Focus MKII weirdness on start

The_B_Man

I've a 2006 Ford Focus MKII.
Never had any trouble with it, but recently I've noticed something when I start her up.

When I turn the key, there's a bang or a thud. Not sure where it's coming from. Possibly the engine, possibly the speakers. I can't tell.
Also, I notice that my lights flicker on for a split second.

I never noticed this before a few weeks ago, so I assume its new.

Last service was August from official Ford garage.

I did notice the oil level was a bit low, which I topped up, but apart form that I can't see anything wrong. It still drives fine, its just when I start it there's this bang.

Does anyone know if I should be worried about this?

biko

Have someone else start car with bonnet open and you standing outside.

martinr5232

The lights flickering sounds like a faulty battery.

Do the needles on your gauges move up and down on the stops for a second or two when the car starts if they do it needs a battery.

The_B_Man

biko wrote: »

Have someone else start car with bonnet open and you standing outside.

Would you believe that was the first thing I did the other week, and the car started fine and I couldn't reproduce the problem!! It's a lot more steady now, and happens pretty much every start, so I'll try this again.

martinr5232 wrote: »

The lights flickering sounds like a faulty battery.

Do the needles on your gauges move up and down on the stops for a second or two when the car starts if they do it needs a battery.

Ye I was thinking it had something to do with the electrics. Especially if the bang is from the speakers in the car, rather than the engine!

biko

It's really cold now too so the battery may be feeling it.
How old is battery?

The_B_Man

Well I got the car 2.5 years ago and haven't changed the battery since. Now whether it was changed recently before I bought it, or if its still the same one since 2006, I don't know.

Is there any way I can tell by looking at it?

endacl

I had the same issue with the same model. Battery World in Kimmage checked the battery (zombie) and alternator (grand) for free. New battery was 50 notes, and the car is going like clockwork.

The_B_Man

Did you notice that the headlights would dim if you put the A/C on?
Just spent the last while reading online and I'm noticing some similar symptoms to other stuff. Whether its all related to the battery, or if there's multiple problems, I don't know.

Would a bogey battery really cause the headlights to flash on at start, as well as a bang, which I'm starting to think is the speakers (similar to when you plug a guitar chord into an amp). Will confirm tonight if thats the speakers or engine though.

biko

Turn stereo off, this will eliminate speakers.
But yeah, as I just said in another thread, an old battery and close to freezing degrees might cause all kinds of weird issues.

The_B_Man

biko wrote: »

Turn stereo off, this will eliminate speakers.
But yeah, as I just said in another thread, an old battery and close to freezing degrees might cause all kinds of weird issues.

I do agree with you, but that's a new symptom. It didn't happen up until recently.
So rather than leave the radio off, I'd rather fix the root cause.

Like I said, I'll give it another check tonight and see if its the engine that's making the noise.

Then I might look at lobbing in a new battery next weekend.

Incidentally, does the battery have some kind of install date on it, so I could check how old it is?

Special Circumstances

The_B_Man wrote: »

I do agree with you, but that's a new symptom. It didn't happen up until recently.
So rather than leave the radio off, I'd rather fix the root cause.

Like I said, I'll give it another check tonight and see if its the engine that's making the noise.

Then I might look at lobbing in a new battery next weekend.

Incidentally, does the battery have some kind of install date on it, so I could check how old it is?

Biko is suggesting turning the radio off as a debug step.... not a solution

Not sure if it applies to all, but for BMW factory fit batteries:
"OEM BMW batteries have a date code stamped on top of the negative terminal in XX/XX (week/year) format.
eg: 25/02 = 25th week of 2002."

The_B_Man

I came on to say that I couldn't find the date code stamped near the negative terminal, but now I see you said ON the negative terminal.
I did notice two sets of numbers, but I figured they were too far fetched to be the date stamp.

surely this can't be right?

As you can see it says 05/45, meaning the 45th week of 2005. So that makes the battery 11 years old...

Special Circumstances

The_B_Man wrote: »

surely this can't be right?

As you can see it says 05/45, meaning the 45th week of 2005. So that makes the battery 11 years old...

OEM batteries seem to last way longer than replacement ones, in my limited experience. Herselfs BMW battery had a similar lifespan. The replacement Inci Aku from the local quality motor factors.... not so much

biko

Anything is possible. Other people here, myself included, have ran the same battery for close to ten years before it gave up the ghost, usually during winter.

So what happened when you turned the stereo off and opened the bonnet? Any sounds?

mullingar

Which engine Op?

Also, the Mk2 Focus uses a Silver Calcium battery. Use any other type and it WILL cause weird charging problems as the charging voltage is different

The_B_Man

biko wrote: »

Anything is possible. Other people here, myself included, have ran the same battery for close to ten years before it gave up the ghost, usually during winter.

So what happened when you turned the stereo off and opened the bonnet? Any sounds?

There was no bang. So it's safe to say its not coming from the engine.

mullingar wrote: »

Which engine Op?

Also, the Mk2 Focus uses a Silver Calcium battery. Use any other type and it WILL cause weird charging problems as the charging voltage is different

The engine is a 1.4 petrol.
Going by the attached photo above, it looks like the battery is the same one that came with the car from the factory in 2006, so I'd imagine its Silver Calcium.

endacl

biko wrote: »

Anything is possible. Other people here, myself included, have ran the same battery for close to ten years before it gave up the ghost, usually during winter.

So what happened when you turned the stereo off and opened the bonnet? Any sounds?

Yep. Mine was the original.