Hi Guys,

yesterday for no apparent reason I couldn't get any cold air from my aircon, this was completely random but I didn't think it would be anything serious. Last night I was having a little trouble starting the car and i started to worry a little bit.

Today the aircon was working fine but I ended up having to call NRMA because I couldn't get the car started at all, however while I waited for him (about 40 mins) I gave it another try and it started, he said maybe it was a software glitch!

When I say won't start basically the instruments light up etc.. but that's it, no clicks just nothing but a light bumping noise coming from what I assume is the fuel pump, the centre dash screen flashes on and off with each light bump but definitily no clicks of any action from the engine. Sometimes this is just a delay and after a few seconds she kicks over but today it was just dead.

The battery and engine and severe warning lights all lit up but once it starts there are no warnings so I'm not really sure what this could mean. The car is a 2008 model with only 27k on the clock so I don't think it's ware and tare. Has anyone got any idea what could be causing this?

I'll probably end up taking it to ford to take a look but I thought I should ask first as it may something very simple.

Cheers
Ned

The new model falcons have all sorts of issues with a dying battery...

If the battery goes under 9 or 10V when cranking it lodges codes in the computer and will cause all sorts of weird s**t to happen... From not starting to missing when running and everything else in between...

I would get your battery tested... Make sure it is still handing out enough cold cranking amps to the car... The BA onward I think need a 430CCA battery? And if this is the case it'll need to go to Ford to have the codes cleared...

The can put the car on the IDS and generally when the battery is on the way out it'll just a s**t load of random codes... If they clear them and crank it again and it misbehaves they'll usually show straight back up...

That's where I'd start anywhere... Battery issues on modern cars are just a complete nightmare...

Cheers,
Tim

Cheers Tim,

I might take it into ford tomorrow then, I thought it could be battery related but the AU never did this sort of thing with a failing battery so I wasn't sure.

It is almost 4 years old and doesn't get out much so it would make sense that the battery is not up to par.

Like you said older cars get the solenoid click up when they fail... The BA onwards seem to lodge codes and cause the PCM to do strange s**t... The battery only has to drop volts for one start (which indicates it is close to dying, but not yet dead) and that's it... What happens next is anyone's guess...

Where with the ED, when the cranking starts to slow and painful I know to start chasing prices for a new battery... New cars are bordering on too much hassle to own... For some reason Ford felt the need to overcomplicate things...

Post up the result and let us know what it happens to be anyway...

Cheers,
Tim

it's funny, my $100 electric toothbrush tells me when it needs recharging but my $30000+ car wouldn't have a clue!

A/C Issue In FG Falcon:

Make sure the battery is ok and charged before doing anything or try to diagonsis electrical faults !

Early vehicles had a bad batch of HIM modules, most of them dealt with these days though, the HIM can sometimes move way to far with the blend doors or blender mixer shaft and break them, rare cases though, and can sometimes cut the air con as it is a gateway for communication.

Later findings, i have found before it was known the battery would go flat in the later FG's causing it to log a low voltage code in the pcm, and change the stragedy, so it would hit high pressure 3 times and cut the a/c by memory and i also have had the wac relay cut a/c on wide open throttle as usual and then not cut the a/c compressor back in, some later cal files help remedy this, have had alot of wins with this but not all, and be willing to pay for anything as this is caused by a flat battery not ford themselves supposedly, they did not cause it to go flat so thats the arguement, if not:

Have also seen the fuse terminals or the wac relay or earlier models with a/c and wac relays seperate loose and not contacting correctly, i find its most of the time you can just go wide open throttle at stationary idle, and the a/c compressor does not cut in, and stupidly enough i can walk up to the junction fuse box in the engine bay and tap it on top and it will cut back in, i so go looking for the reasons why after that, its somewhere in there.

If the a/c is only cold on the drivers side, sometimes it can be there is not enough gas in the a/c system, so regassing it can sometimes be the fix, but then you have to work out if it was working fine before hand and has slowly got worse over time where the leak is if any.

Mixer shafts can break, but sometimes i see the blend doors cause trouble with intermitent eg: when set to cold : hot one day on either side and then the next one hot and one cold then the next working ok and so on, the doors can seperate at the top edge where the shaft goes through and even though the blender shaft moves via the positioning from the HIM module the door may not move and stays in the one place, there is later issued blend doors to try and fix this problem and a running change of the heater box to try and remedy this fully ...

Just a few things as a guide only do not take everything as been correct some odd things happen that people never see or have heard of, if this helps a few people out great! .