Major electrical issues

[Sampson]

Hi All, 

I just got my 2010 focus home after the first time driving it and after trying to fit my new dashcam (hardwiring it) i've ran into major issues. 

Stupidly i removed some fuses during the process, maybe i shouldnt have touched the ones i did, but at the time i thought it made sense as i was looking for a fuse only powered during ignition on. The fuses i removed were: 

Fuel pump no.111

battery to instrument cluster no.107 

Radio no.112

Accessory to cluster no.108

 

Put them all back in place (i was doing them one at a time) as i was having no luck with power during ignition on. Then i left the car alone for 30mins came back to move parking spots and all the interior electrics just flickering rapidly at me and it didn't engage the starter at all. The cluster was powered and the radio but interestingly the ESP wouldnt turn on with just the ignition on. Went to try again after checking the fuses and something in the fuse box almost got stuck flickering and i couldnt stop it, now all the interior electrics are not working minus the cluster.

 

Any ideas people? Im struggling and worried i've done some serious damage after just getting the car.   

 

 

[TangoDaz]

Hi

i know it's a bit late now but you need to piggyback fuse F100 in the fuse box under the glove box 

you could try disconnecting the battery for a while the try connecting it again 

 

[Sampson]

4 minutes ago, TangoDaz said:

Hi

i know it's a bit late now but you need to piggyback fuse F100 in the fuse box under the glove box 

you could try disconnecting the battery for a while the try connecting it again 

 

Oh balls will do that once it's fixed :( 

I've left the battery disconnected at the minute and will retry shortly. 

 

[TangoDaz]

Good luck

how old is the battery as I've heard that if the battery is low in power it can start to play havoc with the electrical system it may be a good idea to have the battery checked as well

[Sampson]

31 minutes ago, TangoDaz said:

Good luck

how old is the battery as I've heard that if the battery is low in power it can start to play havoc with the electrical system it may be a good idea to have the battery checked as well

 

Not sure on battery age tbh

I drove it home (20minute drive) with no issues and would think that'd charge it enough but it had been sat for about a month previous to that drive. 

Everything was working fine until these fuse changes then the issues started. 

First port of call tomorrow is Halfords for a battery charger! 

[Micro]

20 minutes is probably not enough to charge it enough to withstand your interior light being on whilst you're playing in the footwell ;-)

The sparking you describe is probably just because you had not pressed the fuse properly into the contacts, and whatever that powered was trying to pull a good current through it. It's best to do it with the battery either not connected, or use positive actions (i.e. remove firmly and quickly, and replace the same way).

[nazsky786]

It would be best to check you battery is in a good condition, most stores IE Halfords do check your battery free, just take battery to your nearest store. 

Lastly since you have been messing with the passenger fuse box, you may have loosened up the connectors. 

Colours for fusebox are blue for dash, brown for floor, and green is main power into the car. 

There is a fuse in engine bay that may have popped that powers the interior but since you said that fuse box still sounds like its powered that may not be the issue. 

Double check the connections and test battery it maybe one or the other unless you have the water ingress issue where you sound disconnect the connectors one by one and see if there is any sort of marking. 

[Sampson]

Thanks for the help all! All sorted now. Turns out it was an incredibly flat battery. Sorry for wasting your time, was just stressing as I needed it back on the road for today! 

[spurswes]

9 hours ago, Sampson said:

Thanks for the help all! All sorted now. Turns out it was an incredibly flat battery. Sorry for wasting your time, was just stressing as I needed it back on the road for today! 

Glad it's all sorted,you didn't waste anybody's time mate,that's what the forum is for. I've just bought a focus Zetec s 09 plate. Going to pick it up in the week

[TangoDaz]

No worries Sampson that's what the forum is for just glad it's sorted and you are good to go ahead with the dash cam using F100 

[ferretfloozy]

i used f131..rear wiper ..(late 2007 model)

[Sampson]

21 hours ago, TangoDaz said:

No worries Sampson that's what the forum is for just glad it's sorted and you are good to go ahead with the dash cam using F100 

As I was more worried about getting the car on the road I haven't had time to finish the dash cam. Where to you use to ground mate? 

[TangoDaz]

Good point 

I believe there may be a ground under the front interior light or run the wire back down until you find one under the dash 

[Micro]

I differ to some people's installations, in that I created an ignition switched cigarette lighter (just made a piggy back harness for the lighter socket), and then power all my ignition switched stuff from this, so I have grounded to the cigarette lighter socket.

You have a wide choice of ground points - as long as it's attached to the bodywork, you can ground essentially anywhere. I have another device attached to permanent live which I have grounded to a bolt that holds the fusebox in (be warned, I think you may slightly annoy the service people if you have your car serviced, as I believe they need to remove this, or the fuse box, to get access to the air filter).