Car keeps going dead: 5 mechanics later, still unresolved

[Becky88]

Hi,

I’m hoping you guys can help, I’m at my wits end with this car.

Car is a Ford Fiesta, 2014 plate, purchased in 2017 with 10000 miles on the clock. As of today, it has just over 50000 miles.

This issue started about two years ago. Came out one morning to go to work and car was dead. Would tick turn over but not start. Diagnosed dead battery. Battery replaced. Didn’t fix the issue. Second mechanic then diagnosed faulty alternator. Alternator replaced, car worked for approx 12 months.

After 12 months, the car started not working again. Would go out in the morning to find it totally dead; no lights, wouldn’t tick turn over, even the key fob wouldn’t work. Car was literally dead.

Mechanic out, told dead battery. Battery replaced for second time in 12 months. Didn’t fix it. Another mechanic out, told alternator again. Was advised the previous mechanic had installed a dud alternator and needed a new one. Alternator replaced, car worked for about 3 days before dying again.

4th mechanic out, told me the fusible link had gone. Couldn’t get the part because it was middle of first Covid lockdown and all was shut. Mechanic did a work around to get it going as I needed the car for work. This fixed the issue for around a year.

Fast forward to a month or so and again, same problem. Car won’t start, completely dead. No lights, no ticking turning over, key fob doesn’t work.

At this point I’m fuming. Have a mechanic out, says it’s the computer module under passenger dash. Ask for second opinion from another mechanic who was an auto electrician on advice of a neighbour, and the auto electrician said same thing as previous mechanic; it’s the computer module. Got told price to fix would be at least £1k but get told if I call Ford they’ll look at it because apparently this is a known issue.

Fast forward to today. I’ve taken my car into Ford, explained all of the above to them and said it’s the computer module as 2 independent mechanics had diagnosed it.

Call from Ford earlier, computer module is fine. Says he doesn’t know what the issue is, other than it’s a “massive short” causing the car to die. Told me he’d call me back to confirm issue within an hour. That was at 3, it’s now 16:45 so I’m guessing he can’t find the issue.

Can anyone possibly help me to understand what the bloody hell is wrong with this car? I’m desperate for answers. I’ve wasted so much money trying to fix this problem and it just keeps recurring. I’ve literally had this car looked at by 6 mechanics and I’m getting different answers from them all.

I took it to Ford - the exact garage I originally bought it from - because I figured if anyone can pinpoint and finally fix the issue, Ford themselves should be able to, but it looks like even Ford are struggling.

Edit: to be clear, the car works intermittently. It’ll be dead today, and work fine tomorrow. I’ll pop into a shop and come out to it dead. No rhyme nor reason for it. Also having issues with my car not recognising my usb - have had 2 phones and multiple usb leads, and have no problems using my phone in my mums car so it’s not my phone or leads, it’s a radio issue. Again, very intermittent. Sometimes phone will connect fine, sometimes it won’t work at all, sometimes it’ll connect for a variable length of time before disconnecting and I either have to wait around 5-10 minutes for it to work again, or I have to turn the radio off and wait for 10 minutes.

People also think I have my brights on when I have my headlights on. This started about a year ago.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance

Edited by Becky88 on Thursday 27th May 20:06 for grammar/clarity

Edited by Becky88 on Thursday 27th May 20:09

[Becky88]

whatmoretyres said:

What he said

To be honest, just trade it in and let it be a warranty fix for someone else, sourcing a fiesta is not hard

I'm strongly considering it if Ford can't fix it. I'm just annoyed because I finished my last finance payment on this car literally a week ago, after 4 long years of monthly payments. I was so looking forward to being finance free

[Becky88]

Megaflow said:

Are you saying you can go out to it one day and find it totally dead, do nothing with it, go out in a day or so and it is fine [...]?

Exactly this. One day it's fine, next day, dead. I leave it, come back maybe an hour later, maybe a day later, maybe 2 weeks later, and runs perfectly. No jump start, no charging the battery, nothing. Which is why this is so frustrating. It's the unpredictability.

For example, I jump started my car 2 weeks ago to get it going. Drove like a charm. Took it on a long drive, no issue. Came home, parked up, immediately turned engine off then started it again to test it - DEAD. Today, after it's sat there completely dead for 2 weeks, it started up like it it was brand new. All I did was put the key in the ignition and turn. And yet, after it died, I'd tried to start it multiple times just by putting the key in the ignition and it was dead every single time. What was different the one time it did start? No idea.

