Ford - Focus :: 2005 - Battery Light Has Been Come On Randomly
May 10, 2012
I have a a 2005 Focus, 199,000 miles. The battery light has been come on randomly. It doesn't seen to be related to any other event in the car. Things I've done to diagnose it...
I cleaned the battery cable connections before I started any diagnostics.
I have two code reader and no codes are being thrown.
I connected a multimeter to the battery while the car was idling in the driveway.
I got 13.8-14.1 volts as the car sat and ran. When the light came on no change on the meter.
I have a Scan Gauge that allows me to watch the voltage in real time. Four days and no change when the light came on. ~13.8-14.1 at idle and ~14.1-14.4 underway.
I have the Car Chip. I plugged it in drove for about 10 runs and the voltage trace was pretty flat on all runs, battery light on or off.
The only thing that is consistent is if the light is on and I rev the engine it goes out BUT they rpm when the light goes is inconsistent.
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2002 Ford Focus SE with 130k miles on it. For the past 4 months the battery light flashes randomly while driving. The flashing and frequency of flashing doesn't seem related to anything I can tell including temperature, length of time the car is running, speed or any variable. Seems like it should be an alternator, but that was replaced less than an year ago and it also has a new battery. The alternator always checks out fine at the mechanic and it will never flash for the mechanic. It went 1 month with no flashing and suddenly it will now flash maybe 20 times in a 5 mile drive. Yesterday it just died at a stoplight with no warning, but then after shutting everything off it started just fine and the battery light didn't turn on for the 2 miles to home.
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I have a 2001 Ford Focus ZX3 (2D Hatchback) that has been randomly stalling since we bought it. There is no engine light, the dealership couldn't get it to stall and just gave it back. Another garage got it to stall and thought it might be the "idle-oxygen sensor" (not sure if I'm remembering the name correctly), but that didn't stop it from stalling either.
My wife is ready to dump it, but even spending a couple thousand a year on repairs is less than the grand total of a year's payments on a new car, insurance, etc. But it would be nice to fix it.
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I have a 2003 ford focus wagon, automatic transmission, 140,000 miles. The battery light has been going on and off for 5 months, and the car has shut down several times. I've had the following replaced/repaired:
Spark plugs replaced. Two days later, car died.
Battery replaced. Two days later car died.
Alternator replaced. 4 days later car died on a vacation trip. Before it died, the battery light came on when I had to accelerate, and also when going down hills. Frequency increased and power shut off several times. If I waited 10-15 minutes, it would start up again. Finally would not start up - completely dead. Computer diagnostics first said the alternator was bad. Then, while still hooked up to computer, the bad alternator indicator disappeared and the alternator reported no problems. Technician ran the car for a few hours every day for a week and took it for test drives but light never came on.
When I got back from vacation, the new alternator was replaced with a ford alternator - the theory was that some 2003 ford focus computer chips have trouble recognizing alternators that aren't ford's.
All was good for about 4 months. Then battery light started going on and off again - sometimes 20-30 times in 40 minutes, sometimes only 5-6 times in that time span. Computer diagnostics found nothing - light never came on.
Car was vibrating. Had engine mounts replaced 4 days ago, hoping the electrical problem was caused by something vibrating against something else that connected to the alternator, and if the vibrations stopped, the battery light would stay off. First 35 miles - no battery light! Then it started coming on again, but not as much as before the engine mounts were replaced.
Battery light seems to only come on now:
1) Every time I start up and begin driving and I think the car shifts to higher gears;
2) whenever I go up hills - it has also come on a couple of times when going down a hill (just like before, when the alternator was replaced);
3) when I accelerate beyond 55 mpg.
I can get the light to go off if
1) I floor the gas pedal;
2) I pump the brakes;
3) I put the car in park.
Mechanics are stumped. I love my car, but every time I drive it now, I worry the entire time about the battery light and about the power shutting off.
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My daughter called me and said her "battery light" came on. I didn't even know there were battery lights. The car still starts and runs fine. What could cause the "battery light" to come on?
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I have a 2004 Ford Focus. I had the battery replaced in May. Two months ago, the battery light came on for 10 minutes than went off. A week later the dash lights dimmed and then rebrightened. Talking with people they thought the alternator was the issue. I had it replaced three weeks ago. I got it back from the mechanic and it worked for two days.
