[Closed] Car has just broke down again (less than a month after last repair!!)

Did the dealer diagnose any cause of the battery failure? i.e. something staying on causing drain? car batteries don't cope with ongoing drain, unlike leisure batteries.

They apparently carried out a drain test to see if anything was drawing current from the battery whilst the car was off, it came back all clear.

Something must be happening !

Indeed! The battery will be under warranty, so back to the dealer it is. Worth getting them to redo the test with the car locked/unlocked, radio on/off before turing off ignition, etc, as many scenarios as possible.

One thing that happened to my saab was the alarm siren failed, so when it went off you didn't hear it, and it drained the battery 🙁

Off to the dealer it goes.....! 👿

My 50p is they will stick an alternator on it.....not saying it will sort it just saying its the next logical step in the dealer part cannon approach.

Its crap man, surely being a ford dealer they should know whats up with it rather than just throwing parts at it !!

in the previous thread the battery was found to be faulty. this 'may' be caused by a faulty alternator, and a 2010 car's battery is getting on a bit now. a battery switch was required in any case. if the alternator is on the way out it may not show itself for a while i would have thought? it might be making the correct voltages at 3000rpm or whatever, but may just be unable to supply sufficient current to a discharged battery.
these aren't complicated systems but you can't get it right every time.

]they might be using the wrong fault finding procedure.
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but I have heard it said that sometimes its better to go to a good mechanic who is actually smart enought to find the fault is sometimes less hassle than dealing with dealerships.

hope you get it sorted.

Rather than Ford you need a auto electrician me thinks.

Does this help?
www.electriciansforums.co.uk/electrical-forum-general-electrical-forum/62036-auto-electrics.html

Just googling "Ford S max battery drain" it seems to be a common fault with no apparent cure!!

It cost me £230 and has lasted 3 weeks to the day and has happened again, should I have any recourse with the dealer who diagnosed it in the first place.

Really thinking of getting it started and going again and cutting my losses

Just for your interest and I know is a bit left field but Seat Ibizas had an issue with some radio sets draining batteries even when switched off led to no end of alternators batteries etc etc being replaced! Try removing the radio completely when the batteries recharged to see if the issue recurs.,

Cheers

a bit pissed off as Ford dealer told me it was fine

And when I had car trouble people laughed at me for NOT trusting mechanics... 🙂

Dont go to a main dealer. Find a auto electrician who specialises in Fords. Ring round a fair few until one says ah yes I know that over the phone.

Renton - has your car got Bluetooth? This was the problem with mine in the end, through the bluetooth functionality had packed up a few days before I had battery draining problems. I just unplugged the unit. These do seem to be unreliable and only last for 3 or so years. A new one is about £350, so I just unplugged it. You could also try unplugging the actual head unit for a while to test its nothing to do with your audio system. Also through the Convers+ system I also changed the settings on the alarm to enable me to disable the alarm interior sensors when I turn the car off, you can test the alarm ultrasonic sensors this way. I also stopped until the auto headlight and windscreen wiper option for a while just in case that system was causing a problem - they're back on now.

As has already been said before, and I think I said in my post on your earlier thread, there doesn't seem to be a single cause for these issues. No longer are cars made for simplicity of troubleshooting and fixing, so much so even the main dealers, who are supposed to be the experts, don't seem to have much more of a clue than anyone else and their main approach seems to be to start replacing parts at your cost in the hope they stumble across the problem. Scanning the ECU for codes is also next to useless. They'll give you a multitude of codes that will be symptoms rather than causes. When I scanned my ECU I got codes about turbo faults, clutch faults and alarm system faults, but nothing on Bluetooth faults!

Other things to check are the alarm system (sounder and the ultrasonic sensors), the ECU software version (thought this seemed to be an issue with the earlier cars, pre 2008 or so).

Hope you sort it soon.

The only code coming up on the rac system is u100 lost coms with pcm/ecm. This is down to the various modules not being able to communicate due to the low battery power.

I really am thinking of getting it going again and selling it on and going back to a vectra so at least I would be able to work on it.

My car does have Bluetooth but it seems to be working fine?

A useful device is a current meter (ammeter) that plugs in instead of a fuse:

http://www.alexshanks.com/current-tester-20a-standard-fuse-p798?

Anything you think might be draining current, take the fuse out, plug it in see what's flowing. Then switch everything on that circuit off an on until you find the culprit

I would be under the bonnet now but the car got towed to ford yesterday.

Would this be the car you bought after the Mazda 6 post?

Yep it is b r....

Why's that like?

