Ford Mondeo - sudden stops

londonbairn · 20 Dec 2017 at 19:24

i have a Ford Mondeo Titanium X Sport (2010, mk4).

Been fine and suddenly it stopped whilst driving today, luckily was in a car park. It threw up numerous errors (transmission malfunction, low battery) and refused to start. This wouldn’t have been a big deal bar we are 400 miles from home. As preface, I have had low battery errors coming and going last few weeks.

Got towed to a local who checked battery and low and behold it was diagnosed as needing replaced. Got replaced but the car refused to start still. Actually what was interesting is that the car thought it had started from an electronic perspective when you pressed start stop (the way the instruments went on) but mechanically it hadn’t. He forced the car on via the engine (shorting the wires). From here on the following happened

- still had transmission malfunction and the car was able to be driven with no issues but the car didn’t recognise electronically any responses from the gearbox if that made sense. However moving the gear stick from P to d and the car drove fine (despite the instruments not electronically recognising this). No light on the gear stick on P D etc
- detailed diagnosis were ran and he had whittled it down to a comms failure between the gear stick and the car. He was 100% sure this was not mechanical
- was also throwing up other errors (traction and airbag) but apparently this would be linked to the communication failure

He then got me to take a local Ford as apparently needed their equipment to solve properly.

Reading online it seems this can be a common problem with newer cars; failing / failed batteries can cause all sorts of haywire to the electrics.

Has anyone ever experienced anything similar?

Iamzod · 20 Dec 2017 at 20:32

I doubt it's anything like the same issue but my ST220 only the other month went absolutely nuts, it wouldn't idle, then the EML came on & the code reader was switching between running lean & running rich & recording misfires, then the TCS & ABS lights came one & seconds later it broke down.

The metal clip had come off the end of the throttle cable so i'm presuming it had worked loose, replaced the clip and it's been fine ever since.

Whilst it won't be the same issue, it could be anything, I hate ECU's & Sensors!!!

londonbairn · 20 Dec 2017 at 20:34

Iamzod said:
I doubt it's anything like the same issue but my ST220 only the other month went absolutely nuts, it wouldn't idle, then the EML came on & the code reader was switching between running lean & running rich & recording misfires, then the TCS & ABS lights came one & seconds later it broke down.

The metal clip had come off the end of the throttle cable so i'm presuming it had worked loose, replaced the clip and it's been fine ever since.

Whilst it won't be the same issue, it could be anything, I hate ECU's & Sensors!!!

Thats what my friend said who is more technically aligned than me. Reckons it's one sensor which in turn has caused mayhem

andy_mk3 · 20 Dec 2017 at 20:37

I work for Ford, it's very common that a low battery causes mayhem, and often it will log a ton of fault codes, usually low voltage, lost communication etc. Quite often a full scan and clear of codes will solve all problems.

However it is rather odd that it just stopped while running. A dead battery wouldn't really bother it too much while running as the alternator can take the load.

BUDFORCE · 20 Dec 2017 at 20:57

londonbairn said:
Forced the car on via the engine (shorting the wires).

Sounds legit

andy_mk3 · 20 Dec 2017 at 21:01

BUDFORCE said:
Sounds legit

It's not really advisable on a modern car so much, but it's how you do it, easily done with anything metal to short the battery wire across to the trigger wire on the starter motor and it will crank over.

londonbairn · 20 Dec 2017 at 21:05

andy_mk3 said:
I work for Ford, it's very common that a low battery causes mayhem, and often it will log a ton of fault codes, usually low voltage, lost communication etc. Quite often a full scan and clear of codes will solve all problems.

However it is rather odd that it just stopped while running. A dead battery wouldn't really bother it too much while running as the alternator can take the load.

I thought the same, but apparently low voltages with the auto box causes it all to just stop. Also when I mean stop, sorry I should have clarified. The car was "electronically" on but mechanically off, as in it thought it was on but was not really. It's really odd

Tee Hee Johnson · 20 Dec 2017 at 22:21

Soudns like battery!

Thebug · 20 Dec 2017 at 23:18

Does the new battery need to be programmed to the car?

Dis86 · 20 Dec 2017 at 23:24

Sounds to me like it needs a scan and the codes clearing/reset

robj20 · 21 Dec 2017 at 07:04

Thebug said:
Does the new battery need to be programmed to the car?

Only usually the size of the battery, it should still work, you can also turn off battery monitoring.

Howard · 21 Dec 2017 at 07:23

Dis86 said:
Sounds to me like it needs a scan and the codes clearing/reset

Indeed. I was recently diagnosing an issue with a mk2 Focus which transpired to be a faulty instrument cluster, and when the fault occurred, the car wouldn't run/drive right until you cleared the codes with Forscan, and then it'd be fine until the IC had another wobbly.

Since the IC tends to act as a CANbus 'hub', it threw up all sorts of unrelated errors. In this case, if clearing the codes doesn't sort it then it's probably something electronic. Bit of a coincidence about the battery though.

londonbairn · 21 Dec 2017 at 08:53

Yeah it is pointing to the previous battery was low, took the car out and its throwing a hissy fit. It's been a logistical nightmare as we are 400 miles from home, the garages can't sort until after xmas but luckily breakdown have sorted to get us home and to my preferred garage tomorrow.

Worst case apparently is the TCM (based on the diagnostics initially done) but unlikely, the guy who looked it at first said he was 99% sure it would be solved if Ford can clear the codes properly

robj20 · 21 Dec 2017 at 09:30

Do you not have a cable to plug it in to a laptop? Do it yourself very simple. Can even set the new battery up.

blueboy2001 · 21 Dec 2017 at 15:09

Is the new battery definitely fully charged?

First thing I'd do is disconnect the battery, charge it up and reconnect it. If that doesn't fix it, grab an ELM lead and a copy of ForScan and clear everything down. This also allows you to run tests on the various modules - it's almost to the level of Ford diagnostics.

londonbairn · 21 Dec 2017 at 15:20

Thanks guys, I do not have the equipment but got to the right solution which is to get it to a trusted mechanic that can do that (and is round the corner not 400 miles away!)

He did confirm he will try that, check the fuses, mentioned something about checking voltages along the CANBUS path related to the sources of errors etc

Will report back. I hope it does not need a new mechatronic box etc, but it seems this should not be the case from the symptons

londonbairn · 21 Dec 2017 at 18:04

Here’s something interesting. Went to get some stuff out of the car before it’s long journey and the new battery is already showing low. It was fine before passed the tests.

So I guess somewhere there’s something leaking current. It won’t lock as wel (guess this is linked).

Guess this gives me comfort as something hopefully more likely to be power related than mechnaixs

bremen1874 · 21 Dec 2017 at 18:17

Has the alternator been checked? Is it charging properly?

londonbairn · 21 Dec 2017 at 19:07

Not sure it will be checked properly Saturday when it is back in London. Alternator would make sense as well I guess as it would have caused that cut off

londonbairn · 4 Jan 2018 at 17:56

Not much of an update for anyone if curious, it finally made it back to London today due to some delays. Initial inspection is pointing to something to do with the battery (even though its new) or charging circuit. Should find out in next day or so!