ford focus wont start and fuse box just clicks?

[whatnow]

I've just gone to start my focus and all i'm getting is the seatbelt light and oil lights and clicking from the fuse box (behind the glove compartment), then when I turn the ignition off it does a one second long beep at me.

any ideas or things to check??

tia,


gonna check the battery terminals (it's frosty down here) and also the fuses...

[whatnow]

it doesn't even do this every time now, if I turn the ignition the above lights come on, plus the park light is on but faded, if I turn on the wipers or lights, these all fade out. Is my battery just in need or a charge?? I know nothing about cars!!

edit: I did check the fuse box and they are all in tact, so this probably isn't the problem...

[Swiss Tony]

sounds like your battery is fooked mate, happens more in winter as the anode/cathode in the battery have to work harder, firstly put a meter on the batter and check you have 11.8-12v then start the car and check you have 13v +, if not then your alternator isn't charging the battery. If you do have 13v+ your battery is fucked

[whatnow]

cheers boss, i had a reading of 5v! lol new battery = car starts.

i wasn't prepared for christmas shafting.

[DejaVu]

Bit late for this I guess but...

Did you check the battery fluid and then try charging it up? Might only have cost a couple of quid for some dionised water!

[delambo]

put a meter on the batter and check you have 11.8-12v

Dont mean to undermine you Swiss but you should have more like 12.8-13.2 volts for a good battery. Each cell is 2.2 volts and there are 6 cells in the battery. A 12 volt battery is considered to be "flat" before it even reaches 12 volts.

As for the charging, it shold be reading 13.8-14.2 volts if it is charging correctly but it is better to measure the amperage rather than the voltage. Load the system with all the lights, heated screens, seats etc and measure the amperage, if it is 0 or above then the alternator is OK, if it reads below 0 amps then the alternator is faulty.