On day 3 it would click and the dash lights would flash but it would not crank. Mechanic jumped it and brought it to the shop and found nothing. Two days later the same problem. Took to another mechanic and they found the radio was draining power so they unplugged the fuse. Again, it worked for two days, then the same problem. They have had it for a week and have no clue what is wrong.
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So my dummy light came on the other day, I went ahead and pulled the alternator and had it tested at advanced. It tested bad so I replaced it not my battery light comes on and off randomly. I have a edge tuner on my truck and my voltage reading on there is different after each start up. Sometimes it runs 12.1-12.2 other times it reads in the 14's I have checked with a multimeter also and got the same readings +-.1 or 2.
My dummy light keeps coming back on randomly, I had to replace the alternator connector because I broke it by accident. I also traced the wires as far as I could to check for brakes in the wire and found none with out proper time to pull all the wire loom off. What is the cause I know I could probably use cables soon as my terminals look a bit rough but are clean. Seems to be some really weak flimsy metal. Which fuse to check as my 2002 ex 7.3 only has the inside fuse block and I can't find much online about it.
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I have a 2002 Escape XLT V6 4X4. I searched the issue, but others' symptoms don't seem to be quite the same as what I'm seeing. Over the last few weeks, the battery light has randomly come on and off 3 separate times:
- 1st time, light came on at highway speed for about 30 sec and went out. Didn't come back on. Was during daytime, running DRL's, radio (no amp or subs or anything like that, and heater blower on low speed.
- 2nd time was two weeks later or so. Happened at night with just headlights on at around 55mph (RPMs about 2K or so). Again, stayed on for about 30 sec and went out.
- 3rd time was about a week/week and a half later, yesterday morning. Just running DRL's and radio. Light came on, flickered, came on, and then stayed on for a couple of minutes (all at highway speed). I noticed that if I disengaged the overdrive and got the RPMs up, the light would go out. I ran it out of overdrive for about 2 minutes like that, and the light stayed out. Speed limit dropped to 40mph, and the light came back on (lower RPMs at that speed, didn't run it in low gears). Light stayed on for 30 sec - 1 minute, and then went out on its own and has since stayed off.
I took it to Advance yesterday to have it tested, and the results were that it is charging at 13.9V under no load, and 13.87V under a load. The battery tested good, but the machine said it needed to be charged (it hasn't been acting low...car starts just fine).
I'm driving it to work today to see what it does next, and then getting it tested again on my way home. Has anyone here ever had similar symptoms as above? Does this sound like bad diodes in the alternator?
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So I have a 2000 6.8l V10 that I recently swapped the engine on (reman). While I was doing that, I decide to do some LED upgrades. I swapped out the turn signals, side marker lights, and headlights with LEDs. I added some LED fog lights, and I have a Rigid light bar.
I replaced pretty much everything on attached to the engine aside from the alternator (it didn't give me any problems, so I figured it was good).
When the truck is running with the lights off, there are 6 LED strips running as DRLs, when the lights are switched on, the side marker, turn signal and headlights turn on. When I switch to high beams, my fogs turn on. The light bar is on its own switch.
During the day with the headlights off, I dont notice the battery/charging system indicator light turn on at all. At night, when I flip the headlights on, I've noticed that it sporadically and randomly flash. The flashing indicator light does not appear to be associated with bumps or anything.
It does not seem to matter if I have just the DRL/low beams on, DRL/high beams+fogs, or DRL/high beams+fogs + light bar on. The indicator light comes and goes with the same random consistency regardless of how much power I am sucking from the alternator/battery. The RPM's of the engine also appear to have no effect on when/how often the indicator light comes on...
I drove for over an hour last night, and the voltage gauge never changed, so the battery does not *seem* to be draining (~1 year old Optima yellow). I added an extra ground wire going from the battery to the engine about a year ago (long before this LED upgrade) to ensure a good ground, so I dont *think* the wires are the issue. Is my alternator suddenly going bad? Any higher output ones I could replace it with? Is it a simple fix that does not require a new alternator?