Edited by Becky88 on Thursday 27th May 19:40

[Becky88]

chrisch77 said:

I would be replacing the starter motor next if the problem only manifests itself when you try to start the engine. Motor may well be goosed and so when you try to start it it just shorts out the battery voltage across the commutator or the engagement solenoid coil.

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll mention this to Ford.

chrisch77 said:

Do the other electrical systems work when the engine is ‘dead’? Does the central locking work when you go to the car?

No, no signs of life at all. No ticking turning over, no lights, no radio, no noises, key fob doesn't work. Just completely and entirely dead.

Edited by Becky88 on Thursday 27th May 19:57

Edited by Becky88 on Thursday 27th May 19:57

[Becky88]

Megaflow said:

Ok, now that really is weird. You say it ticks over, but won’t start. I think what you mean is it turns overs, but won’t start. Tick over is another saying for idling.

Apologies, let me clarify.

The very first time I had an issue (about 2 years ago), it turned over. Since then, it doesn't turn over at all. When it dies, it's completely dead. No lights, noises, turning over, etc.

EDIT: Also, thank you for educating me on terminology. I didn't even know there was a difference between 'turn over' and 'tick over'. I was just using 'tick over' as a synonym. Thanks for the explanation

Edited by Becky88 on Thursday 27th May 19:55

[Becky88]

Summit_Detailing said:

My wife had similar on a Toyota iQ and I eventually traced it to a dodgy earth cable. New cable fitted and it was absolutely fine for the next 3 years until she sold the car.

Cheers,

Chris

You're the second person to mention this so I'm gonna give this suggestion to Ford to see if this is the issue.

[Becky88]

jeremyc said:

Did you have the fusible link replaced following your mechanic's bodge as recommended on your thread from April 2020 when you discussed this same problem?

No, I didn't. I intended to but was waiting on scrap yard to re-open to get it at a cheaper price (I had significant financial difficulties at the time) and ended up forgetting about it.

Do you think that could be the issue? I've tried getting hold of the mechanic who diagnosed this particular fault but stupidly didn't make a note of his name or number and now I can't find him.

EDIT: I expected the fusible link to be the problem when I called out a mechanic, but when they both said nothing about it (even after I mentioned it to them), I took their word for it that it was the computer module and unrelated to the fusible link.

Edited by Becky88 on Thursday 27th May 20:21

[Becky88]

sunbeam alpine said:

It may be worth testing the low tension circuit from the ignition switch. Turn the switch to the "run" position, but then connect a wire from the positive terminal on the battery to the low tension connection on the solenoid. If the car starts, it's a fault with the ignition switch. Common fault on Alfa Romeos.

N.B. Don't connect a wire from the battery to where the really thick wire is connected on the starter!! The contact you're looking to connect to is a thin wire!

Thanks, I have no idea how to go about this myself so I'll feed it back to Ford to ensure they've looked into this as the cause of the issue.

[Becky88]

Trevor555 said:

I'm sure this would be one of the first things a mechanic would have checked.

I would have thought so too, but after having 6 different mechanics diagnose different issues, I'm willing to suggest anything.

[Becky88]

geordiepingu said:

Brights on and all of this might be a clue. Do Fiestas have body control modules? Perhaps ones that integrate with the alarm/immobiliser?

Yes they do, and the two mechanics I had out prior to taking it to Ford (one of which was an auto electrician) both said it was the body control module at fault. Unsure whether or not it integrates with the immobiliser, but Ford said they didn’t think it was the body control module.

I got my car back and it’s so far starting up, but again this morning when I got into my car I had a problem with the aux not recognising my phone again and becoming “frozen” (the aux screen froze but the rest of the radio worked) so given this was one of the issues that went hand in hand with the starting problem, I fear that the issue hasn’t actually been solved yet again.

Fair play to Ford, they haven’t charged me yet and said to bring it back on Tuesday for a voltage test (and other retesting maybe) so they can establish of the issue is fixed but I’m going to call them later if they’re open and say the issue still seems to be present.

Think I’ve got no choice but to give up on this car...

EDIT: not sure if related but this morning is the first time I’ve used the car with my lights on, and this is also when the radio has got stuck since getting it back. Beginning to think the short or whatever Ford think it is might be directly related to the lights. Thinking back, I think the other times I’ve had problems is when I’ve had my lights on.

Edited by Becky88 on Saturday 29th May 05:04

[Becky88]

sliks said:

“I’ll pop into a shop and come out to it dead.”

