Hi Everyone.

I have a very strange problem with my Ford Mondeo 2008 after the car battery was replaced.

When the new battery was fitted all was well and car started but i noticed the built in Sat Nav Touch radio and fan controls was dead.

I checked the fuse and looked ok and re-inserted. The radio come on and asked for the keycode which i entered and all worked.

The problem i have is if you leave the car locked for more than around 10mins when you unlock the car the radio is dead again. Check the fuse and its ok. Take it out and re-insert and the radio comes on and asks for key code.

I does this every day and i cannot think of what it can be. The fuse does not blow and everything else is working.

I spoke to local Ford garage and they dont know and want me to bring it in but dont really want to spend money on them checking it and saying 'Dont know' or 'Needs a new Radio' as i know it works.

Does anyone have any thoughts as its driving me mad

Thanks

Justin

Does this vehicle have a silver calcium battery & if so, did you replace with another silver calcium battery ?

Hi Mark.

Thanks for swift reply.

I have no idea what battery came out (think it was factory fitted one) and the replacement was ordered for this type of car.

Silly question but does it have to be a special battery then?

Justin

Newer Fords need silver calcium, as they have a 'smart charge' system that supercharges the battery to compensate for the power used when cranking, and keeps the battery at optimum charge. Conventional batteries do not support this as such and can be problematic, and can be the cause of many a electrical malady.

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GNU STP

As above & that's exactly why I asked the question regarding the battery type :)

I'm sure my old '05 Mondeo ST TDCi had a silver calcium battery - so it's entirely possible that an '08 Mondeo does too

My 2009 focus is silver calcium battery. I'd be surprised if yours wasn't. The alternator will literally boil a lead acid battery hence all sorts of electrical faults

Thank you all for your answers. I spoke to garage and I checked my battery which is made by lion. I think these are cheaper batteries. They have ordered a silver one and hope my problems will be resolved.

Will keep your posted

Justin

To clarify, I believe it was all Fords from 1998 where using smart charge and silver calcium batteries.

Thanks for the clarification Jeebs. I once asked a mechanic the battery question, and he said he sticks normal batteries on Fords, he was completely unaware about the Silver Calcium requirement so I would easily believe others would do the same.

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GNU STP

This is when you realise mechanics learn the old school principles, but often do not appreciate the tech involved...

can vouch for the smart charge system was cleaning and polish car in good weather sept radio on doors all open go out next day flat battery

got jump start took for 30 mile spin checked with multi meter fully charged spot on system from ford

Well had the battery changed to a silver c ford battery and radio came on.

Bad news is that after locked car for 10 mins radio is dead again. This is doing my head in lol.

I seem to recall someone said disconnect Bluetooth module as these sometimes have a short.

any idea guys as ford don't seem to know

Thanks

Justin

you need to track the parasitic drain by removing fuses until the drain goes to near enough zero

It can't be a drain on the battery if it's only taking 10 minutes to reset the radio. It's sounding to me more likey the radio itself is knackered

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does sound like a faulty radio, may have been a coincidence battery was replaced.

but will be worth disconnecting various related parts first, as he said, bluetooth module, even unplugging the instrument cluster as that is linked to the radio also.

ive seen an instrument cluster cause a simular issue where the radio kept asking for code every time you left it for a while.

This what I can't work out as well I pull fuse and replace put code in it works.

I have been in 2 hour drive and everything works. Sat nav radio and Bluetooth,

Radio has two feeds doesn't it? One permanent live to keep the memory and one switched ignition feed? Can you turn the radio on without the ignition being switched on? It sounds like it may be dropping the permanent feed that keeps the memory alive for some reason

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Now you say that you cannot turn the radio on or off with the middle button with ignition on or off.

Do you know which fuse is the permanent live? i have looked at images of the Touch NAV on Google and some have a 15amp fuse in the back of the head unit and some dont

I'm not sure tbh maybe a Google search will help you there? Sorry I can't be of more help. Just a thought if you scan radio stations and save them in your own order then turn off the ignition are they saved in that order or do you have to re scan again? I'd be tempted to pull the unit out and check if it has a fuse then go down the route of individually pulling and physically checking every fuse just to at least rule this out

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great line to approach Matty!

I've had this happen twice on the Focus.

Dead radio. Found the right fuse, pulled it, checked it, refitted it and then worked fine for about a month. Then the same thing happened, removed and replaced the fuse and has been fine again ever since for about 3 months now.

Either replace the fuse or/and use a bit of contact cleaner on the fuse terminals.

Radio has two feeds doesn't it? One permanent live to keep the memory and one switched ignition feed? Can you turn the radio on without the ignition being switched on? It sounds like it may be dropping the permanent feed that keeps the memory alive for some reason

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Dont think it has 2 feeds, relys on the canbus to wake up radio I think

Dont think it has 2 feeds, relys on the canbus to wake up radio I think

Ah yes of course I forgot it's canbus. Good call Ian although it does still work on the same principle. Still has a permanent live feed though that saves the memory. The dodgy fuse or connector are a good first point of call as already mentioned. Maybe an elm 327 and forscan may shed some light!

The quadlock connector for the radio has an ignition live feed and a permanent live feed so the radio can be run directly off the battery (radio has a one hour setting to avoid leaving the radio on when unoccupied and draining the battery).