So I'm driving along yesterday, thinking what a great car my old Mondeo has been since I got it.....

[ajlelectronics]

20 miles test drive today. Started perfectly, and when I got back I measured voltage at the battery, 12.6 volts. I shall rinse and repeat several more times and see if it goes belly up again before I trust it to drive to the shops etc. One glitch and I shall force a new battery down its throat.

Test the voltage at least 30 minutes after switching off. Even so, terminal voltage tells you nothing about its current capability.

 

[Morrisman]

Test the voltage at least 30 minutes after switching off. Even so, terminal voltage tells you nothing about its current capability.

Yes, I'm checking regularly to see if theres a big drop after either a drive, or after a few days of no use. I don't want to chuck another £150 of battery at it only to find its not the battery.
I have an idea the bit of green I found on the BCM terminals might be the cause, but it doesn't really explain where all the power went to, no heat, no lights on, nothing melted....

 

[Bobupndown]

This is what you need.

 

[Morrisman]

View attachment 431924
This is what you need.

Nah, not yet, but I'll carry a jar just in case.

 

[ajlelectronics]

but it doesn't really explain where all the power went to, no heat, no lights on, nothing melted....

That is how batteries at the end of their lives often go.

 

[Morrisman]

All has been going swimmingly since the last battery problem. Never had a flat battery again, checked it quite a few times, opened the BCM a couple of times to check no more liquid inside, all good.

Then my windscreen washer wouldn’t work heading to the hospital yesterday morning. I rolled underneath today, took the pump out, connected 12 volts and it does nothing. While it’s apart I thought I’d check inside the BCM box…and there’s a couple of tiny globules of wet stuff inside the socket it leaked into before.

I’ve ordered a new washer pump, and I’m hoping and praying it’s as simple as that.

Off to Halfords now to buy some contact cleaner spray, to once again clean and dry the BCM.

 

[prepman]

Just wondering if that's the same issue with my old Kuga I'm trying to offload. It is certainly a BCM comms issue.
Either that or scrap?

 

[Nomad]

I've not read the whole thread but similar to posts in the first few pages .. my BMW 2007- (the one that had only a digital oil level gauge - no manual dipstick) gave me a scare :
Error message "Oil is low - add 1L oil"
I added oil, restarted, got same message - I add another 1L oil
I added oil, restarted, got same message - and decided the sensor must be faulty then realise I've just over filled the engine with 2L of oil

These engines are famous / notorious for oil wicking back up the wiring harness from the sensors in the block and causing all kinds of problems if you over-fill the sump.
This was at the start of a 500 mile trip for me so I didn't have the option to drain the oil immediately, what should have been a relaxing trip wasn't

 

[Morrisman]

I've not read the whole thread but similar to posts in the first few pages .. my BMW 2007- (the one that had only a digital oil level gauge - no manual dipstick) gave me a scare :
Error message "Oil is low - add 1L oil"
I added oil, restarted, got same message - I add another 1L oil
I added oil, restarted, got same message - and decided the sensor must be faulty then realise I've just over filled the engine with 2L of oil

These engines are famous / notorious for oil wicking back up the wiring harness from the sensors in the block and causing all kinds of problems if you over-fill the sump.
This was at the start of a 500 mile trip for me so I didn't have the option to drain the oil immediately, what should have been a relaxing trip wasn't

I simply cannot understand why they have to be so complicated. I mean, why would you need a complicated circuit board with hundreds of electronics to do simple things like wipers, washers, headlights, oil level etc? What’s wrong with a switch, a fuse, maybe a relay, to operate the vast majority of electrical functions on a car.

And there are 3 such boards on my Mondeo.

Anyway, I ordered a new washer pump, fitted it, and it appears to work. The one I took off was sopping wet and rusty inside, after I cut it open, so it obviously leaks as badly as the original Ford one did.

The other ball ache is the location, up under the front skirt, hard to see, hard to reach, wires just a bit too short to pull it out through the faux vent hole and work on it etc.

 

[jsf55]

Even after stripping the loom down on the LS and getting rid of the body control side in the settings, i was the best part of 80 wires too run it with the autobox what goes on inside the ecu sees me 5 years in learning stuff !

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

I simply cannot understand why they have to be so complicated.

Seems the way of things...make things overly complex but with zero common sense as far as I can tell!

 

[dobbslc]

It's because all industry is full of graduate engineers straight out of university not actual engineers that have got their hands dirty and really worked on things.
Plus company's are now run by the accountants so it's a sorry tale of spiralling into oblivion

 

[Morrisman]

Even after stripping the loom down on the LS and getting rid of the body control side in the settings, i was the best part of 80 wires too run it with the autobox what goes on inside the ecu sees me 5 years in learning stuff !

I remember an episode of Roadkill, that American series with Dave Freiburger, they had some company install a late model supercharged 850hp muscle car motor into an old Camaro. The guys who did the installation had to use the entire uncut wiring harness off the original car, as it was so complicated even the experts were unable to trim it down or thin it out, and still have the motor running properly.

Another program, they did a similar mega complex install but the motor wouldn’t run, experts were brought in, diagnostics done, and it turns out the cigarette lighter had not been hooked up, so the ECU locked out the motor….

 

[addjunkie]

It's because all industry is full of graduate engineers straight out of university not actual engineers that have got their hands dirty and really worked on things.
Plus company's are now run by the accountants so it's a sorry tale of spiralling into oblivion

And because engineers like to fiddle on making things marginally better than the previous one to justify their salary. Also the accountants insit companies sell product for return on investment. If all new stuff was the same as the old no one would buy it.

 

[Morrisman]

And because engineers like to fiddle on making things marginally better than the previous one to justify their salary. Also the accountants insit companies sell product for return on investment. If all new stuff was the same as the old no one would buy it.

Gadgets and gimmicks, an array of smoke and mirrors to dazzle and impress the prospective punter…..

 

[dobbslc]

Personally I think we should have stayed at the early 90's for mechanical items and the 50's for how society should work.
I was born in 71 but I like the look of post WW2 life in all the films and miss Marple etc

 

[Bobupndown]

The other ball ache is the location, up under the front skirt, hard to see, hard to reach, wires just a bit too short to pull it out through the faux vent hole and work on it etc.

Yes had to remove bumpers or wheels and wheelarch liners to access washerpumps / bottles in the past. Is packaging really so tight that they can't be accommodated under the bonnet, or even in the boot like they used to be?