When this happens. Is this after a very brief first drive of the day or after a good run? What has been done to get the vehicle running again after it dies at the shops?

Varies. Sometimes after a long drive it’ll die immediately as soon as I turn the engine off, whereas other times it’ll be used multiple times throughout the day or week with no issue and then just randomly won’t start for no reason. There doesn’t seem to be any consistency to the issue at at all. It’s such a random yet annoyingly persistent problem. It happens enough that I can’t risk using my car for risk of breaking down, yet intermittently enough that it could be fine for weeks to the point I’ll develop a false sense of security thinking the issue has resolved itself.

To get it running again, again it varies. Sometimes it requires jump starting, sometimes it just revives itself with no assistance. But again, the length of time it’s dead for is completely variable. Sometimes dead for literally 10 minutes, sometimes dead for weeks or months. Sometimes it’ll work for 1 quick trip and die, other times it’ll work for weeks or months and then die.

For example, I took the car to Asda on my way home from work, which is 20 minutes up the motorway. Worked fine getting to work in the morning, and fine getting me to Asda on the way home after sitting in a car park for 8 hours. No issues at all. Was in Asda for probably 10-15 minutes at max, came out and DEAD. No lights, key fob won’t work, won’t turn over. This was before I had jump cables and was the first time it had broken down away from my home (I’d been lucky previously in that it was always in the morning when I tried to leave for work that it wouldn’t start) so I was going to call a break down vehicle. By the time I’d managed to find the phone number for the free breakdown assistance I had with my insurance, the car came back to life. The only reason I even knew it was working again was because I’d got out the car to get a better 4G signal and when I went to get back in again, I pressed the unlock button on my key fob out of pure habit and the unlock lights flashed as they should to let me know it was unlocked. I tried the engine out of pure chance as I hadn’t yet called the breakdown line and boom, started up first time like it was brand new.

Edited by Becky88 on Sunday 30th May 09:40

[Becky88]

ARHarh said:

Do you have a lot of keys hanging from the ignition switch (if it even has one?) I have seen this break the switch before now.

Interesting, yes I do actually. I keep my keys bulky with multiple key rings because I’m bizarrely paranoid of dropping them down a grid, despite this having never happened to me. Never realised this could cause an issue though. What would cause the ignition to break from this, the weight?

ARHarh said:

Set off ten minuets earlier to work, as if you are not running late it will surely start every time

[Becky88]

sliks said:

2014 ford fiesta, what engine? Stop start vehicle?
I am assuming No headlights, no crank (doesnt turn over), no central locking when fault occurs??

Does anything of the electrics continue working during this period when fault occurs? - this would be great help in diagnosis

1.25 engine, no stop-start feature. Correct; no headlights, doesn’t turn over, no central locking, no interior lights, no radio, etc. Absolutely nothing electrical works when the fault occurs.

[Becky88]

Trevor555 said:

Becky88 said:

For example, I took the car to Asda on my way home from work, which is 20 minutes up the motorway. Worked fine getting to work in the morning, and fine getting me to Asda on the way home after sitting in a car park for 8 hours. No issues at all. Was in Asda for probably 10-15 minutes at max, came out and DEAD. No lights, key fob won’t work, won’t turn over. This was before I had jump cables and was the first time it had broken down away from my home (I’d been lucky previously in that it was always in the morning when I tried to leave for work that it wouldn’t start) so I was going to call a break down vehicle. By the time I’d managed to find the phone number for the free breakdown assistance I had with my insurance, the car came back to life. The only reason I even knew it was working again was because I’d got out the car to get a better 4G signal and when I went to get back in again, I pressed the unlock button on my key fob out of pure habit and the unlock lights flashed as they should to let me know it was unlocked. I tried the engine out of pure chance as I hadn’t yet called the breakdown line and boom, started up first time like it was brand new.

Edited by Becky88 on Sunday 30th May 09:40

This really does sound like a loose connection, and the closing of your door has probably made the difference.

Interesting theory. I’ll give this a try next time it happens. I’m convinced it’s a loose connection as well, but I’m so confused why so many separate mechanics and auto electricians can’t find the source of the problem.

[Becky88]

njw1 said:

Becky88 said:

ARHarh said:

Do you have a lot of keys hanging from the ignition switch (if it even has one?) I have seen this break the switch before now.