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, buy Japanese.
You just don't get this kind of problem with Toyota, Mazda or Honda.
I am getting called out to increasing numbers of quality European cars* with serious and expensive faults at low mileage and less than 5 years old.
Unless you are driving a million miles then a basic Japanese petrol non turbo car is easily your best bet.

* and Fords...

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, buy Japanese.
You just don't get this kind of problem with Toyota, Mazda or Honda.
I am getting called out to increasing numbers of quality European cars* with serious and expensive faults at low mileage and less than 5 years old.
Unless you are driving a million miles then a basic Japanese petrol non turbo car is easily your best bet.

* and Fords...

Are you working with one of the national breakdown companies??

If so have you come across this problem before??

Yes, the yellow one.
Yes, I have been out to a few now with unexplained flat batteries. The official Ford line is they need a "software update". The issue seems to be the dash doesn't shut down correctly when you lock the car- apparently due to issues with the can-bus system. Not a diy fix unfortunately- main dealer every time.
Good luck!

Ah I have checked this one and it is shutting down straight away as you lock the car.

There is another TSB......

some of this relates to my car but not all of the symptoms !!

Ive had a couple of instances where Ive switched on the heated front screen and when Ive turned it off the whole of the stereo goes blank/completely off for a couple of seconds??

Looking at the TSB there is a wiring loom that needs checking behind the stereo??? could that be it?

Check the earthing. Had a similar issue with the Mondeo and intermittent non-starting, just a clicking sound. Pointed to the starter/solenoid, had it taken off and reconditioned and worked for a while but then still an intermittent problem. One time the Yellow Recovery Service came out and thought it was a charging issue - towed to garage - alternator off, again worked for a while but started again intermittently. Back to the garage a couple of times and the autoelectrician chasing the issue, he ran extra earth straps to the starter, battery and body; no problems since.

petrol non turbo car is easily your best bet

Yeah, if only they weren't so shite to drive 🙂 I'm no boy racer but even I'd be pissed off driving a 1.6 na petrol.

Try a Honda type R. Boring they ain't.

Yeah but more than 25mpg is also a requirement.

Fair point. I only do 5000 miles a year so fine for me, but will probably rule it out for most people.
Trying currently to persuade swmbo that an Accord type R is a sensible family car to replace the trusty Mazda 6.

I sold a Mazda 6 sport estate to buy this Smax as the paint on the Mazda was crap *

*Plus we needed a bigger boot and more room !

molgrips - Member

petrol non turbo car is easily your best bet

Yeah, if only they weren't so shite to drive I'm no boy racer but even I'd be pissed off driving a 1.6 na petrol.

What! 1.6 na petrol on UK road is not fast enough? You can't even legally drive faster than 70mph without getting penalty. 🙄 I drive a 1.6. Toyota auto and that's plenty enough especially when there are uncountable road signs everywhere ... How fast do you want to drive?

bikemike1968 - Member

Try a Honda type R. Boring they ain't.

It's fast enough na but imagine if they have turbo in it (we do that in the fast east) and that engine will fly! 😆

molgrips - Member

Yeah but more than 25mpg is also a requirement.

😆 It's like saying you want the horse to run fast but yet been starving it without food or minimum feeding. Innit. That's what the local boy racers demand i.e. fast car with diesel fuel consumption capability. 😯

bikemike1968 - Member

Trying currently to persuade swmbo that an Accord type R ...

I would choose Type R over Mazda but in terms of fuel consumption Type R might be slightly better if he does not go into the "racing mode".

renton - Member

I sold a Mazda 6 sport estate to buy this Smax as the paint on the Mazda was crap *

You sold it because of paint work? Can't you respray it or do something to it? 😯 Anyway, paint job is the least of the headache really.

1.6 na petrol on UK road is not fast enough?

Nothing to do with top speed of course, as I don't speed - it's about torque delivery. I drive a Prius and a Passat, and I like them, but even for me a 1.6 petrol Focus is rubbish.

It's like saying you want the horse to run fast but yet been starving it without food or minimum feeding. Innit.

Not sure you're really understanding. I'm saying I don't like driving small na petrols, but I like getting 50mpg.

I sold a Mazda 6 sport estate to buy this Smax as the paint on the Mazda was crap

The paint was crap? In what way? I can't believe it was rusting (unless it had accident damage poorly repaired in the past).
The paint on mine scratches fairly easily but polishes up with no effort. Certainly not a reason to sell it (and definitely not to swap it for a Ford...)

molgrips - Member

1.6 na petrol on UK road is not fast enough?

Nothing to do with top speed of course, as I don't speed - it's about torque delivery. I drive a Prius and a Passat, and I like them, but even for me a 1.6 petrol Focus is rubbish.

