Car broken into a few days before Christmas..Advice needed please

princess 11

Hi,I went back the other day from shopping to my car Ford focus and the immobiliser wouldent open drivers door just the other doors so i opened it manually with key.Then the next night the immobiliser would not lock the doors at all and the windows wont work. i brought it to my mechanic and he tried fuses and it was not a blown fuse then he looked at passenger door and the rubber tubing was cut down the middle and wires were all hacked through.They were hacked too short on one side to be joined back together.
He said he seen it before where thieves try to break into car!!There was nothing in my car and nothing disturbed.I dont understand?Why would someone do that to someones car.I live alone with my child and it keeps running through my head that maybe it did not happen in car park,that maybe it happened outside my house the night before and i might not have locked the car so therefore it would have let me in to it before i went to carpark that day.i just dont understand why the windows only failed and car would not lock until the next day?Anyhow the mechanic just taped up the wires as i cant afford to get them fixed.Does anyone know what all them wires are for in the door?Or does anyone have an opinion on all this?Sorry its so long ..im just so upset ..and scared i guess.Keep thinking maybe it was my ex who i have a protection order against trying to hurt me and scare me.Guards say nothing can be done as no cameras in my estate or in the carpark i was in.Thanks for reading..

MarkR

I wouldn't worry about the ex. Easier to key a car or break a window, then stage a break in. Your mechanic should be able to tell if you can get a replacement wiring loom, or whatever it's called, to fix what'd been done.

In regard to what's in the door, just passes on stuff for electric windows, maybe crash sensors, light on the side mirror, and for the locks. Maybe some kid slid a saw blade down the side to try to break in? No idea if that would work or not. Not a mechanic, only guessing!

Atlantic Dawn

This is a regular occurance around Christmas time where large numbers of cars will be targetted in an area over a night, they are searching for Chrismas presents in the boots of cars. You should report it to the Gardaí, they may have similar reports of breakins the same night.

colm_mcm

The knife down the electrical connections is common enough. The aim is to short out a 12v feed the to the central locking cable. It often works.
As a precaution, double lock your car (press lock button twice on Fords I think)

km991148

colm_mcm wrote: »

As a precaution, double lock your car (press lock button twice on Fords I think)

What does double lock mean here?

As far as I remember, pressing lock twice disables the internal sensors of the alarm (in case you have a dog or or someone you kidnapped inside).

OP - hopefully an easy fix for you - dont worry about being individually targeted - its unlikely.

EDIT - apologies - getting mixed up with other brands such as BMW - too many hire cars recently!
http://www.fordmanuals.org/page-722.html

princess 11

Thanks everyone for your replies....can any of you just give me advice on something please.I cant afford to get it done yet and i need the car for to travel to hospital appts etc for my child who is very sick.I cant use windows so im finding it hard in fog,rain etc to clear the windows to see out.They keep fogging up.I have the heater aimed at windscreen to clear that and the button that circulates the air has stopped working .Any ideas ?i have a cloth in car and have to keep wiping passenger window.its just difficult with pulling out etc and its a nightmare at ticket stations at car parks.I think you have to drive past the ticket machine and get out?Thanks in advance

colm_mcm

Do you have air conditioning? If so use it.

princess 11

km991148 wrote: »

What does double lock mean here?

As far as I remember, pressing lock twice disables the internal sensors of the alarm (in case you have a dog or or someone you kidnapped inside).

OP - hopefully an easy fix for you - dont worry about being individually targeted - its unlikely.

EDIT - apologies - getting mixed up with other brands such as BMW - too many hire cars recently!
http://www.fordmanuals.org/page-722.html

Thank you very much for that link..very helpful..I am locking them inside now pushing the locks on doors as central locking isnt working anymore..thanks again

princess 11

colm_mcm wrote: »

Do you have air conditioning? If so use it.

Hi.Thanks for reply ..no it doesnt have air con..its an 2005 lx model ..thanks

MarkR

If your window is fogging up, make sure that you are taking in fresh air from the outside, rather than recirculating it. Leave the air turned on all the time. Helps to reduce moisture. It may also help to give the inside of your windows a good clean with windex or the like. Wet feet going into cars leads to extra dampness in the car, could try leaving the mats on the rads over night or something. I've also heard of using old newspaper to absorb the moisture, then taking out the newspaper, and hopefully the moisture! Get rid of damp umbrellas etc out of the car also. Your own breath also has a lot of water vapour, so as you get close to home, maybe open the window to give your car a chance to air out a small bit.

I would think that a good auto electrician should be able to do a fix on your wires, with a bit of time. May need to cut into the plastic sleeve to expose the wires a bit, but it should be doable?

BorneTobyWilde

Sounds like you are recirculating the air in the car. Car should not fog up once its warmed up and demister is in correct position.
Mechanic should of fixed the wires not taped them up. Not so hard to join some wires back together.

JoyPad

Make sure this button is not activated:


If the light is on, press it again to turn it off.

NOTE: button may have different shape, but the icon should be identical or very similar.

princess 11

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

Sounds like you are recirculating the air in the car. Car should not fog up once its warmed up and demister is in correct position.
Mechanic should of fixed the wires not taped them up. Not so hard to join some wires back together.

Hi ,Thanks for reply....I have the warm air aimed at windscreen ..Is that right..He said he couldent join them back together as the way they were cut the wires on one side were hacked too short..Thanks again

princess 11

I bought the car second hand and their is always a terrible smell of must in it.I cleaned the carpets and seats myself.I kept bringing it to mechanic ..thought their might be wet getting in and he said there wasnt.The boot is rotten smell of damp,so i pulled up the carpet and noticed water underneath it myself.He kept telling me to buy car freshners!!

