ive heard its all down to the battery? my car does sometimes hesitate when starting up but never fails. it does however do the dials sweep a good 2 out off 3 times

 

if the battery has been taken off then the dial sweep does happen.
if nothing has been touched and ts just started doing it but still starts fine then theres a dodgy connection somwhere as clearly the battery is holding enough charge to start the car but its still doing the sweep. perhaps the cocks are on their way out.

might be worth swapping the battery for one in another car you have first though.

 

Correct, if the battery is not able to hold it's charge then when you start this takes alot of power and so the dash does not have the power it needs for a moment, once it's started it's ok, I presume by 'Hesitation' you mean it's slow turning over which would also confirm the above.

Martin

 

ah i missed the word "hesitation". i would be looking at the battery aswell.

 

Another sign the battery is abit dodgey is when the igition is off the tempreture gauge and fuel gauge jump to half way.

 

fraid not mate. if the clocks do that they're fucked. thats certainly true of the mk1 focus anyway. my mum's focus had this problem aswell as cold start issues being the 1.8tdci and we tried 3 different batteries on it fully charged and didnt solve it.

asked at the local ford garage and he instantly confirmed it as the clocks and if it was built within a certain period they recognised it as a faulty batch and would only charge you Ł50 for the new/reconditioned clocks r something like that. never did it in the end as my brother wrote the car off.

 

on the mk3 mondeo you can make it do the sweep of all dials or they do it if you jump start the car

if it works fine otherwise then you don't need to change them unless it's caused by something else beingw rong like mentioned above

 

you can do the dial est on the focus too. hold the reset button in, turn the ignition on,keep holding till you see the word "test", release button and it'll do the dial sweep test. you can then go on pressing the button to find some trouble codes and an electronic speedo amongst other things 8)

 

We had it along with the dial sweep. New battery and 2 years later all is well

 

interesting. though you did have the dial sweep problem aswell so maybe a dead battery does both.

my mums definately only had the fuel and temp guage problem and thats a common fault on the focus and is definately the clocks. not battery related at all.

 

ok a little update, ive got my hand on another set of clocks so i shall install them in the next day or 2 and report back

 

It ISN'T the dash that is causing the problem as I and others have said, it's the battery thats the problem.

The gauge problem going to half way is also as said a gauge fault not a battery fault, it's the silicone liquid that holds them in place that gets distorted etc so they go to half etc.

Martin

 

if i put a more powerful battery in just to test for the day, would this cause damage? thanks

 

If a higher AH rating then it will be ok, however the battery must be SILVER CADMIUM, otherwise you will find yourself with charging headaches.

Martin

 

i should really know the answer to this but i thought it was just the tdci's that had the weird charging system and hence need the silver cadmiu batteries??

i've had 2 petrol (1.8 and 2l) w reg so pre face lift foci and they've never used silver cadmium batteries and never had any problems for many years and probably a compined 100k.

maybe the face lifts are differnt?

 

Nope all modern Fords utilize the "Smart Charge" system not sure about pre face lift but I know there have been problems when people have used conventional lead acid battery's, the former also charge at a slightly higher rate as well.

Martin

 

well i think both the w reg's were built in 98 or 99 so maybe its a face lift thing.

i know my 2l has a normal looking alternaor on it but the face lift tdci definately had some weird looking system on it.

oh well anything newer, just but the better battery on 8)