MK2 Focus - all electrics cut off

[AllyBassman]

Hi All,

Our MK2 Ford Focus 1.6 Shed has developed a strange fault,

Sometimes upon turning the key, all the electrics will cut out to the car. The cluster goes blank - nothing will work.

The only thing that seems to fix it is to disconnect the battery and then reconnect it.

immobiliser / alarm fault? Or something else?

all ideas much appreciated!

[Peanut Gallery]

Just after I obtained my 56 reg Mk2 focus, it started going into limp modes, where the dash would blink for a fraction of a second and then go into limp.

After attempting new dashes, the old one was removed, posted to someone down in the wilds of England who re-soldered a bunch of joints, and posted it back - this solved the problem.

I'm not saying I had the same problem as you, but possibly?

If I recall when you plugged a pricey scan tool in, there was an error message about lost coms with cluster - or something!

[AllyBassman]

I've read about some issues under the dash - hoping it's not that.

All of the electrics die - the car looses all electrical power - disconnecting and then reconnecting the battery restores it - car runs fine apart from that.

Very odd.

[LimSlip]

I would check the battery cable terminations, a loose or corroded ground or supply will cause these symptoms. Moving the wires when you disconnect/reconnect could be enough for it to make contact.

[GreenV8S]

AllyBassman said:

the car looses all electrical power - disconnecting and then reconnecting the battery restores it

Does pulling on the battery cables and terminals make any difference?

[Robmainstgarage]

The 2 most common electrical disasters on the mk2 focus are the speedo binacal (solder cracks on the pins on the multi plug, easy enough if your confident with a soldering iron) and water getting in round the ariel and finding its way into the fuse box behind the glove box

[AllyBassman]

Thanks all - in typical fashion it's not done it recently. I will check all of the battery connections + grounds.

[Xenoous]

My old Mk2 Focus ST had the classic cluster fault. Car wouldn't start, and if it did plenty of warning lights and errors on the dash.

I had my cluster replaced under warranty. Plenty get theirs resoldered which sorts the issue