Ford Fiesta - Electrical gremlins

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Tue 15 Dec 2015 13:26
Ford Fiesta - Electrical gremlins - spfraggle

Hi everyone, I hope someone can help,

I have a 2000 Ford Fiesta Ghia 1.25. Fairly often while driving or idle, the headlights will either dim slightly or go slightly brighter. At the same time the windscreen wipers will go either faster or slower, the heater blower will speed up or show down, the dash illumination with either or brighter or dimmer. On some occasions, after the lights etc go brighter in conjunction with the other symptoms, the dash clocks will fail. They'll just act like the engine is off but the illumination will still be on. After a minute or so, they'll come back on with the needles moving to the maximum mark then back to normal. The digital display also goes out but comes back on with the rest of the lights.

I have had the battery replaced as it had a bad cell. Does this sound like an alternator problem?

Many thanks for any help anyone can offer

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Tue 15 Dec 2015 13:38
Ford Fiesta - Electrical gremlins - madf

Sign of a poor earth. There are various leads from battery which are screwed to body/chassis rails. These corrode. Undo, clean remake with copper ease.

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Tue 15 Dec 2015 13:54
Ford Fiesta - Electrical gremlins - spfraggle

Hi, Many thanks for your advice on this. I'll be honest, I'm quite a novice when it comes to car maintenence, where would I find the earth? Are they as simple as you've stated, just leads that go from the battery to the body/chassis?

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Tue 15 Dec 2015 14:43
Ford Fiesta - Electrical gremlins - elekie&a/c doctor
I would think this is more likely to be an alternator overcharging voltage issue.Could be an alternator fault or wiring to it.connect a digi meter across the battery and check the voltage when the fault occurs.
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Tue 15 Dec 2015 17:27
Ford Fiesta - Electrical gremlins - Railroad.
Check the main battery/starter motor/alternator cable at the starter solenoid terminal. A poor connection here could be your problem.
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Wed 16 Dec 2015 08:07
Ford Fiesta - Electrical gremlins - spfraggle

Thank you for all the suggestions. I'll try to get them looked at asap. I'll likely get my nephew to help as he's more engine bay savvy than me!!

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