Hmmm ... my Toyota Corolla 1.6 auto is fine so far. Yes, it can struggle a little if I want to overtake fast so I just have to time it properly. Since I am not that familiar with the bendy UK roads normally I just prefer to follow the slowest car in front of me.

I can't drive fast because of the jelly suspensions on my car. I blame the damn insurance for trying to quote me higher premium if I want proper "racing" suspensions and the bureaucrats monitoring speed scare the shite of me as I only have 3 yrs NCB so far. Damn!

Not sure you're really understanding. I'm saying I don't like driving small na petrols, but I like getting 50mpg.

Mine never get to 40mpg ... arrghhh ... 😡 I think the best so far is around 37 or 38mpg but since I don't drive that often I don't mind. If only my boy racer mate is here he could have tuned the engine for me but then bloody insurance could be a pain to deal with if they found out some tuning have been done to the engine.

I'd have thought a 1.6 was great in my early driving career when all I'd driven was a 950cc Fiesta MkII. But now I'm used to a car with torque, it'd be hard to go back.

Plus as well as being rubbish, my folks' car only gets 40mpg and can't tow a caravan.

molgrips - Member
But now I'm used to a car with torque, it'd be hard to go back.

How or when do you use the torque?

I mean every time I want to speed I either encounter a roundabout or traffic light or pedestrian crossing. On the country roads they are so bendy it's so dangerous to drive fast. The only time I can drive fast is on the motorway or dual carriage way but then I like to cruise so not really in a hurry. 😀

Btw 150bhp for a car is more than enough for normal use. Yes, 150bhp is the standard engine power with slight modification for Toyota Corolla in the far east and this is easily achieved.

I think most modern cars have less than 150bhp as standard even now.

molgrips - Member
Nothing to do with top speed of course, as I don't speed - it's about torque delivery. I drive a Prius and a Passat, and I like them, but even for me a 1.6 petrol Focus is rubbish.

Matter of taste I guess but those are both horrid engines to drive to me. Passat TD has a rubbish narrow all-or-nothing power band and is unrefined. Toyota just has no go but at least it has interesting tech. The focus 1.6 is a bit slow but at least its a sweet little unit. Likes to be revved and yet pretty comfy at low revs.

The mazda we had was a 60 plate sport estate in stormy blue mica. The front of the car was that prone to stone chips and marks that the front end looked like it was about fifteen years old. I could of had it painted but then come to sell it and people think it's been in an accident.

Plus we wanted to size up.

"Btw 150bhp for a car is more than enough for normal use. Yes, 150bhp is the standard engine power with slight modification for Toyota Corolla in the far east and this is easily achieved. "

What slight mods gain 30 bhp ? ( ps its either standard or its not... And with modifications means its no standard! )

My car is 110bhp petrol non-turbo. Its fast. All cars that I've ever driven have been fast. You don't need big BHP- what you need is how to pickup the gearing/how it matches the engine and tailor your driving style accordingly IMO.

I use the torque every time I accelerate away from a roundabout or corner in a low gear. I like to ease down on the pedal at low revs and the car goes. In my Dad's car nothing happens so you need to change down a couple of gears.

Passat TD has a rubbish narrow all-or-nothing power band

The old ones did that. It's been over 10 years since they fitted that type of engine on VW, slightly less with the other brands. Trust me I know my VAG diesels. Since 2008 ish they have used CR diesels which are as refined as any other.

So, No news at the moment.

I phoned the garage Monday morning to tell them the car had been dropped off and what had happened and they said they would look at it but probably not until late Monday or early Tuesday.

How long do I give them before I start pestering them ??

Ring them tomorrow morning

I hated the CR in a Altea that I hired whereas the 1.9TDI was better- all you have to do is learn to ride the torque and be a smooth driver.

Ive just phoned the dealer and they have said the techie was looking at it yesterday (they have had it since monday !!) and he thinks something is draining the battery.... err no **** sherlock !!!

they wanted my permission to do some more investigation on it ??? i cant say no as the bloody thing doesnt work !

Does anyone have any ideas on what could be up with it??

Yeah,

sounds to me like something is draining the battery mate.

HTH.

Cheers weeksy

🙁

all they can really do is isolate circuits until the problem doesn't occur anymore.

You coudl do the same by unplugging fuses and seeing what happens. Could be a long process though.

They should be able to actually test for current flow with everything 'off' though.

have you got a small child you can shut in the boot or glove box to see if the light stays on? It's likely to be something like that.

My brother had a bmw that the battery constantly went flat on. Turned out the alarm had some new fancy gubbins in it that put more load on the battery than expected. The bmw main dealer just fitted the biggest amp/hour battery that would physically go in the tray and it 'solved' the problem.