Not the usual type of blog but more of an information post really. As there are a lot of Ford Focus's out there this might help someone.
Ford Focus Electrical problem - My headache, well the son-in-law's really.
1. Symptom
2. Cause
3. Solution
The symptoms of the underlying electrical problem is as follows:
1. Crackling Speakers
2. Dash board clocks work intermittently or only at low revs
3. Relays clicking for no reason
4. Battery excessively hot after a short journey, long journey might make the battery hiss or leak fluid.
As with most modern cars electrics have come along way and it can be difficult to diagnose every fault easily. The symptoms described are based on
real life events and if you are in any doubt take your vehicle to a trained motor technician for advanced diagnosis.
The cause of the symptoms described were traced to a faulty alternator. This became apparent when testing the voltage being applied to the battery.
Normal voltage generated from the alternator should be about 14v however upon testing the voltage the voltage was closer to 19v. This gave the reason
behind the hissing battery as it was essentially cooking itself. As to the remainder of the other symptoms they were also indicators of this as when the revs
rose up the voltage increased even further.
With alternators the most common way of failing is due to the carbon bushes wearing away however this normally results in a lower voltage or non at all.
This therefore indicates that the volatge regulator that is housed within the alternator had failed thus allowing excess voltage to be applied to the
vehicles electrics.
You could remove the alternator and attempt to change the volate regulator. This could be the cheapest option however does require the ability to strip
the alternator down and rebuild which might be out of reach to the average DIY motor mechanic. The simplest and easyest option is therefore a direct
replacement.
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