Ford Focus battery problems

[transam]

1 minute ago, Kwasaki said:

Mine is wet sealed but maintenance free. 

Well 'ers might be wet sealed too, l have no idea, only that it lays on it's side in the bike...

[JAS21]

12 minutes ago, sandrabbit said:

I have found some info but something that might be relevant to your battery problem is 'a lead acid battery will not work properly with smart charge, it must be Silver Calcium'.

 

http://www.petercoopercarrepairs.co.uk/ford_focus_alternator_smart_charging.htm

 

http://www.valeoservice.com/data/master/webfile/2945759434DDE6E8714173.pdf

 

I realise the pages are slightly old but I presume the info is still relevant.

Yes ...you can't stick any battery on ..sorry I didn't see this until I had posted my bit about the Ford Smart Charging System

[richsilver]

I have a five year old Focus and it has a lot of very complex electronics.  I had my battery replaced a few years ago by a small garage and it too failed in a few days.  I took it to Ford and they said the battery was not of sufficient capacity for all the electronics.  They replaced it, reset the system and all was well.

 

I believe with something so complex electronically, it is best to take it to the dealer.  They are properly trained and have the correct diagnostic equipment.  Maybe it will cost a bit more, but I say, leave it to the experts.  Go to B- Quick for tires and other simple things.

[transam]

2 minutes ago, richsilver said:

I have a five year old Focus and it has a lot of very complex electronics.  I had my battery replaced a few years ago by a small garage and it too failed in a few days.  I took it to Ford and they said the battery was not of sufficient capacity for all the electronics.  They replaced it, reset the system and all was well.

 

I believe with something so complex electronically, it is best to take it to the dealer.  They are properly trained and have the correct diagnostic equipment.  Maybe it will cost a bit more, but I say, leave it to the experts.  Go to B- Quick for tires and other simple things.

Not so....

[NE1]

I need to change my battery on my Wildtrak , it is under strength , took it to the Ford dealer , they said it was 50% down on power. ( It is 4 years old )

I asked them to change the battery for me , price 3,700 baht.

They told me that they didn't have any in the shop and they would order me one , this was 10 days ago .

We have called them today and it still hasn't arrived.

Where do these batteries come from ? any ideas.

I would like to go and buy one from Cockpit or such like , but after reading the stories on here , I worry about the electronics going tits up.

[transam]

1 minute ago, NE1 said:

I need to change my battery on my Wildtrak , it is under strength , took it to the Ford dealer , they said it was 50% down on power. ( It is 4 years old )

I asked them to change the battery for me , price 3,700 baht.

They told me that they didn't have any in the shop and they would order me one , this was 10 days ago .

We have called them today and it still hasn't arrived.

Where do these batteries come from ? any ideas.

I would like to go and buy one from Cockpit or such like , but after reading the stories on here , I worry about the electronics going tits up.

It does not have a special battery.....Go to any "quik" place and get it done...

[NE1]

I don't understand how it takes them 10 days and counting to get a battery .

[transam]

Just now, NE1 said:

I don't understand how it takes them 10 days and counting to get a battery .

B-Quik have a battery for you...

[Kwasaki]

2 hours ago, transam said:

Well 'ers might be wet sealed too, l have no idea, only that it lays on it's side in the bike...

A battery laid on it's side can still be a sealed liquid battery, although it still don't seem right does it    just like those pesky computers nerds needed to set my fuel-injection fueling wish I still had carbs.   because nerds are hard to find,  no offence intended if big bro is watching. 

 

[NanLaew]

3 hours ago, NE1 said:

I don't understand how it takes them 10 days and counting to get a battery .

Can you name the Ford dealer and their location?

 

I am making notes on where the worst ones are.

 

The FoMoCo branded batteries that GS Siam make for Ford Thailand are rubbish. The battery in my first Ranger XLT bought in 2011 didn't last a year and last year I replaced the battery in my current Wildtrak bought in 2014. Both times I replaced with Boliden batteries and never had issues with anything needing reset by the dealership. I have turned off the 'smart charge' as it doesn't do me any good and is a common source of battery life/charge issues on heavily used trucks. In conjunction with the shit batteries, it looks like 'smart charge'  is more trouble than it is worth.

[Jaggg88]

7 hours ago, goldenbrwn1 said:

Just called cockpit and b quick outlet...they said ford needs to do it....☹️ But I called ford again to moan about the price and they have knocked it down another 2000 baht.....but this does nothing for my confidence in thinking I'm getting a good deal. Oh well. Thanks for replies guys ?

The guy was saying buy your battery from there and not the main dealer. The engine management system will have to be done by Ford or an independent specialist. Although you can buy the software and cable for a laptop and connect to the car and check yourself, which will tell you if there is a fault. You can also buy a dedicated generic machine that connects and does the same for most models. They make it sound real complicated to bump up the price.

