Hi. I have a Ford Focus 05 1.4 with 91,000 miles on the clock.

Recently I have been having problems with the car not starting. If left for a couple of minutes it would then start. Today I had to leave it a couple of hours to start.

I have noticed that when the car doesn't start it displays ------ where the millege displays, when it shows the millege it starts straight away. This is when the key is on the turn before th car is supposed to start and shows the lights on the dash.

Can anyone help me with getting this sorted? It's driving me mad. Thanks guys.

is your battery good

I'm not sure to be honest. When it wasn't starting I connected some jump leads to another car and still nothing.

If it starts then would this suggest the battery is ok? If not how can I test it?

It's happened again, and not starting again. Attached is a picture of the dash when it doesn't start.

Is there any clicking or any noises at all when the car won't start ?

Are the battery terminal connections properly tight & is the negative lead from the battery to the chassis properly tight on the chassis & is the connector on the alternator tight & not corroded?

It seems that one of the bolts that hold the negative lead to the battery is missing and it can be moved with my hand. Shall I find a bolt and make this connection tight? Could this be causing the issue? The lead is properly on the battery but like I said the lead can be moved on the battery.

yes it should have a bolt in it

That connection must be tight & could easily be causing your problem as your issue sounds like a wiring problem to me in the first instance - hence my previous posts

Ok thanks for your help. I've got a bolt on there and tightened it as much as it will go but it's still loose. Try another bolt maybe?

Can you explain to me what is happening if the connection isn't right? I'd like to learn as I go with this problem :) thanks for your help.

The connection must be tight - if it is not tight electrical connectivity is at best random, at worst non existent & your car depends on uninterrupted battery power

Ok so here's an update guys...

I've managed to get the connection tight by putting a washer under the bolt and righting back up. So far it seems to be ok, however I have ran into another issue or possibly the same one still.

I was driving along and all of a sudden the car seemed to have went into limp mode and the dash lit up like a Christmas tree, the rev and speedo stopped working as well, see attached. After about 10 minutes of driving some of the lights went off but a couple stayed on (attached).

After turning the engine off and then on again all the lights went off and the car drove normally.

Someone please help. It's been put on a computer and it hasn't come back with anything. Clutch has been changed as well as cool pack about a month ago.

A further update...

I was driving this morning and it was driving normally, then all the lights came on the dash and there was no power behind the accelerator at all! I rolled to the side of the road, turned the engine off and back on and had a little bit of power behind the accelerator but nothing to normal. Turned the engine off and back on and it had the usual power again.

I've been doing research online for people who've had similar issues to me and I have come up with a list that could be causing the issue...

• Battery
• Alternator
• Faulty Relay
• eGR Valve
• Vacuum Advance Unit

Would any of the above cause this kind of issue I'm experiencing? It's starting to get quite serious and I'm scared it could cause an accident.

When my 2004 mk1 Focus had these symptoms it turned out to be the ignition coils.

Did yours have all the dash lights on and lose power when trying to accelerate?

The car is getting worse... My friend has a cheap machine that plugs into the car he brought off ebay. I plugged it in and it came up with the error code 'UOOO1 - high speed can communication bus

Now when I try and start the car it firstly starts ok and then the second time it turns over but doesn't start. I have to leave it for about a hour before it starts again. The day before this I had the crank sensor changed as the mechanic throught this was the issue but it seems like I have another one? or one still related to the old issue?

Any ideas on the fault code and what could be causing my issue?

Those lines usually mean communication issue between cluster and abs module an fact speedo went that puts car in limp mode and I don't think ur car has speedo sensor control by wheel speed sensor and abs u need a decent fault code reader u could have more then one issue

Sent from my iPhone using Ford OC

Mick I think you are right mate. When I have the ---- on the dash, if a bang on top of the cluster the dashes goes and comes back with the millege, I am then able to start the car. Is this repair one for the main dealer or are there people out there that can do this slightly cheaper?

Is it a matter of changing the instrument cluster or just re-wiring it?