Car Dashboard lights

[Pancho]

It could be a low voltage due to the previously mentioned parts/wiring causing mishaps in the bcm or ecu. As i said bit of a stab in the dark without seeing the car but knowing the focus its probley what i said.

This.

A failing alternator or fault in the charging circuit and any subsequent voltage variation can throw up all sorts of warning lights.

Bells at Teal Farm. I've not had them for months and I really fancied some!

I've got home breakdown cover. I think I'll ring them in a bit and get them to come out and look at it and make a diagnosis.

I only bought the car last year and it came with a free 2 year Jencare warranty but I haven't got any paperwork to say what is included. Hopefully it might be covered under that.

That sounds like a plan.

However beware the restrictive nature of aftermarket warranties. If the dealer or warranty company can pin the failure on 'wear and tear' they will do.

If it is component failure ie the alternator itself, then this is exactly the scenario where the warranty cover should apply.

Another thing. Were there any servicing requirements in the warranty terms and conditions and have you complied?

 

[becs]

Another thing. Were there any servicing requirements in the warranty terms and conditions and have you complied?

Yes it had to have an annual service. That was done in August and my book was stamped.

 

[safcforever]

No - everything is perfectly normal apart from the light being on! It feels and drives fine and there were no weird noises.

I'm not saying garages are like this but don't be taken for a ride. They might try and take the piss by including sensors, if they do say this try another garage as well.

 

[becs]

I'm not saying garages are like this but don't be taken for a ride. They might try and take the piss by including sensors, if they do say this try another garage as well.

If it's not covered by the warranty, I'll take it to my usual garage. Their prices are much cheaper than Jennings and they're canny lads and I trust them.

 

[Rusty]

Just from what I've researched on various focus/car websites trying to get to the bottom of my problems. In the end I gave up and just live with its quirky ways.

The glowplug fault is the most common and most dangerous as the car will sometime just stall as your driving. That's supposed to be down to a faulty sensor rather than electrics but ive read a good few stories about faulty dashboards. I even followed a YouTube vid and took my dashboard out and using a cotton bud applied wd40 on the contact points.

Made no difference mind

I thought glow plugs were just for cold starts how would them not working cause the car to stall?

 

[RokerLegend]

I thought glow plugs were just for cold starts how would them not working cause the car to stall?

I don't think it's a glowplug problem but what happens is you could be driving along and all of a sudden the glowplug light will flash four times, stop, then flash four times. It will do this for about 30 seconds and then it will just cut out. It's a common problem on the focus and mindeos from that era. From the vast amount of reading I did it is more likely a faulty sensor reporting a problem that doesn't exist and the engine management system cuts the engine to prevent damage. Nothing I tried ever solved it though and it will still do it occasionally fortunately only at slow speeds.

 

[Buzz]

It's the alternator Becks. Had the same problem on a Ford that I drive. Battery light was on for a good few days but was driving fine and I assumed it was just a sensor... then steering went heavy and abs lights came on along with a few other lights on the dashboard. You need to get it checked sooner rather than later before you are left stranded somewhere.

 

[RokerLegend]

electrical contact cleaner is the stuff to use. Condensation gets in and creates shorts on the back of the clocks. Did you see the white residue? That all needs to be spotless then it sometimes cures the problem.

Yeah that's what the video was about. I cleaned quite a bit (albeit with wd40) from the back of the dashboard.

Here's another thing as you seem to know your stuff about this sort of thing - apart from the occasional Christmas dashboard illumination displays, sometimes if I'm blowing tires up using a compressor I'll switch engine on and start inflating the tires. This works no problem but after a minute the compressor seems to get increased power from the battery as you can hear the motor inside get faster and the tyre inflates quicker

 

[yamar1]

Yeah that's what the video was about. I cleaned quite a bit (albeit with wd40) from the back of the dashboard.

Here's another thing as you seem to know your stuff about this sort of thing - apart from the occasional Christmas dashboard illumination displays, sometimes if I'm blowing tires up using a compressor I'll switch engine on and start inflating the tires. This works no problem but after a minute the compressor seems to get increased power from the battery as you can hear the motor inside get faster and the tyre inflates quicker

its the alternator charge rate increasing the battery volage. Then it levels off at 14.4v or so. Certainly nothing to worry about.

 

[becs]

Breakdown man been out and it's definitely the alternator that has failed

Nobody in Jennings today so I don't know if it's covered or not. Got to ring after 9am in the morning and see if they will fix it. If not I'll take it to my local garage. Need to ring the breakdown people back when I know where it's going and they'll tow me there.

Anyone know a rough guesstimate figure if I have to pay for the work?

Considering getting a hire car from a place in Birtley if it's going to be off the road a few days, so at least I can keep working and not let anyone down.

 

[yamar1]

I thought glow plugs were just for cold starts how would them not working cause the car to stall?

glow plugs come on every time in modern diesels on first start up but only to burn the diesel better to reduce emmisions whilst the engine is cold. They may help a little in ice cold weather but in the main a diesel car could run without glow plugs these days. Hence when they are burnt out the car will still start in the mornings and sometimes throw a fault code up saying the plugs are duff.

Breakdown man been out and it's definitely the alternator that has failed

Nobody in Jennings today so I don't know if it's covered or not. Got to ring after 9am in the morning and see if they will fix it. If not I'll take it to my local garage. Need to ring the breakdown people back when I know where it's going and they'll tow me there.

Anyone know a rough guesstimate figure if I have to pay for the work?

