21-03-2020, 01:20 PM
Ford made great cars back then. I got more than 12 years from the battery in my 2001 Focus, and my wife did much the same with her 2003 Fiesta. I suspect that both would have lasted longer if we'd treated the cars better - unfortunately, the Fiesta sees mostly short journeys around town, and the Focus would sit in the garage unused for weeks (sometimes months) at a time, as that was our long-journey car.
Not everyone is aware that Fords of that era require silver calcium batteries because of the smart charge system that can rapidly recharge the battery after startup if the engine management system decides that is necessary. However, this system over-charges regular lead acid batteries, meaning the "cheap" replacement might only last a couple of years at best. Our local Ford garage sells the silver calcium batteries at quite a discount to persuade their customers to have the right sort fitted, which is quite good of them, I think.
Things have moved on a bit since then. I don't know if all manufacturers do this, but at least one that I was recently reading about uses a much smarter alternator control strategy in an attempt to save fuel and reduce emissions. Basically, rather than attempt to keep the alternator output at a steady ~13.8V whenever the engine is running, this system only supplies energy from the alternator when the vehicle is on over-run or braking. Obviously, it can't always do this - it does depend on the state of the battery, and the type of journey you're doing - but they claim a 3% reduction in CO2 under ideal conditions.
To work, it requires ECU control of the alternator, which is something our 2000s Fords already have, and also a module measuring current in to and out of the battery. After that, it's just software. The control system appears to be similar to the systems seen today for lithium batteries, determining not just current charge state, but battery health as well. All clever stuff. The battery needs to be an AGM type because of the greater number of cycles.
Since learning about this, I wonder if this goes some way towards answering a question I've had for a few years: why are modern headlights so poor? I frequently drive hire cars for work, and it's usually late in the evening when I return to base and get back in my own car (either the Focus or Fiesta). The brightness of my headlights is so much better than any modern car I've driven that still uses halogen lights, and the pattern is usually better too. The latter is just poor design (or perhaps tighter standards about beam control?), but the poor brightness might be explained by a smart-charge system. But if that's so, then I would have thought I would have noticed the brightening under breaking? Perhaps the manufacturers are just punishing customers for not paying extra for LED headlights
I did have a random intermittent fault with the Focus recently that would cause the alternator to drop out. Switching off and on again fixed it every time - you could do it while rolling providing it was safe, but as the battery is still good, it wasn't a disaster if you had to wait for 10-20 minutes for an opportunity to "reboot". But when running on battery alone, it was striking just how dim and yellow the lights were - just like on those modern hire cars.
That said, some LED headlights are terrible too. And even the good ones will gradually lose output (and cost a fortune to replace). Manufacturers really don't like people like us who keep their cars for decades.
Ford were really trying 20 years ago, and they got a lot of the basic stuff like this right. I'm not so confident in their new cars - they've been on a downward slide since the Ecoboost engines, IMHO. The new 2018 Focus got great reviews at launch, and justly so, as it is a decent step forward on the previous generations, but examples bought today have been subject to a lot of cost cutting (e.g. most don't have independent rear suspension, which is the main selling point of the Focus for me). Their new CEO has been overseeing some savage cuts over the last 2 years or so, which is a shame. They're no-doubt fine for those that are caught in lease or PCP cycles, but as a long-term proposition, I'm not so sure. Shame, as they are still pretty much best-in-class to drive. But the old ones are still excellent, and well worth keeping alive if there's no corrosion.
Not everyone is aware that Fords of that era require silver calcium batteries because of the smart charge system that can rapidly recharge the battery after startup if the engine management system decides that is necessary. However, this system over-charges regular lead acid batteries, meaning the "cheap" replacement might only last a couple of years at best. Our local Ford garage sells the silver calcium batteries at quite a discount to persuade their customers to have the right sort fitted, which is quite good of them, I think.
Things have moved on a bit since then. I don't know if all manufacturers do this, but at least one that I was recently reading about uses a much smarter alternator control strategy in an attempt to save fuel and reduce emissions. Basically, rather than attempt to keep the alternator output at a steady ~13.8V whenever the engine is running, this system only supplies energy from the alternator when the vehicle is on over-run or braking. Obviously, it can't always do this - it does depend on the state of the battery, and the type of journey you're doing - but they claim a 3% reduction in CO2 under ideal conditions.
To work, it requires ECU control of the alternator, which is something our 2000s Fords already have, and also a module measuring current in to and out of the battery. After that, it's just software. The control system appears to be similar to the systems seen today for lithium batteries, determining not just current charge state, but battery health as well. All clever stuff. The battery needs to be an AGM type because of the greater number of cycles.
Since learning about this, I wonder if this goes some way towards answering a question I've had for a few years: why are modern headlights so poor? I frequently drive hire cars for work, and it's usually late in the evening when I return to base and get back in my own car (either the Focus or Fiesta). The brightness of my headlights is so much better than any modern car I've driven that still uses halogen lights, and the pattern is usually better too. The latter is just poor design (or perhaps tighter standards about beam control?), but the poor brightness might be explained by a smart-charge system. But if that's so, then I would have thought I would have noticed the brightening under breaking? Perhaps the manufacturers are just punishing customers for not paying extra for LED headlights
I did have a random intermittent fault with the Focus recently that would cause the alternator to drop out. Switching off and on again fixed it every time - you could do it while rolling providing it was safe, but as the battery is still good, it wasn't a disaster if you had to wait for 10-20 minutes for an opportunity to "reboot". But when running on battery alone, it was striking just how dim and yellow the lights were - just like on those modern hire cars.
That said, some LED headlights are terrible too. And even the good ones will gradually lose output (and cost a fortune to replace). Manufacturers really don't like people like us who keep their cars for decades.
Ford were really trying 20 years ago, and they got a lot of the basic stuff like this right. I'm not so confident in their new cars - they've been on a downward slide since the Ecoboost engines, IMHO. The new 2018 Focus got great reviews at launch, and justly so, as it is a decent step forward on the previous generations, but examples bought today have been subject to a lot of cost cutting (e.g. most don't have independent rear suspension, which is the main selling point of the Focus for me). Their new CEO has been overseeing some savage cuts over the last 2 years or so, which is a shame. They're no-doubt fine for those that are caught in lease or PCP cycles, but as a long-term proposition, I'm not so sure. Shame, as they are still pretty much best-in-class to drive. But the old ones are still excellent, and well worth keeping alive if there's no corrosion.
