Afternoon all, 

Bit of a long and conviluded story here but please bear with me because I'm just smashing my head off the wall try to find out what the problem is; and I'm just terrified to take to the only Ford Garage within short driving range (and it's Arnold Clark - oh dear) for them to smack me with a massive bill.

I've come home after 3 and a half months at sea and I've started the car up and left her for 30 minutes to get everything all lubed up again - the grandfather had been turning it over but not running it during my stint away - and summarily set off on a wee jaunt. Got to the bottom of the hill of my street (0.5 miles away) and then everything started going off it's head. My radio turned on and off, the dash started flashing like a christmas tree on smack and then my Power Steering and ABS shut down completely. 

I got the car parked up and then turned her off. Tried to turn her back on again and *click, click, click* the battery was dead. I assumed it was a dud battery as I'd been away for so long so I went and got a brand new one from halfords - installed it, the car started and away I went again. The next day - same story, got her started, running and got her a mile down the road and boom, same problem. But this time with a rather prominent electric-burning smell. Car shut down on her own this time and hasnt started since.

She's now been sitting for a week seeing as Im running through a college course and havent had the time to work on her but, my question is: what could this be? I thought maybe the Alternator? But the father in law (mechanic- - 20 years+) has said it could be the PS Pump  (but this model has EPS and doesn't need one of those surely?) or just a bad grounding wire. 

Does anyone on here have a better idea of what this could be? Cheers :)

The steering on these is part electric part hydraulic so they do still have a pump, it's just driven by an electric motor instead of a belt.

As the PAS is electric and high load, it's one of the first things for the ECU to cut when it senses low voltage so not necessarily that at fault.

My guess would be the alternator over charging, would check the smart charge plug isn't corroded to start with.

 

 

I'd also lean towards the alternator as a starting point. As @TomsFocus states above, check the wiring to it as well as the connector/plus can get corroded.  The SmartCharge system can push the better part of 18 volts through the battery, so if the sensor/smartcharge cable or connector isn't working properly the alternator could be frying your nice shiny new battery.

Oh and I wouldn't bother taking it to a "Ford" dealer/garage, any independent worth 10 bob should be able to sort it, in part because it one of the most common cars on the road!

Thanks for the reply gents, going to get stuck in on Sunday. If the alt is my starting point, where is the "smart charge" connection located so I can give it a run-through?

It is a relatively newly purchased car so have gotten the ins and outs yet 😂

Managed to get the car opened and tested - poor thing has lain so long the battery has been sucked dry. This is where I'm convinced there is a parasitic drain coming from somewhere. 

I tested the battery whilst it was connected to the car with a multimeter (bearing in mind this is a brand new battery) and it was showing less than 3V DC. The battery was so drained my central locking didnt even work. Disconnected the battery - charged it to 11.5V DC and re-connected it; drained to less than 2.5V in seconds again. Removed it again, re-charged it again and re-installed it; lo and behold - drained again.

Does anyone have a better idea as to what is going on here as I'm banging my head against a brick wall here and at the moment, I'm incredibly short of expendable funds to pay through the nose to get the thing fixed.

She has lain unused so long that mould is starting to develop! (That was sorted - spent more time getting rid of the mould than trying to get this fixed.)

How long was the battery on charge and what rating was the charger?