[NE1]

I will not name the dealer as of yet , because they have been good in the past , and I do not think this is a dealership problem .

 

The problem is , the dealer does not have batteries on site .

So I am thinking okay , the furthest they have to come from is somewhere in Thailand , be it Rayong or Bangkok , but wherever it is it should not take 10+ days.

I have also e-mailed Ford Thailand on Saturday morning and again this morning about the problem  , and I have not had a response.

 

To me it is Ford Thailand lack of customer service/care .

 

Thanks for your concern NanLaew.

 

 

[sandrabbit]

17 minutes ago, NE1 said:

I will not name the dealer as of yet , because they have been good in the past , and I do not think this is a dealership problem .

 

The problem is , the dealer does not have batteries on site .

So I am thinking okay , the furthest they have to come from is somewhere in Thailand , be it Rayong or Bangkok , but wherever it is it should not take 10+ days.

I have also e-mailed Ford Thailand on Saturday morning and again this morning about the problem  , and I have not had a response.

 

To me it is Ford Thailand lack of customer service/care .

 

Thanks for your concern NanLaew.

 

 

We only have a fiesta but our dealership where we bought the car from has been excellent here in Rayong for servicing & and accident repair, on the 36 now have another place open opposite Thai Watsadu where the accident repair was carried out. We had a battery replacement last service but I would presume a 1.6 petrol fiesta has a smaller battery than a diesel pickup and I don't know if you need a silver calcium battery as the starting load is much higher on a diesel. We paid nearly 4,000 baht for our battery so the price sounds about right from a dealership.

[NanLaew]

16 minutes ago, NE1 said:

I will not name the dealer as of yet , because they have been good in the past , and I do not think this is a dealership problem .

 

The problem is , the dealer does not have batteries on site .

So I am thinking okay , the furthest they have to come from is somewhere in Thailand , be it Rayong or Bangkok , but wherever it is it should not take 10+ days.

I have also e-mailed Ford Thailand on Saturday morning and again this morning about the problem  , and I have not had a response.

 

To me it is Ford Thailand lack of customer service/care .

 

Thanks for your concern NanLaew.

 

 

Yes it is piss poor customer service. There's no reason on earth that a customer needs to wait +10 days for another one of their rubbish batteries but that is your call. They had a special offer late last year where they had their crap batteries on offer for maybe a bit less than the 3700 baht which is their 'capped' price. I wouldn't take them even if they were on 'buy one get one free.'

[thailand49]

Sorry, but this stuff your wife speaks is just Thai nonsense and ignorance.  Don't remarks like this just make you laugh?  As noted take it to a shop like Cockpit and get a second opinion what is wrong with the car anyone can fix or replace. It is tougher to get someone who can actually speak enough English to explain it to you.  Dealers do not repair they just replace in general.

 

As for batteries, they just don't make them the way they use to?  That is why I don't buy in the States batteries like 72 months,  the life really depends on luck and usages?  You can have the best battery and leave the lights on what you get is dead.  Rule of thumb 2500 baht, every 3 years I just get a new one and put it in myself.

 

Last, your car is out of warranty taking it to a dealer is great but expect to pay more.  One of my vehicles at 2007, Toyota Yaris service each year by the dealer but beyond the service everything is more.

 

Ask your wife go to the temple and pray maybe that will recharge the battery for her.

[sandrabbit]

1 minute ago, thailand49 said:

Sorry, but this stuff your wife speaks is just Thai nonsense and ignorance.  Don't remarks like this just make you laugh?  As noted take it to a shop like Cockpit and get a second opinion what is wrong with the car anyone can fix or replace. It is tougher to get someone who can actually speak enough English to explain it to you.  Dealers do not repair they just replace in general.

 

As for batteries, they just don't make them the way they use to?  That is why I don't buy in the States batteries like 72 months,  the life really depends on luck and usages?  You can have the best battery and leave the lights on what you get is dead.  Rule of thumb 2500 baht, every 3 years I just get a new one and put it in myself.

 

Last, your car is out of warranty taking it to a dealer is great but expect to pay more.  One of my vehicles at 2007, Toyota Yaris service each year by the dealer but beyond the service everything is more.

 

Ask you wife go to the temple and pray maybe that will recharge the battery for her.

the other more important thing about battery life is how much your car is left in direct sunlight, this applies to window seals etc as well

[psyvolt]

14 minutes ago, thailand49 said:

Sorry, but this stuff your wife speaks is just Thai nonsense and ignorance.

It's not just Thai nonsense, its world wide. The scare campaign that dealers put out about cars getting serviced anywhere but the dealer is ridiculous.

At most, you will get a 2nd year apprentice spanner monkey working on your car at a dealer, of which they charge stupid prices for something an indipendent specialist or a good mechanic could do for a much lower price, and most the time a lot quicker.

