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I have a 2007 Mondeo. The battery was always rather laboured when starting and a couple of times went flat.
So I replaced the battery with a new shiny one... 3 weeks down the road it is sodding going flat. I assume it is not being charged properly.
13ish volts when resting 14v when the engine is running is this correct?
14v suggests alternator is charging. Â 13v sounds pretty healthy though - could be a starter problem if it is still labouring with that voltage.
Is there current draw with the ignition off?
Iirc correctly there was a problem with the lights on some of those, something to do with a dip switch on the stalk.
I'll ask my 08 mondeo owning friend who had similar issues.
no idea if there is a draw when the ignition is off... how could I check?
This has a shouty American in it but you'll get the idea.
Further to my earlier response, the spoke to my friend, he was told common fault when he tracked his back.
Faulty switch on the stalk meant the lights would turn on all of their own volition draining the battery over night.
He caught it after someone in his office told him he'd left his lights on, go out, turn them off, repeat three times in the same day.
It wouldn't be drawing a current generally when parked until the lights came on. Removed the fuse, left car for three weeks holiday, came back, zero problem. Put fuse back, left overnight flat battery in the morning.
Thanks Db..... not aware of the lights coming on without permission.
WWW going to try that over the weekend.
Thinking about it when I got the car the fuse for the drivers seat had been removed.. just wondering if that is the problem.?
Is the battery showing 13v after resting a while, thats pretty healthy you'd normally expect it to be 12.7v after sitting a few hours. When charging it should be 14.4v but it might not manage that at idle speed hence you seeing 14v.
Next time it fails to start, take the battery voltage before cranking the engine excessively. 12v is flat, 12.4v is 50% charge and bad. If the battery is still good, it could be the starter itself, or high resistance on the connections. The usual culprit is the earth strap from the battery to engine/body. The easy way to prove this is to get a single jump lead and connect the negative terminal to a shiny part of the engine, something meaty and unpainted such as a lifting point or radiator support. Less likely is the positive terminal to starter connection and this would be harder to do with a jump lead, and there is a risk of shorting out the jump lead if it drops off when trying to start the engine.
If its the earth strap the battery will also struggle to charge under high load, but over a longer journey would trickle charge. High resistance connections often only show themselves at high current so a multi-meter might not detect it, a good yank on the cable will often prove it when the cable breaks off the bodywork!
<p>The faulty stalk thing - I had it as well, you will know if it's doing it because it will randomly indicate when you're just driving along. When you're parked it will think the indicator has been hit and put on a sidelight.</p><p>Good news is it's easy to disconnect and even easier to clean it out, two screws under the steering column, whip the cowl off and the stalk will just unplug. From there it's easy to see the contact tracks and clean it all up. I did mine a year or so ago and it's been fine since.</p><p>Hopefully that sorts it otherwise it's a case of tracking down the culprit. I take it you've done the usual and disconnected anything plugged in or wired in at a later date? Sticky relays can also cause this, not a Ford but I rememebr Civics suffering when the A/C relay stuck, of course they had a whole different system and the multiplex wasn't nearly as complicated.</p>