Low Battery Warning

[redrum217uk]

I just got my second hand focus yesterday. I've had the battery Low warning a few times. I took it out for about an hour today Which I hope fixes it. However the start stop feature doesn't, work and a cause is low battery voltage. I'm guessing this is linked. Going to speak to the dealer but just wanted to see if anyone else had the same problem? I recon its just because its not be used in a while?

[ilsonemo]

check the alternator is working, put multi-meter across battery and you should get a reading 13v - 14v

[artscot79]

Either its been sitting too long or theres a faulty battery not unheard of 13-14.4v

[redrum217uk]

I think its been sitting for a couple of months so I'm going to take it for a couple of long runs. Its probably nothing I was just surprised the start stop doesn't work at all when at traffic lights and so on.

Thanks for the replies :-)

[artscot79]

Stop start allegedly saves fuel however it uses the battery as any car does when starting if its too low the stop start deactivates to give the battery time to charge otherwise it just wouldnt start

[redrum217uk]

How long should it take to charge? I'm not very mechanical when it comes to cars. Give me a PC to build and I'm fine but cars I'm useless!

[artscot79]

Theres proof that the batteries cant handle the stop start well simply put if a battery say has 10 thousand starts in it then for me i switch the car on or off you stop start continously during winter the battery on stop start cars takes a pounding and struggles to recharge it will take way more than an hour to charge the battery even with all electrics off youll need a good few hours to charge new batteries are due this year to cope better with the stop start

[redrum217uk]

Thanks Artscot79 I'll give it a few good runs.

[artscot79]

May be worth investing in a smart charger you can leave it attatched to the car and it will keep the battery topped up argos eBay etc all sell them

[Nathan_M]

If its only an 11 plate then i would say that the battery has a fair amount left to give, i read up on this the other week and someone said a calculation that gives a rough amount of time to recharge a good battery after a normal start up, and i think it was if the engine cranks for 10 seconds that correlates to about 5 minutes of good running to replenish the battery to a 90%+ charge state, although that was with everything running heaters,radio, lights etc as an example however if you battery has dipped below 70%ish it tends to struggle to charge its self off the cars alternator as that is only there to replenish the power lost while stating the engine and then running gadgets there after, your best bet would be to save your fuel and time going on long runs and either borrow a charger or buy one and charge it up fully over night then if it hold its charge well you have a winner if it goes to mush again you better get down to the dealer for a new battery, best way to check simple faults like the alternator would be to check the voltage with the engine off and see what you get (others have stated what you need) and then have someone hold the multimeter on the battery while you start it, if it goes down below 12v its going to need charging out of the car for sure, just dont rely to heavily on the little alternator to charge the big battery for too long otherwise you will be wanting an alternator as well as a battery.

[Preee]

Since i have had my car the stop/start only worked about 5 times , i do really short trips , and i always get the low battery warning.

I have even tried a good run down the motorway with every thing switched off lol , did not help much .

Stop / Start , is not just about battery condition , it also takes out side temperature , if AC is on , what speed setting your fan is on , lights etc etc.

[Nathan_M]

Since i have had my car the stop/start only worked about 5 times , i do really short trips , and i always get the low battery warning.

I have even tried a good run down the motorway with every thing switched off lol , did not help much .

Stop / Start , is not just about battery condition , it also takes out side temperature , if AC is on , what speed setting your fan is on , lights etc etc.

I would have thought that the amount of time its been running and the amount of time its been stopped would make a difference as well as engine temperature and current load on the alternator would be the ecu's way of deciding if the battery has it in it for sure to get going again an i suppose if your hammering it with A/C radio lights and blowers then no it wont stop and go, but i wouldn't expect it to stop until its warmed up past its pre heating for the cat and exhaust manifold as it would knacker the O2 sensors cats and anything else that relies on the heat.

[redrum217uk]

Well I have taken it for a couple of drives today as part of work. Then after the 20 journey home I parked up, turned the engine off got out locked the car and could hear a fan running in the engine. Did it for a few minutes after i locked the car, I did open the bonnet and and nothing seemed out of place but there was definitely a fan running away.

Is that normal? Its a 1.6 Ecoboost if that's any help.

[Nathan_M]

I would expect you seen the radiator fan spinning when you looked? Yeh should be normal is it a warmish day, and do you have eatc?

[redrum217uk]

I would expect you seen the radiator fan spinning when you looked? Yeh should be normal is it a warmish day, and do you have eatc?

eatc? Is that the climate control? Yes I do but don't think I had it on when I was driving home. I wouldn't know where to look for a fan, couldn't see anything! <_< I could just hear what sounded like a fan. ;)

[Nathan_M]

Was it on for a few minutes or seconds?

[redrum217uk]

Was it on for a few minutes or seconds?

its hard to tell as I was talking to my dad in the car before I got out maybe a min or 2? No more than that, I just never had a car do that before and it was whirring away quite loudly, it went off when i opened the bonnet.

Might pop out and time it, I'm assuming if its just a short time its fine?

[Nathan_M]

Yeh, shouldn't do it every single time though, how far where your short journeys?

[redrum217uk]

Well it didn't do it after 2 lots of 35 min trips but it did it when I drove to my dads, about 15 min and then when I drove home about 10 main.

[Nathan_M]

I'm not sure as to whether the Eco engines have a battery powered cooler to look after the turbo, but unless it's super hot it shouldn't be getting hot enough in my opinion to do this, check the coolant level and oil, if they are okay put the air con on during your next journey and see if it does it as the A/C will force the fan on while it's running this would stop the fan running for now if it becomes persistent, I guess the temp gauge isn't going up too high?

*Just did a quick Google search for you and on a few other forums its come up, definitely check the coolant level as it sounds like the ecu is programmed to run the fan all the while when the coolant level drops a bit.

[redrum217uk]

Coolant level seems fine but quite hot, which I'm guessing is normal. I just took it for a spin and no fan on after engine switch off. But temp gauge jumped straight to half way when engine was turned on, but never went above. But it was only still for about 20 min.

Appreciate your help on this though :-)

[redrum217uk]

Okay had it out for a run, no fan staying on so took it out again, this time having the a/c on for a few minutes, turned it off when it got too cold! Pulled up and the fan ran for about 1 min after engine stop. Does that help?

[Nathan_M]

Okay sounds just fine then to be honest, i would say that the fan comes on for the turbo, perhaps try letting it idle for a few seconds before turning it off so that the oil keeps flowing through the turbo and let it be for a while, the temperature gauge is in the right place and everything sounds alright so its just the way its been programmed, go the the ford etis site and search for your number plate in there it might say if there are any 'outstanding field service' it might detail a software update, other wise just call the dealer you brought it from or your nearest ford dealer and ask them they should know.

[redrum217uk]

Thanks again for all your help, there is no outstanding field service actions needed, the dealer is going to ring me in a couple of days anyway, I'll ask then what he thinks of it.

This forum is awesome btw, so helpful!

[Nathan_M]

Yeh sounds alright after using the AC for a short while the fan will keep going for a few seconds to keep it cool in case you request cold air immediately after starting it again, just keep your eye on it for a little while and if it keeps on then question the dealer, it might be something to do with the fact that the turbo on the engine gets very warm when run for a short while due to the fact that the ecu will be dumping fuel in to warm up the exhaust side of the engine, when you go on a proper jaunt see if it still does it and keep you eye on the coolant temperature gauge. I have the opposite worry to be fair as i have never seen mine turn once, although the temp gauge never moves over half way its all to do with what the computer thinks is right. good luck with it.