bulbs, but just encased in the adaptive/cornering projector lenses.

Interesting that the xenon effect bulbs you transferred to the projectors in ya Focus didnt particularly work that well. Wonder why not? Cos arnt they the same shape etc as normal Halogen bulbs? Im extremely wary of tampering with the projectors too...thats why i just wanted a direct replacement bulb for the ones that are currently in the car but that give a good HID type effect. The Osram H7 Cool Blue Intense 12v 55w seem perfect for this according to Brigante. Its just a case of wether they work well in a projector housing. Theres no reason why they shouldnt. Although i dont understand why the Xenons you tried didnt work as they should of in your projector housing?

If i go for the Osrams which i probably will i'll be sure to post the results here

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At last.. someone else with adaptive halogen projectors! Thanks for confirming that i do have the standard halogen bulbs, but just encased in the adaptive/cornering projector lenses

Whey hey there you go mate ;)

I didn't wanna give you a definite answer on what bulbs you need, as I've never had any experience with the adaptive lighting myself (unfortunately :unsure:) so although I was pretty sure they was the same fitments as mine, I couldn't be 100% sure.

Given the amount of helpful members on this forum though I knew someone who can give a definitive answer would be along shortly.

We've got a good group of lads here more than happy to help.

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They're rare alright aren't they mate?! They were was a guy on here though a while back who retro-fitted them, think his username was Mr. Grumpy (Tommy maybe?) if you can find his build thread.

Think the only reason my bulbs weren't great is cos they were cheap! They were literally the cheapest ones I could find on eBay that were 'xenon effect'...aka just glowed a bit whiter cos they had the blue tint on the glass. I was only buying them as a test for my Mondeo and liked them so didn't spend on a brand after that. Think in the projectors though, although a nice crisp white colour, they just weren't good enough quality in terms of brightness. I think if you go with a quality bulb brand like the usual two suspects, Osram and Phillips, they should be fine.

I have LED sidelights in at the minute beside my ST bi-xenons and pretty happy with that set-up, cheap xenon effects in my fogs but these are hardly ever used.

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Just found Tommy's thread:

Yup he retrofitted the adaptive headlights

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