Here are some pics of the lights:
(This was before the fog light install)
These lights only come on when the truck is in reverse:
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Ford Focus Station Wagon 2006 - Seems to have electrical problem. Warning lights for check engine and ABS come on randomly. Also when car is parked and temperature is low, Clock time is lost and radio stations are lost. Is there some type of grounding issue?
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I have a 99 f350 7.3l 4x4 and my battery light flickers randomly. I have checked the alternator and both battery's. All brand new and seems to be ok. They only are getting a charge when the battery light is flickering. I put both new batteries in on Thursday and on Sunday I needed a jump at the store.
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I recently had my alternator and battery replaced due to my truck dying out randomly on me, tested the alternator and failed, replaced battery, and still got the same results, battery gauge seems to drop quickly, what could be going on, I have been told to replace the fusible link that goes from the battery to the alternator....
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I drive a 2006 Ford Focus. Last night, when I turned on my car, a number of things happened. (I should add that it was very cold, if that makes a difference)
1) My dashlights no longer work. The warning lights work fine, and I have checked the dial to make sure they are turned up, but I can no longer see what speed I am going when it is dark.
2) My taillights no longer work. One of the bulbs had previously blown, but now, the only ones that work are the rear blinkers.
3) My left driver side headlight is no longer working.
4) My trunk randomly kept popping open as I was driving. It has stopped doing so, but I am not sure if the problem is gone for good.
The mechanic wants to charge me $100 / hr just to even check the problem and indicated the diagnostics may take several hours. Having just replaced two tires, that option is far beyond my means.
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I recently purchased a rebuilt 2014 Ford Focus ST3 with about 11,000 miles on it. The engine is a turbocharged 2.0L EcoBoost. I usually use 91 or 93 octane fuel, whichever is the highest available. - 6 speed manual and around 285 horsepower (with tune) is a lot of fun to drive. When I bought it, I had the mechanic that was rebuilding it put an Injen cold air intake on it. A few weeks after I got the car, I took the it to a local performance shop to get it tuned. The tune works great and added a bit of power to the car, but now I have a strange issue.
About 1 time out of 75 when I take off, the car throttle is limited and displays the message "Engine fault - service engine now". On one occasion the engine even stalled on me while crossing a highway. Note that this happens while shifting into and releasing the clutch ONLY on first or second gear. In order to get my car running properly again, I need to come to a complete stop and turn off the engine and then restart it. Sometimes the check engine light stays on, but it usually goes away after I restart. The only engine code that is shown is P106B, which has something to do with an incorrect reading on MAF sensor causing the throttle body to close.
Research online told me this issue is commonly caused by a damaged/improperly sealed intake filter or a crack in the intake itself, which changes the angle that air hits the MAF sensor. I have checked both of these and they are good. I have ruled out a bad throttle body control because if that is bad it usually throws another code indicating that it is faulty.
The only thing that I can think of, and I may be wrong, is that when the performance shop tuned my car they tuned it for a stock intake. This would mean that the car does not think it should be getting the airflow that it is and throttles it down to compensate.
I am not sure what to do at this point because (A) the issue impossible to replicate and seems to happen at random, and (B) I cannot just take it to the performance shop and tell them to fix it because I am not sure what is wrong in the first place.
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I have a 2004 Chevy Malibu Maxx that randomly dings and shows me the battery light.
It usually happens when going uphill or during really hard accelerations.
It is also showing OBDII code P0621.
The car has no other issues. Always starts, always runs well.
What causes this problem? Where should I start looking? I'm thinking it's probably a bad connection somewhere.
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I had the battery checked. Good battery. No codes via regular obd 2 scanner.
2002 passat B5.5 1.8t 5speed.
2x while stopped downhill it shutdown.
Also sometimes has hard starts.
when that happens I get the EPC light light up.
cel is on anyway from p0420 (cat)
If I shut it down and turn it on, maybe after 2-3 tries itll come on. What could it be?
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A week ago while on an errand my car wouldn't start when I returned to it. Dash panel lights/radio/seat belt chime all worked, however. Luckily the shopping center security had a jump box so after a couple of attempts the car started. Got it home, but then it would restart. Have a tester/charger, hooked it up, showed ok and fully charged. Still wouldn't start. Took battery out to shop to get another test to double check next day---battery was putting out 626 CCA when its rated 590 (a Motorcraft battery I'm sure came with car---I'm 2nd owner). Obviously tested good. Put battery back in car. IT STARTED. Drove on another errand and didn't switch off until returning home. After switching off would not restart.