Considering getting a hire car from a place in Birtley if it's going to be off the road a few days, so at least I can keep working and not let anyone down.

£200 should be more than enough id say. Probley less.

 

[Pancho]

Breakdown man been out and it's definitely the alternator that has failed

Nobody in Jennings today so I don't know if it's covered or not. Got to ring after 9am in the morning and see if they will fix it. If not I'll take it to my local garage. Need to ring the breakdown people back when I know where it's going and they'll tow me there.

Anyone know a rough guesstimate figure if I have to pay for the work?

Considering getting a hire car from a place in Birtley if it's going to be off the road a few days, so at least I can keep working and not let anyone down.

If you've still got them then try and have a quick squint at the warranty terms and conditions to see exactly what's covered before you call Jennings.

If they try to invoke the often used catch-all wear and tear get out clause, then you'll need to be forearmed.

 

[becs]

If you've still got them then try and have a quick squint at the warranty terms and conditions to see exactly what's covered before you call Jennings.

If they try to invoke the often used catch-all wear and tear get out clause, then you'll need to be forearmed.

They don't provide the terms and conditions to the warranty. You have to ring up and discuss each fault. I rang them when the aircon failed to see if that was covered and they wouldn't tell me without looking at the car first, so I just paid the local garage to regass it while it was being serviced and it's worked fine since.

The breakdown man said they will probably try and get out of it. He said he's heard of cases where they find another part to blame such as the turbo caused the alternator to fail so it's classed as wear and tear as it's part of the exhaust system. I'm wary of garages being female and clueless as some will tell me utter bollocks, hence asking on here first!

 

[Fabulous Falcao]

Had a problem with my car coming home from the match. It's a 2008 Ford Focus 1.8 TDCi.

Shortly after leaving the car park, the battery light came on. Then when we were stuck in traffic going past the cemetery, the ABS light and pic of a sliding car lights came on for a few minutes and went back off again, even though I wasn't sliding. The battery light remained on. I stopped at the fish shop and the car started fine but the battery light was still on driving home.

Looked in the manual and it helpfully said if the battery light is on, you have a fault so contact a mechanic.

Car is running as normal and there's no strange noises or anything out of the ordinary happening when I drive it.

Anyone want to guess at what the fault is?

Hope it's nothing serious as I'm in my mental busy season for work and can't really afford to lose days because the car is in the garage.

U ok now tho darlin

 

[Pancho]

They don't provide the terms and conditions to the warranty. You have to ring up and discuss each fault. I rang them when the aircon failed to see if that was covered and they wouldn't tell me without looking at the car first, so I just paid the local garage to regass it while it was being serviced and it's worked fine since.

The breakdown man said they will probably try and get out of it. He said he's heard of cases where they find another part to blame such as the turbo caused the alternator to fail so it's classed as wear and tear as it's part of the exhaust system. I'm wary of garages being female and clueless as some will tell me utter bollocks, hence asking on here first!

Wow, are you sure, because that arrangement seems to be a bit ad hoc for a main dealer?

By not providing written terms and conditions I would have thought that they are potentially leaving themselves open to all sorts of claims.

Having said that, I've just looked for Jencare on their website but all it comes up with are details of the Ford Direct warranty.

Good luck when you call but remember, shy bairns get nowt when it comes to used car warranties.

 

[becs]

Wow, are you sure, because that arrangement seems to be a bit ad hoc for a main dealer?

Yes definitely sure. All I have is the original invoice with the line on saying I have a 2 year warranty. Then when I rang up befpre they told me they don't provide a list of exactly what is included as they assess each fault and decide if it's included.

 

[safcforever]

Breakdown man been out and it's definitely the alternator that has failed

Nobody in Jennings today so I don't know if it's covered or not. Got to ring after 9am in the morning and see if they will fix it. If not I'll take it to my local garage. Need to ring the breakdown people back when I know where it's going and they'll tow me there.

Anyone know a rough guesstimate figure if I have to pay for the work?

Considering getting a hire car from a place in Birtley if it's going to be off the road a few days, so at least I can keep working and not let anyone down.

If you have a handy fella you know they are easy as fuck to change, if you haven't then
how you doing x

They aren't to much to replace like

 

[becs]

If you have a handy fella you know they are easy as fuck to change, if you haven't then
how you doing x

They aren't to much to replace like

No handy fella hence all the dizzy blonde questions

 

[Pancho]

Yes definitely sure. All I have is the original invoice with the line on saying I have a 2 year warranty. Then when I rang up befpre they told me they don't provide a list of exactly what is included as they assess each fault and decide if it's included.

As I said earlier, that seems a very ad hoc way of conducting business.

If they do knock it back I'd be asking for the reasons why, in writing.

If you can, you'll need to stand your ground.

I have no experience of Jennings aftersales service so I can't comment, but some dealers know that many customers will give up at the first sign of resistance.

No handy fella hence all the dizzy blonde questions

In the circumstances your questions are all valid and sensible.

From my experience and as evidenced by some of the posts on this board, daft questions are not just limited to dizzy blonds as you put it.

A lot of blokes haven't a clue when it comes to cars either.

The difference is that blokes try not to let on.

We have one alleged graduate on here currently struggling with the concept of priority at roundabouts.

 

[mux]

The photograph on the dashboard, taken years ago,
turned around backwards so the windshield shows.

One of my favourite songs of all time.

Every streetlight, reveals a picture and a verse.
Still it's so much clearer.