[psyvolt]

14 minutes ago, sandrabbit said:

the other more important thing about battery life is how much your car is left in direct sunlight, this applies to window seals etc as well

Also parking it on concrete in cool weather. That can also cause battery problems

[sandrabbit]

1 minute ago, psyvolt said:

It's not just Thai nonsense, its world wide. The scare campaign that dealers put out about cars getting serviced anywhere but the dealer is ridiculous.

At most, you will get a 2nd year apprentice spanner monkey working on your car at a dealer, of which they charge stupid prices for something an indipendent specialist or a good mechanic could do for a much lower price, and most the time a lot quicker.

disagree, I have no problem with an apprentice working on a car under supervision but I think you are blowing smoke. 

[psyvolt]

6 minutes ago, sandrabbit said:

disagree, I have no problem with an apprentice working on a car under supervision but I think you are blowing smoke. 

Who said there would be a problem?

 

If you like getting ripped off, then sure- your free to keep feeling like your getting a better service by an apprentice and paying more for the pleasure.

[sandrabbit]

10 minutes ago, psyvolt said:

Who said there would be a problem?

you did ........

[JeffreyO]

This definitely sounds like an alternator issue.  The alternator charges the battery while the car is driving.  If the alternator is dead or dying, the cars electronics run fully off the battery with no ability to charge it, hence why it dies so fast.  An alternator runs under 10,000 baht, probably closer to 5,000 baht for a Focus.  The labor is roughly 2 hours.

 

I'd file a complaint at the place you're having this issue with.

 

FYI: Most mechanics have tools that can test an alternator and will generally do it for free but in the LoS they might have a nominal fee.

[DekDaeng]

12 hours ago, BEVUP said:

Well the first thing that would of worried me is that you said they change the battery every year - I've had my vehicle a good 8 yrs & only changed battery once

Might try a google concerning power cut off as safety feature

Change your battery only when you NEED to. 

[thailand49]

43 minutes ago, DekDaeng said:

Change your battery only when you NEED to. 

You would disagree it this happen to you?

 

When you take the cost of a battery and how easy it to change it yourself, I personally wouldn't "change your battery only when you need to".

 

This was a long long long time ago.  I use to ski every weekend and that required a drive of 4 hours each way from my home.  After one day in the snow, I started my drive back in the mountains as it was getting dark, after a hour I needed to pull over and take a piss side of the road in no mans land?  Getting back to the car, put the key in and click click nothing over and over again. It was freezing!  I had to walk over a hour before I was able to find help, that was the last time I waited until I actually needed one.

[Anythingleft?]

Most people wont be interested in buying test equipment for their own vehicles but would rely on "competent" service centers. Doubtful that the likes of cockpit would be into ECM replacements just run of the mill servicing which is probably why they knocked him back, interested to see the final reply from the OP of the actual fault though
All good tracking info of the varying service centre competence levels
Seems the thread has gone on to the classic battery issue in Thailand [emoji21]

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

[transam]

The most common reason for the the OP's problem is the alternators voltage regulator. Garages charge lots of dosh for a new alternator when in reality it just needs the regulator replaced that costs next to nothing.

Not saying this is the OP's problem but all you need is a cheap voltage tester from Tesco and test across the two battery poles with the engine running, keep looking at the reading whilst someone sits in the car altering the RPM up and down, the reading should stay the same in the high 13's perhaps 14v...That is where I would start..

[Anythingleft?]

Don't disagree with any of your comment Transam but the original post mentions that the ECM needs to be reset and that the dash light is management related. Not the standard alternator/battery dash light?
Like I say it would be interesting to read what they finally come up with, if indeed they do replace the alternator then they probably have screwed him over the long way round

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[Farang99]

19 hours ago, BEVUP said:

Well the first thing that would of worried me is that you said they change the battery every year - I've had my vehicle a good 8 yrs & only changed battery once

Might try a google concerning power cut off as safety feature

Many new cars, especially the smaller models, are fitted with dry batteries, which last the bare year. Our 14 year old Zafira needs a battery replacement about once every 3-4 years. Last time they offered me a dry battery, but when told it would need changed every year I said NO THANKS.

[NanLaew]

11 hours ago, sandrabbit said:

the other more important thing about battery life is how much your car is left in direct sunlight, this applies to window seals etc as well

 

10 hours ago, psyvolt said:

Also parking it on concrete in cool weather. That can also cause battery problems

I have also heard that actually driving them anywhere, anytime is a sure path to eventual mechanical failure.

[NanLaew]

6 hours ago, thailand49 said:

... Getting back to the car, put the key in and click click nothing over and over again. It was freezing!  I had to walk over a hour before I was able to find help, that was the last time I waited until I actually needed one.

You turned the engine off just to take a piss? In a frozen, northern country?

 

You're taking the piss aren't you?