Atlantic Dawn

Car may have been in a flood and insurance write off perhaps before you bought it.

elperello

Sorry to hear about the attempted break-in.

Your mechanic should be able to point you to someone else in the business if he can't fix it himself.

There is an ongoing issue with water getting into Ford Focus boots. Google Ford Focus Boot Leak and have a look.

rat catcher

Get a few old socks and put cat litter( the white ball silica type works best) in them and seal the sock. Leave them in the car overnight and they will absorb the moisture in the air. It wont fix the problem but should be a great help!

colm_mcm

If the switch is broken I think switching the heater to defrost automaically puts it to fresh air.

colm_mcm

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Car may have been in a flood and insurance write off perhaps before you bought it.

That's quite a stretch!

Of course it's possible but a leaky boot doesn't automatically mean it was in a flood.

BorneTobyWilde

princess 11 wrote: »

I bought the car second hand and their is always a terrible smell of must in it.I cleaned the carpets and seats myself.I kept bringing it to mechanic ..thought their might be wet getting in and he said there wasnt.The boot is rotten smell of damp,so i pulled up the carpet and noticed water underneath it myself.He kept telling me to buy car freshners!!

That makes it sound like you really are recirculating the air in the car. I dunno what year car it is so hard to explain, but there will be a switch with a drawing of a car on it, and in drawing of car there is an arrow that is going in a circular motion , make sure that switch is off.
If it's a manual pull/slide switch then slide it away from that drawing of car with arrow going in a circular motion, and to the drawing of a car with a straight arrow going into car.

colm_mcm

It's the button on the left. Ops car will have a blank on the right where the aircon would have been.

Gumbo

princess 11 wrote: »

Thanks everyone for your replies....can any of you just give me advice on something please.I cant afford to get it done yet and i need the car for to travel to hospital appts etc for my child who is very sick.I cant use windows so im finding it hard in fog,rain etc to clear the windows to see out.They keep fogging up.I have the heater aimed at windscreen to clear that and the button that circulates the air has stopped working .Any ideas ?i have a cloth in car and have to keep wiping passenger window.its just difficult with pulling out etc and its a nightmare at ticket stations at car parks.I think you have to drive past the ticket machine and get out?Thanks in advance

Don't Continue to drive the car in this situation. You are putting yourself, your child and other road users at risk.

colm_mcm

Try and dry the boot out if you can. If it's lx wouldn't it have windy windows in the back?

MarkR

On either side of the boot, under the mat, look for little circular rubber caps. They are like plug holes. You may have water pooling in around there. Use plug hole to let water out.

9935452

princess 11 wrote: »

Hi ,Thanks for reply....I have the warm air aimed at windscreen ..Is that right..He said he couldent join them back together as the way they were cut the wires on one side were hacked too short..Thanks again

He should be able to join the wires but it would be akward and probably just doesnt want the bother of doing it.
He might have to take off the door card or the panel beside you feet , pull the wires through, splice in a few inches or wire, push them back through and join them back up

A lot of mechanics will tell you the are mechanics not auto electricians.
A friend brought me his carolla, the radio wasnt working.
They had it in with their mechanic with an electrical problem , the electric windows and everything in the dash wasnt working and the mechanic fixed it
I found a wire in the fusebox taking power from one fuse to the next one. i took it out and lost power to the windows/dash. Botch repair
I talked to the mechanic, he told me he wasnt an auto electrician and there must be a problem with the ecu and ignition switch and he wanted to save the owners a few quid , it could cost a good bit to replace an ecu and ignition switch. i asked him about the radio, he said it wasnt working when it was in with him and no fuses were gone. I asked if there was a second fusebox in the car/under the bonnet . he said no. none in those carollas
We went home, i looked under the bonnet , found another fusebox. replaced a blown fuse and the radio worked, replaced a blown relay , removed the boys wire from the fusebox and the car worked as it should again.

princess 11

colm_mcm wrote: »

Try and dry the boot out if you can. If it's lx wouldn't it have windy windows in the back?

Thanks Colm,yes it does have roll down windows in back.I'll wait for a dry day and leave them down and air it .I will have to throw the carpet though as its rotten with damp.Thank you for reply:)

princess 11

MarkR wrote: »

On either side of the boot, under the mat, look for little circular rubber caps. They are like plug holes. You may have water pooling in around there. Use plug hole to let water out.

Thanks Mark ,I found them and there's water pooling over one of the rubber seals...

colm_mcm

Knock the rubber bung out and leave it out.

Where are you based, Princess? Friend of mine had that happen to an Astra (the loom cut for a break in) and it was repaired in Dundalk by a crowd possibly called 'Perfect Car'. I believe the overall bill was less than one hundred euro (could well be wrong though) to fix it and they had to 'extend' the loom because the wires were too short, there, also.


In relation to the wetness, friend of mine has an 07 LX Focus and his passenger footwell is always wet. He's had it to mechanic umpteen times and still none the wiser. So I can't offer any help or assistance, but just mentioning it so you know you're not alone. Apparently that model of focus gets a few leaks, mostly from the cowel at the windscreen (again, using the word 'apparently', as i've no personal experience of this myself) but I don't think that'd affect the boot.


Make sure the rubber seal all around the boot lid on the car on the inside is okay, though. Not pulling away or ripped or tore or such.

Sam Quentin

Get one of your male friends with slight knowledge of cars to open that door wide and give the loom a good eye-ball, if they can join even just a few wires back together, then you might get your windows working... remove or cut the rubber/plastic trunking grommet around the actual wires, even if he can just twist the matching ends together, they just need to touch to make a connection and be stable as door opens and close... Good luck.(do a proper job when able)