Possible alternator problem with 05 Focus? Please help!
 

Hi everyone! I am a new user on this forum- I drive a 2005 ZX4 Focus with just under 64,000 original miles. Automatic transmission. I purchased it about 2 months ago from a guy moving out of the country- he "modded" the car a bit- the modifications I know of are: Performance exhaust from FSWerks, cold air intake, performance suspension (which is not perfect! It makes a crunch noise on the drivers side on big bumps), after market mass air flow sensor, installed a RPM gauge and air-fuel ratio gauge on dash pillar, and performance motor mounts. The car vibrates pretty seriously, especially in idle when standing still like at a traffic light- I guess that is from the 'stiffer' motor mounts.
NOW to the problems!- Up until today everything has been ok, aside from the radio/cd player being touchy and sometimes going off for no reason. Then today I noticed on the interstate that, in 5th gear, the transmission seemed to be surging. My RPMs were not going up and down though. But I could feel it. When I got off the interstate into stop-and-go traffic, my A/C quit blowing cold, and the light on the A/C button was no longer green. I tried pressing it twice, it wouldn't come back on. I rolled down the windows. Then all the dash gauges and dash lights went off, I mean everything, speedometer, fuel, oil, etc. I didn't notice if the mileage went off or not. When I tried to accelerate, it felt jerky, like it did not want to go- but it did. The dome light then came on randomly, then all the dash stuff came back on- but so did ALL the 'warning' lights (technical name?)- like the check engine, gas light, check oil, ABS, etc. I also noticed the RPM gauge he installed was still on, but the air/fuel ratio gauge below it was not on like it normally is. I was pulling into my driveway, so I went to roll up the windows and they did roll up but they were slow- especially the front passenger side it seemed.
I parked it, and turned it off then tried to re-start the engine- and- NO GO! I just went out to try it again, and it still will not turn over. When I put the key in, the dash lights and gauges will come on, and the engine, oil, and battery light are all lit up. But when I try to turn it over it just made a clicking noise, and nothing else. The radio came on, and then off, and then back on just in that short time of trying to start it for a couple minutes- I did check to see if my radio presets were still set the same, and they are. (Not sure what this means, but I saw someone talking about that in a thread with a similar problem).
My brother is coming over to help me check things out tomorrow, but I am posting to see if anyone has any idea of where to search for problems- instead of just tearing the whole dash out hoping to find the problem. There are some bad connectors on wiring where the previous owner re-wired things, so we are definitely going to solder those. Any ideas or insight would be greatly appreciated!
-Haley

There have been problems with the wire from the alt to battery. The connections may appear OK ,but may have hidden corrosion just the same. You could also go back as far as the terminal/ fuse junction and check for any corrosion in those connections.
If you do find a problem with the alternator and decide to replace it, I would strongly suggest getting the replacement from FORD since there have been so many problems with aftermarket alternators for Fords.

Check and clean the battery connections
Check the positive terminal at the starter make sure its clean and tight
check the engine and body grounds from battery to engine and ground wire from engine to body and from negative on the battery to the body
charge the battery and start the car...on a volt meter you should have 13.8 or better..
If not ..have the battery and alternator tested