Ground problem in Focus?
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Ground problem in Focus? - 12/23/2005 12:55:53 PM
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jeninejessica
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Hey guys, I'm hoping you can help me out. I just bought a used 2000 Focus wagon with the ztec last week. on the test drives, it ran great, no problems. Then on tuesday I came out to my car from shopping and found that my fuse for my dash backlighting had gone. We drove home and fixed it, no big problem. Then that night I noticed a very bad smell as I was driving home, and noticed the car was getting a bit smoky inside, to the point where I had to roll down my window because I was coughing. We did a little peeking around and found out that it appears to be a plastic bag that melted to the front of my catalitic converter, also no biggie. Got the dealer to scrape some of that off, and was happy that my little car was working again.
Wednesday night I again got in the car to drive home from somewhere, and all of a sudden within 2 minutes of pulling outo f my spot three warning lights had come on: door ajar, ABS, and brakes. After triple checking all the doors, I continued home. Since then for the past few days the brake and door lights have been flicking on and off- in a ten minute car ride, they might go on and off 15 times each. The ABS light seems to be steady except for the rare time when it will go off for a minute or two.
Since then we have also noticed flickering of the headlights and interior lights, as well as being a bit sluggish now and then when trying to accelerate- it acts like it's not getting power. THen last night as driving home I actually lost power to my stereo for about 2 minutes.
So my question is- does it seem reasonable that this is a bad ground somewhere? At first I thought maybe there WAS a problem with my ABS and door sensor... but since these other things have been happening it is really making me question. Our first guess was the ground, other than that I was wondering if it may have to do with the battery or alternator or... ? any other suggestions guys? Thanks so much. I'm just dreading this car to turn out to be a repeat of the mess of a saturn I bought.
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RE: Ground problem in Focus? - 12/23/2005 2:06:00 PM
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frdtek05
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There's an older battery cable recall that applies to your car that could possibly cause some of those problems. In some of the cable assemblies, the main positive and main ground were run down the same convolute tubing and causing main power shorts. The recall either repairs the harness and re routes cables or, if damage is done to the cable insulation, complete replacement of the power harness is done. If you bought that used car from a Ford dealership, it would have been addressed. It also would have been addressed if the dealer you took it to for the plastic bag on the converter was Ford.
If you like, you can "email" me the vin number, I can run it in the Ford system to see if it's been done and also give you a complete dealership repair history to give you some sort of idea of what the cars been through in the past.
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RE: Ground problem in Focus? - 12/23/2005 3:13:15 PM
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jeninejessica
Posts: 20
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Joined: 12/14/2005
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Hey thanks for the quick reply. There's actually a place on the Ford website where you can type your VIN # and check for the recalls, and the only recall that it registers that I have is the rear hatch lock, something about it sticking, and not being able to open it. I called the dealer about it as soon as I got the car, and I'm planning on making an appt after xmas to get it fixed. Is it possible that even though the other recall didn't show up for my VIN that it could be a problem?
I was wondering if the rear latch recall was affecting my door ajar light, so wasn't too worried about that, but the fact that the others kept coming on too makes me wonder.
Oh additionally... my boyfriend did some fiddling around the night and discovered that running the back windshield wiper seems to affect the brake and door light, but not the ABS. If he turns it on, they will both go off, but then come back on again within a few seconds, or when he turns the wiper off.
Thanks again for your quick reply! If you still want to check the VIN, it's 1FAFP3634YW242829 oh and the work was not done from a Ford dealership. The car was on a lease from Ford, and when the lease was up, Ford sold it to the dealership that I bought it from because they deemed it had too high mileage to sell it on their lot.
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RE: Ground problem in Focus? - 12/24/2005 12:22:00 PM
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frdtek05
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This sounds like it could bw your troubles:
16226 2000-2002 FOCUS - INTERMITTENT ERRATIC GAUGE SWEEP, CRANK NO START, HARD START, AND VARIOUS OTHER ELECTRICAL AND/OR DRIVEABILITY CONDITIONS
SOME 2000-2002 FOCUS MAY EXHIBIT A GROUND RELATED CONDITION WITH INTERMITTENT ERRATIC GAUGE SWEEP, CRANK NO START, HARD START, AND VARIOUS OTHER ELECTRICAL AND/OR DRIVEABILITY CONDITIONS. INSPECT GROUNDS G1/G24/G41/G54 AND G56 FOR LOOSENESS OR CORROSION. ALSO, CHECK FOR A VOLTAGE DROP ACROSS THE NEGATIVE BATTERY CABLE TO BOTH THE ENGINE BLOCK AND CHASSIS. G1 IS LOCATED UNDERNEATH THE AIR CLEANER, G24 IS LOCATED ON THE RIGHT HAND 'A' PILLAR (WIRING SCHEMATIC SECTION 700-06-00- 29 OR 30). G41 AND G56 ARE LOCATED AT THE FRONT RIGHT SIDE KICK PANEL INSIDE THE VEHICLE AND G54 IS LOCATED AT THE FUEL PUMP DRIVER MODULE RIGHT REAR UNDER THE SEAT.
