Ford Mondeo 13 Reg - No key to ECU connection

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Fri 24 Feb 2017 08:53
Ford Mondeo 13 Reg - No key to ECU connection - Steveieb
My work colleagues Mondeo left him stranded and the car was recovered to the Main dealer.
The diagnosis is an new Abs unit at £2600 and if this does not sort it a new instrument binnacle bringing the bill to £4600
The car is immobile so the garage has been given the go ahead. But is this a known problem and is there any chance of getting a goodwill payment from Ford?
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Fri 24 Feb 2017 09:03
Ford Mondeo 13 Reg - No key to ECU connection - RobJP

Might I suggest he finds out regarding a potential goodwill payment BEFORE allowing them to get on with the work.

Not much point in finding out after they've started or when they present him with the bill.

If the car is immobile it can still be recovered elsewhere for work to be carried out. It's not nailed down.

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Fri 24 Feb 2017 11:00
Ford Mondeo 13 Reg - No key to ECU connection - Steveieb
How right you are Rob but it looks as if it is too late. the car has covered 18000 miles and is just out of warranty.
Have you heard of catestrophic failures like this affecting this model which I understand was one of the last to be produced by the Ghent factory?
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Fri 24 Feb 2017 11:13
Ford Mondeo 13 Reg - No key to ECU connection - SLO76
I'm no auto spark but I fail to see why the ABS control module would stop the car from running or be related to the instrument binnacle. Did the car suddenly stop running? What are the symptoms?

There should be fault codes logged to direct the garage towards the fault instead of this plan to replace one hugely overpriced component to see if it'll work then move onto another. If Ford don't agree upfront to paying the bulk of it as a goodwill gesture (unlikely with Ford) then I'd have the car recovered to the nearest auto electrian who'll actually diagnose what's wrong and repair instead of replace the parts involved at a tiny fraction of the cost quoted here.

It costs them buttons to manufacture the likes of a relatively simple ABS control module, the figure of £2,600 is insanity as is £2,000 for an instrument binnacle.

Edited by SLO76 on 24/02/2017 at 11:14

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Fri 24 Feb 2017 13:00
Ford Mondeo 13 Reg - No key to ECU connection - elekie&a/c doctor
Not seen an abs unit fail on one of these,but I would say it is part of the immobiliser can network,as is the dash pod and will cause a no start if faulty.Do they have a test plan or are they guessing?
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Fri 24 Feb 2017 13:08
Ford Mondeo 13 Reg - No key to ECU connection - craig-pd130

Neither the ABS unit nor the instrument binnacle are 'wear and tear' items, they should both last for the usable lifespan of the car, and so I would expect Ford to fix this nothing, especially as it is only just out of warranty.

Your colleague should contact the garage and tell them not to proceed until this is authorised, and then he should contact Ford UK's customer services and take it up with them directly.

I got a complete replacement wiring loom done for free on my in-laws' Focus when the car was 6 months out of warranty and the loom was causing several intermittent faults. I argued to Ford UK's customer services that the loom should be expected to last the lifetime of the car, and is not a service item.

But you have to do this lobbying / arguing directly yourself, you can never rely on the dealer to do it for you.

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Fri 24 Feb 2017 13:27
Ford Mondeo 13 Reg - No key to ECU connection - hardway

These Fords run a CAN BUS comunication system.

What that means is every module has to work.

And a module is anything fitted with a computer chip,

ECU,ABS ect........

So if either the ABS or dash is faulty the relay that powers the starter solenoid will not be energised so no start.

A simple test that I've used is to unplug all the modules one at a time and check for crank.

If say it was the ABS then unplugging it removes it from the tested system,

It would then crank.

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Fri 24 Feb 2017 18:33
Ford Mondeo 13 Reg - No key to ECU connection - Steveieb
Really appreciate all your guidance. I will keep you posted. Cheers
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Sat 25 Feb 2017 21:32
Ford Mondeo 13 Reg - No key to ECU connection - injection doc

Not the first one i have come across thats imobilised and it appears its the ABS module.

They actually break a wire in the loom. The loom is too short and tight on a multiplug.

The last one i dealt with the wire was short somewhere near the gearbox area. It was about 9 months ago and really dont remember too much.

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Sun 26 Feb 2017 09:04
Ford Mondeo 13 Reg - No key to ECU connection - Steveieb
Thank you so much doc. How on earth did you find this fault and was the wire broken inside the insulation. Also did you fit a new loom or did you locate the exact wire and solder it?
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Fri 3 Mar 2017 09:52
Ford Mondeo 13 Reg - No key to ECU connection - Steveieb
Brilliant diagnosis doc.It was the wiring fault you identified. But Main dealer claimed the abs unit was faulty as well as a wiring fault!
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