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Hatchbacks Ford Focus Ford Focus Electrical and Lighting Problems
286 messages, Last post on Nov 13, 2009 at 4:52 PM
You are in the Ford Focus Forum. Your Host is pf_flyer
2001 Focus ZX3 2L Zetec 120k miles. Hi everyone, I'm new here and "enjoy" reading about the Focus problems. Let me start with a short intro. I like my Focus, drove it for 80k miles within a little more than 4 yrs. No huge issues. Had to replace two front springs because they broke (!). A few more suspension issues. Other than that no bigger issues. Until recently. I noticed the same symptoms others have described quite well. But read on as I can add a new bit to the story and have a link to a picture. At about 120k miles I started to have the red battery warning light come on intermittently. This progressed slowly into flickering instrument lights, and also the fan motor slowing to a level one when set to level 4. Also intermittently. This progressed to appear more often but the car was running fine. Idle was ok, power development, starting in the morning, all no problem. Then I decided to look into the issue and held a volt meter to the battery while engine running. 15.3 to 15.8 and lately 16.3 Volts, varying rapidly within the range. My book says that the voltage regulator is definitely bad if there's a voltage higher than 14 at the battery when the engine is running. Can anyone confirm this? Or does this also depend on the regulator's voltage reference? Anyway. I planned to take the alternator out and put a used one in ($50) myself. So I started to work on that. In the process, I tried to pull the connector in the back of the alt (white/blue/red wires) and noticed, that the red wire was loose. Pulling a little and it came off completely. All full with green deposits (see picture below). So now I also need a new pigtail to the main harness there. I guess. So I started the car back up, and now, here's the new bit of information. Now the battery light is on permanently. Also the car started stalling at idle. So anyone with that symptom (permanently lit battery light, and stalling at idle), please check that red cable on the back of your alt. Let me know what you find. Another thing now is, that the max voltage at the battery when engine on has stabilized at 14.6 to 14.65 Volts. WTH? So experts, what do you think? Do I need a new pigtail only? Or also a new voltage regulator/alternator? Any help greatly appreciated. Link to the picture.
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Replying to: axelv (Jul 29, 2009 6:07 pm) Sounds like you're looking at replacing the voltage regulator to me.
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Replying to: pf_flyer (Jul 30, 2009 2:48 am)
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Replying to: axelv (Jul 30, 2009 4:40 am) My gut is telling me it's the voltage regulator. If you're rationalizing the 14.6 as the regulator functioning again, just that it's getting bad input because of a bad wire, then the regulator was functioning all along. Problem with that line of thought is that that's not how voltage regulators work. They are a device that puts out a steady set voltage, period. When they don't, they have, by definition, stopped working and need to be replaced. My gut is also telling me that your now permanent waring lights are the result of damage done to electronics by the unregulated voltage you were experiencing. I hope I'm wrong.
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Replying to: pf_flyer (Jul 30, 2009 12:44 pm) |
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Replying to: axelv (Jul 29, 2009 6:07 pm) The loose/bad conection may have been the initial problem of the alternater over charging, Resistance in the system causes the regulator to put out too much. This can also be caused by dirty cable ends, poor grounding, ect. Modern cars have grounding issues due to the number of plastic components. Its important that all those little ground straps that the manufacturer put on there are still there. You also have to understand that you have a computer controled vehicle. Sensors do not react well with too much voltage. A damaged sensor might have occured also. You might be lucky and just have to reset the PCM by disconecting the negative or use a scan tool to go through a relearn proceedure to get the vehicle to stop dieing. 14.6v is not too high of voltage, try testing it with the lights on also. If bat light still on, the PCM might be sensing a diod ripple from the alternater and turning your bat light on. Here is an example; Vehicle was overcharging like yours, problem was fixed. Bat light still on. PCM data showed charging voltage at 15.5v when in reality it was now 14.0v. Ya, PCM's can get damaged by too much voltage and then simply be reading it wrong. This is why all manufacturers do not recommend ever jump starting your vehicle, your sending a voltage spike through out the entire system. Finish your repair and see what the end result is. Even go ahead and put that other used alt in if you want. Scanning the PCM with a scanner that shows data (like a snap on) may end up being what you have to do. Good luck with it.
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Replying to: mickeymouse2 (Jul 30, 2009 4:51 pm) |
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"Above 14 volts" means just that. With the voltage out of the regulator varying, I'd wager you're still going to need to replace it. The whole idea of the regulator is to provide that rock steady voltage.
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Replying to: pf_flyer (Jul 31, 2009 3:27 am) |
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14.2 IS THE IDEAL VOLTAGE TO HAVE AT THE BATTERY WITH THE ENG RUNNING AT APPROX 1,000 RPM WITH A GOOD LOAD, ( a/c,wipers and headlights on) Are u still having problem w/red alt light still on after doing above test ?
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