EFFECTIVE DATE: 09/12/2002
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RE: Ground problem in Focus? - 12/25/2005 12:37:10 AM
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jeninejessica
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hey thanks for the info. I'm calling Ford on Monday to see when they can get the car in for the rear hatch recall, and I'll get them to check that (if it's a recall issue, then Id rather not bother the guy that I bought it from). But in the meantime, I'll check those grounds. My boyfriend said he suspects it's probably the G1 after reading what you put. I must get a manual and shop guide ASAP. lol
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RE: Ground problem in Focus? - 1/1/2006 6:06:09 PM
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jeninejessica
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Back again... ok so here's the updates... maybe someone has a new idea?
We took the car in to Ford on Friday. They fixed the rear hatch recall, and we talked to them about the other recall and he said that my car was not eligible for the recall, so he could not fix it under the recall (and I'd rather troubleshoot it myself first, as opposed to paying them to do it). He said that it did make sense that it would be a ground, but that in the previous service records, there was no mention of anything that would have suggested a previous problem.
We just checked out those other grounds that you mentioned, and many of them were fairly dirty, and the battery post was even loose. We were unable to find the G24 ground, but figured we'd try the other 4 and then see if the problem corrected itself. After cleaning all of these, and the battery posts, we put everything back together, and started the car again...
It did nothing. We still have the warning lights on, and well as the headlight being out again. So now, I'm lost... Does anyone have any ideas for what else to check or what it may be? We want to find that other ground and check it, but does it make sense that it could be solely responsible for all of these symptoms?
We also hooked it up to the computer, and it isn't logging any codes. Any help whatsoever on what to check, would be wonderful. We're running out of ideas...
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RE: Ground problem in Focus? - 1/1/2006 9:42:11 PM
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Ramrod48
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If it were mine I would check the start / ingition switch, as a faulty one would cause most of these problems.
A quick test us ole timers use to do for a faulty ground would be , Start the car , hook the negative lead of a jumper cable to the battery ground , make sure you had a good contact---- an then take the other end of the negative jumper cable an touch it to various parts under the hood, ie the engine, the fenderwell , the raditor support etc, if you got a spark as you hooked up the cable, you had a faulty ground going to that part of the vechile,
Didnt allways fix the problem but about 70% of the time I found a bad ground connection somewhere under the hood. that caused faulty starting, engine dying out , lites dim, battery not charging, etc,,,,,,,,,,,,good luck
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RE: Ground problem in Focus? - 1/1/2006 9:52:18 PM
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jeninejessica
Posts: 20
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Joined: 12/14/2005
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ok so an update... Just took it up to McDonalds, and noticed a few things that may be of use...
1. The headlight problem: if we go up and tap (smash) the headlight at a few certain spots- it will come back on, (and then off again if we tap it again). This consequently also makes the left side marker light come back on (we noticed earlier today it was gone). Not sure exactly yet what this means.
2. I never noticed that I had an interior dome light right by the back hatch. We went around and turned it on, and then realized that in the 'door' position, it does not turn off, even with the hatch closed. Realizing now that this is probably why the person had it turned off. So I'm guessing that this points to the door warning light being a result of the rear hatch. I'm gonna call Ford tomorrow again and attempt to convince them to fix this specific issue (since I just had it in Friday regarding the rear hatch recall, and this would appear to be related).
3. Decided to take a look at the wiring diagrams to see what common grounds we could find. It looks like the G200 is responsible for the rear wiper and left door locks. The rear wiper being turned on causes the brake light to come on (not ABS), but we haven't found a reason for this yet.
4. Can anyone tell me where the G200 and the G406 are located?
5. Can anyone tell me which ground the ABS runs off of? We can't find it, and would love to check it, as this is the only one that does not flicker at all. I am beginning to wonder if my ABS does actually have a problem. If so, how do I check this?
I got the notification of the other post while I was writing this, and may take the car back to my dad to let him try those suggestions. It's not something I feel comfortable trying myself. However, if possible, I would love a further explanation of how the ignitition switch would cause these problems... I don't get it...
Thanks again Guys... I can't wait to get to the bottom of all of this.
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