Relay control fault.

[Bing]

Hi all.
I have an issue with my 2008 Ford Mondeo estate Diesel 5 door Titanium.
This morning when I went to the vehicle the door opened with no sound or flashing indicators? I pressed the start pushbutton, but nothing completely dead. After 30 minutes of messing about I phoned the RAC. The mechanic tested the Battery +3V so the Battery had run down. He put a Battery pack on it & quickly had it running. On further investigation he found that when switched off there was a relay pulling in every 60 seconds. There was no labelling on the lid of the cover so couldn't establish what was calling on the the Relay. he said to take it to a garage for a diagnostic check.
I remembered that I had a similar fault last year where when I pressed the pushbutton in to start it would blow a 20A fuse. The garage did a good job in finding that part of the wiring loom behind the dash had worn through rubbing on a bracket creating a short circuit. They taped up the looming & its been alright since. However, if I remove the said Relay Ford Mondeo Relay 669T - 14B192 -EA the car won't start at all so I'm now suspecting that this new fault is on the same circuit as the pushbutton Start? I swapped 2 similar Relays but the fault remains the same? Every 60 seconds it gets a pulse & will eventually flatten the Battery. I've made sure that the intermittent wipers are switched off & cannot think of another timing issue that would cause this?
Any idea's folk?

Best regards.

Steve.

 

[carmanmemoranda]

These have had wiring and fuse box issues.

Seem to recall Ford changing fuseboxes under warranty. With the age of yours you might be better off with an auto electrician. Almost certain they will have seen the issue before and know the answer and rough cost off hand

 

[Bing]

Hi Carman.
Thanks for your reply it is appreciated. Tried an Auto electrician £75 an hour with no guarantee that he can find the fault. I'm having to remove the relay whilst its parked up for time being. The fact that it pulses every 60 seconds suggests to me that something is still switched on like intermittent wipers? but there not on. I can't think of anything else that would be on a 60 second timer?

Thanks.

 

[carmanmemoranda]

Hi Carman.
Thanks for your reply it is appreciated. Tried an Auto electrician £75 an hour with no guarantee that he can find the fault. I'm having to remove the relay whilst its parked up for time being. The fact that it pulses every 60 seconds suggests to me that something is still switched on like intermittent wipers? but there not on. I can't think of anything else that would be on a 60 second timer?

Thanks.

surprised by that answer from electrician if honest.
any independent Ford specialists, not dealers local to you? What area of UK are you without being too specific

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Hi Carman.
Thanks for your reply it is appreciated. Tried an Auto electrician £75 an hour with no guarantee that he can find the fault. I'm having to remove the relay whilst its parked up for time being. The fact that it pulses every 60 seconds suggests to me that something is still switched on like intermittent wipers? but there not on. I can't think of anything else that would be on a 60 second timer?

Thanks.

Try a different auto electrician or the garage you used before sounded alright.

 

[Bing]

Good morning.
I'm in Salford M6 area. I just phoned the RAC again asking to be put through to the Tech Support department. I was told that it closed down back in March & their support now is solely for their own Mechanics!
The Garage I used last time have said that its £105 to start the job & then??? after the 1st hour!
if I knew what Relay 669T - 14B192 - EA was for I would have an idea what was switching it on? There are 3 of these in the same box. I have swapped with one of them & that relay switches on also, every 57 - 60 seconds. Like I said earlier its as though something as been left on like intermittent wipers? Do you know of anything else that would activate a timer when the engine is off? if I leave the Relay out the engine won't start up so it is something to do with the start up circuit?
Kind regards.

Bing.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

You could try the Mondeo forums.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

There are 3 of these in the same box. I have swapped with one of them & that relay switches on also, every 57 - 60 seconds.

Usually there is a pictogram along side fuses and relays, to indicate what the purpose of each is, plus a fuse/relay number - is there nothing like that? From that you may be able to identify is from Ford's list.

Take a wide photo of the relay, in situ, so it's purpose can be identified.

Wild guess - the fault will eventually traced to some loom damage, or moisture getting to the body control unit (BCU).

 

[carmanmemoranda]

Usually there is a pictogram along side fuses and relays, to indicate what the purpose of each is, plus a fuse/relay number - is there nothing like that? From that you may be able to identify is from Ford's list.

Take a wide photo of the relay, in situ, so it's purpose can be identified.

Wild guess - the fault will eventually traced to some loom damage, or moisture getting to the body control unit (BCU).

I think the pulsing is a bit of a red herring. Fuse box, wiring or bcu issues i think too,

 

[Bing]

Morning all.
Thanks for your input into trying to resolve my issue. There is no Pictogram for the said relay + another?
I will give the Mondeo forum a go Freddie but feel I'm just going round in circles? I'm not overly worried just yet as long as I remember to pull the relay each time I park up! Lol. But this will soon become annoying.
Harry I kind of agree about the Loom damage seeing as this was the issue last time, However, its not shorting out this time & something is definitely activating a timer hence every 58 seconds the Relay pulses? I put a stop watch on it, Surely a wiring loom damage would only cause a short circuit & not trigger a timer?

Bing.

 

[Burnerman]

Just on the off chance....
Does the immobiliser lamp flash on the dash with the same frequency - and does the interior light behave when it's set to it's normal 'on when doors are open, off after a time'?
John

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Harry I kind of agree about the Loom damage seeing as this was the issue last time, However, its not shorting out this time & something is definitely activating a timer hence every 58 seconds the Relay pulses? I put a stop watch on it, Surely a wiring loom damage would only cause a short circuit & not trigger a timer?

A loom/BCU fault, could be triggering the timer, then the timer operating the relay.

 

[Bing]

Hi folks.
Burnerman. The Door lights.apear to work fine on when the doors are open off after 28 seconds when closed. The tailgate light goes off immediately the tailgate is closed.
The Car does have an immobiliser but not sure where dash LED is & the same frequency as what exactly? Nowvyou've mentioned it I had problem a few weeks back on Nights where the immobiliser would start to sound randomly. When I was told about it on each occasion I went out to check that everything was alright & it was.

 

[Bing]

The Relay with the Yellow X is the problematic Relay.
Just one thing I remember is when I 1st open the Car Monday morning the Tailgate was still locked even though the other 4 doors were all unlocked?

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

The Relay with the Yellow X is the problematic Relay.
Just one thing I remember is when I 1st open the Car Monday morning the Tailgate was still locked even though the other 4 doors were all unlocked?

All three of those similar relays appear to be identical relays - you could try swapping them. You could also try pulling the fuses, to see which, if any, stop the cycling relay - then try to trace the purpose of the fuse. Some where you will be able to find a legend for the relays and fuses. Mine, not a Ford has the legend in the lid of the under-bonnet fuse panel and another one stuck to the back of the panel you remove, inside the car to access the mass of fuses in there.

Another idea might be to monitor the current between battery and that relay/fuse panel, with all doors closed and locked, brick on bonnet sensor if there is one. Once car has gone to full sleep, it should register around 20 to 50mA.