Tried disconnecting and reconnecting battery cables thinking it was a connection problem of some kind---several attempts over last few days. Has yet to start back, and now the car's electronic display is giving a "Low Battery" message, even after I left on the charger (slow charge, 2 amps) ALL DAY, with charger telling me battery is good and fully charged!! I know it has a starter relay that I've found and unplugged and plugged back in (but haven't replaced yet---$9 from Ford). This does not seem like an alternator problem to me. Besides that and relay, the only thing I can think of is starter is bad. (Also had someone recommend to me trying to start with the car in N---auto trans; also no dice).
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2005 Ranger XL 2.3L 5 speed 2WD 305,000 miles. Alternator has about 100,000 miles on it.
Battery light came on about 0400 and 50 miles into my daily 90 mile drive to work, made it to work. After the truck cooled down for 3 hours and I got time I checked the battery voltage 12.6VDC and started the engine and the system is charging at 14.2VDC with no battery light on (battery light out when cold). Serpentine belt looks good, dry weather.
Other than alternator nearing end of life and being warm is there anything else that may cause battery light to come on.
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My 2005 Ford Focus just came out of the shop getting the alternator replaced. Driving down the road it just died. The car still has power, Lights, interior lights, all that stuff is on. I turn the key and nothing.
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Last week, I brought my 2002 Ford Focus (automatic transmission) to the mechanic to have an oil change and to have the motor mounts and cabin air filter replaced. Before I brought the car in, it was fairly loud at idle--which had been going on for a couple of years and which I attributed to the worn motor mounts--but had otherwise been running fine.
When I went to pick it up after the repairs, the car would not start. The mechanic ran some tests and told me that the alternator was overcharging the battery. The battery could no longer hold a charge, so both the alternator and the battery needed to be replaced, which the mechanic did.
I thought at first that everything was OK after the battery and alternator replacement. Because I almost always turn my car off immediately after putting it in park, I didn't realize what was happening and that it was a problem... but in retrospect, I realize that ever since I got the car back from this second set of repairs, the battery light has flashed on during the split second between when I shift to park and when I turn the ignition off.
Yesterday, I took my car back to the mechanic because it stalled when I was in the parking lot at work. (I realize now that it must have happened just after I shifted gears, probably into park.) Since that was the first time it had actually properly stalled--rather than just a quick battery light flash just before I turned the car off--I had not yet made the connection between the stalling and the shifting to park, so all I told the mechanic is that it stalled on me when I was slowing to a stop. I'm pretty sure the first time it stalled was the first time I let it idle for more than a half-second in park before turning off the ignition.
He kept my car for a full day and ran a lot of tests on it. He was unable to make the car stall during multiple test drives (though, to be fair, I hadn't told him that the trigger for making it stall was shifting to park because I didn't realize it myself yet). There were no engine codes, the check engine light was never on, the fuel pressure is OK, and the throttle body position sensor, the idle air control valve, the ignition system, and the fuel system were giving no abnormal readings. When I asked, he told me that they did perform an idle-relearn procedure after replacing the battery and alternator. He returned the car to me and told me to come back if it stalled again.
Tonight, when I got the car home, it started to die immediately when I put it into park (the headlights dimmed and the battery light came on). I was able to reproduce this a second time as well. Fortunately, it does start back up just fine.
I plan to take the car in for repairs again, but I'm wondering if I should go back to the same mechanic. My questions are:
1) What is likely to be causing the problem?
2) Is it something that is likely to have been caused by incompetence when installing the new battery and alternator or doing other repairs, or could it be a coincidence (I was willing to believe the first coincidence of the battery and alternator dying while the car was at the repair shop, but I'm having difficulty believing a second coincidence)?
3) Whether or not the problem is likely to be the mechanic's fault, is it something that a thorough check on their part should have discovered?
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My 05 Ford Focus just suddenly died. I had it jumped and moments later it died again. Jumped it again and it died again. Could this be an alternator problem?
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