Interesting, yes I do actually. I keep my keys bulky with multiple key rings because I’m bizarrely paranoid of dropping them down a grid, despite this having never happened to me. Never realised this could cause an issue though. What would cause the ignition to break from this, the weight?

Do you have any other car keys on your key ring?

Yes. I always have another car key on my keys because I drive my mums mobility car for her and she prefers me to have the key since she doesn’t drive. Until April this year, she’d always had fords so I always had a second Ford key on my keys. Now she had an MG so not sure if an MG key could interfere with a Ford vehicle but this is an interesting angle.

[Becky88]

Hammer67 said:

When the thing fires up after these incidents, do the clock and radio stations need resetting?

Unsure about the radio stations as I only listen to my own music but the time and date needs reprogramming.

[Becky88]

oakdale said:

Sounds like a BCM fault to me, get a decent auto electrician to look at it.

The last two mechanics I had out (one of which was an auto-electrician) both said it was the BCM, but when I took it to Ford and explicitly said this was the issue based on two others diagnosing it, they said it wasn’t...

[Becky88]

UPDATE: Just thought I'd update this thread to say that my car has died. AGAIN.

Got it back from Ford last Friday or Saturday. They'd replaced a fuse that they described as being very burnt out and were hopeful that had solved the issue. Car worked okay, as in it started up every time without issue, but the radio/aux port was still disconnecting my phone for no reason so I knew the issue hadn't resolved.

Drove the car fine for about a week, taking it to work - on motorways, little journeys, etc. No problem. Parked up last night, came out this morning. DEAD. It DID turn over this time; all dashlights juttering as if they were trying to come on. I could hear the wheezing noise (for lack of a better term :eyeroll engines make when they're trying to start up but can't quite get there. It wheezed for a fair few seconds before I turned it off and tried again. Same thing, flickering lights, wheezing engine. Turned it off, tried again, same thing. Did this a few times and each time the power being drawn got less and less and I could hear the engine wasn't 'trying' as hard to turn on, if that makes sense? Eventually the dash lights stopped coming on when I turned it on and then finally the engine totally died until the car was completely dead yet again. I tried starting it around 7 or 8 times with the issue slowly worsening with each attempt before it finally gave up the ghost.

So. This is a slightly new development. Every other time it's just been dead with no signs of life at all, so I'm not sure if the fuse fixed the issue but then failed again (ford said they'd put a second-hand one in from another car as they didn't have a new one in stock) or if I just happened to 'catch' my car right at the moment the issue was starting and I happened to catch it in action.

Interesting and slightly bizarre to note, and this may well just be my brain desperate to make sense of wtf is going on with this car but, on at least 4 occasions when my car has died, I've had significant signal issues with my phone. I cannot possibly see how that's related AT ALL, but this is the 4th time I've had serious mobile signal issues at the same time as my car has been dead. Probably coincidence but at this point I'm willing to look at anything.

Edited by Becky88 on Friday 4th June 20:29

[Becky88]

V8covin said:

What you're describing here is a flat battery,a different fault to your previous one.

I'm a bit confused; how is it a dead flat battery? Car has been driven regularly, nothing has been left on. Battery was purchased new from halfords 12-18 months ago. I can't believe it's a flat battery and that it's not somehow connected to the ongoing issues I've been having.

EDIT: I'm not sure if this comment comes across as really blunt or not - apologies if so, not meaning to be dismissive, just confused.

Edited by Becky88 on Friday 4th June 20:33

Edited by Becky88 on Friday 4th June 20:35

[Becky88]

E-bmw said:

As above, what you have just described is 100% a flat battery.

Just because it is 18 months old doesn't mean it has to be good.

It could be, that with your other issues the battery has been severely weakened and the only remaining problem is this, it certainly ins't a fuse causing it.

If you can fully charge it overnight, borrow a multimeter & test it, that will help tell you what the problem is.

I'll try to borrow or buy a multimeter to test it. I'm honestly pulling my hair out with this. I can believe the battery has been weakened by an underlying issue, but I have trouble accepting that this problem is just a random flat battery unrelated to the ongoing trouble I've had. It just seems way too coincidental to be a totally separate fault.

This car has me feeling like I'm going bloody mental.

EDIT: you also said it isn't a fuse causing the problem, yet Ford thought it was and seem clueless now I've said the car has died again. They're convinced it's not the BCM but I honestly think it is. Not only have two independent mechanics/autoelectricians diagnosed this, but multiple people in this thread think the BCM is at fault as well.

Edited by Becky88 on Friday 4th June 22:33