2013 Ford Fiesta electrical problems - car dead

[Alex]

Hey everyone, first thank you Handy Andy for all the information. Very helpful to know and understand.

I have been working on this vehicle more again. Been using it for work, with a lot of starts and stops, and getting in and out of the car a lot. Something made the radio go full crazy. Still intermittently worked, but would make very loud hissing, popping, static noises without warning or provocation. Even without keys in the ignition, simply opening and closing the door would set it off and the noises would continue for another 20 seconds or so after walking away. It was loud enough to be heard 100 feet away with doors and windows sealed closed. Totally obnoxious.

I was going to disconnect the radio and leave it alone when I discovered a YouTube fix, actually for an F150 radio that had an identical problem--it said it was a common problem among many Ford radios. The belief was that the solder joints go bad over time, and that seemed to match the intermittent problems I was having... So I tried the suggested fix, which is to disassemble the radio and put the circuit board in the oven at 375 for 8 minutes, then let it cool without moving it so the solder joints melt and are freshened up. So far the fix seemed to have worked. 😊🤞 Time will tell...

Also replaced the AC/heater blower fan resistor and all settings on the dash control work again.

As for the transmission error codes, after resetting the codes they have not come back! 🤞

I am going to make more slow repairs on this vehicle in months ahead. It runs too well to sell it, but it needs some work to maintain it's value. We park it in the subtropical sun all year and the clear coat is gone in places, and weather seals are dry rotted, so my plan is to just keep working on it, and that includes checking more electrical grounds.

Additionally, we would have lost this car to storm surge waters had we not evacuated from Hurricane Ian. We left on Tuesday late in the day as the forecast changed to 16-18 feet of storm surge in our area. Thank God we did. All of our neighbors that stayed behind lost their cars. We among the lucky ones.

 

[Handy Andy]

So I tried the suggested fix, which is to disassemble the radio and put the circuit board in the oven at 375 for 8 minutes, then let it cool without moving it so the solder joints melt and are freshened up. So far the fix seemed to have worked.

Now that is some thinking on the larger scale...

Part of the problem during the production years - they switched from Pb (Lead) based over to a Silver / Antimony alloy for solder.

Great - no lead, which people that did not understand how Pb in it is - they think of the toxicity and exposure - Refined form is safe - the natural oxide form is not - so to simply get rid of Pb caused this headache.

The issue of Lead (Pb) is going to be a common everyday occurrence - it is in our planet and the most affected reactionary form of it, is the oxide - the reduction of Pb - and its everywhere - not just in dirt, but it's in the water table (percolation) and also in lakes (dissolution) as sediment. That is where the problem lies - in the ability to affix itself to just about anywhere silica (Earth) is - Iron (Fe) amidst other like Mercury in their oxide forms are hazardous.

Different tensile and ductile ability to withstand vibration - hence the loose connections - poor quality - and reheating this might have also helped "Dry" some of the Electrolytics capacitor galvanic action (self-immolating corrosion issues they will eat themselves alive from the acid used as a dielectric in them)

When China took over, they created a lot of boards and their populated parts, with their own technology.

As usual, as it came up to speed you get these issues because of the populated boards had these faulty parts runs, well - er - that worked, until they didn't. Usually like a time bomb - many will last 10-years then beyond that - their lifespan is questionable.

Stereos, boom boxes radio equipment - even stuff in the ISS all were affected by such things as this conversion.

With the mindset - well it has to be Pb-free so we don't kill the astronauts (not really but their thinking is along this line) - so we found a trick using silver and some other alloys - and used in a a set of companies that went bankrupt due to the liability they didn't want to deal with (LLC) knowing it was not a pure fix, but it was a transitional repair patch for equipment that can be made large scale in factories with the attitude that "Well, well will make so much of these they'll have replacement parts for generations to keep them going."

Ok, enough of this!

Gotta go back to square one and teach the kinds of right things people need to know that saves their butts - because Pb like anything else in life has to be dealt with.

Just like the Semiconductors sealed inside that epoxy for their parts - they are far more toxic than Pb - more than many realize.

You're smart to take care of these issues like Evacs' are when you did. Losing power for a couple of days already makes things tense, for over a month? (Ivan 2004) I remember Guns getting pulled out while waiting in line at the Gas station!

Just imagine what would happen in recharge lines...

 

[Alex]

Maybe this requires its own thread, but I just had a flat this morning (work related problem). But it was he sidewall, so I needed 2 new tires. Okay fine. It also needed alignment, which was obvious by the wear pattern. But it turns out the inner and outer tie rods are rusted and seized on both sides. They could not get them to budge. They quoted me $765 to replace them.

Questions: Can I replace them myself in my driveway? Or is it better to do with a lift? I know I need to get a few tools, but the parts appear to be around $400-$450, so perhaps save me a bunch even with the cost of tools.

Should I get a second quote? It does seem a little high to me.

Thanks guys.

 

[Devastate]

So I tried the suggested fix, which is to disassemble the radio and put the circuit board in the oven at 375 for 8 minutes, then let it cool without moving it so the solder joints melt and are freshened up. So far the fix seemed to have worked. 😊🤞 Time will tell... .

As someone who's knowledgeable with computer hardware, this is actually super common in that world. People do it for Graphics cards fairly often to bring them back to life. Interesting how techniques can cross-over! Glad you seem to have fixed the issues. Just wanted to insert that little tid-bit.

 

[Alex]

As someone who's knowledgeable with computer hardware, this is actually super common in that world. People do it for Graphics cards fairly often to bring them back to life. Interesting how techniques can cross-over! Glad you seem to have fixed the issues. Just wanted to insert that little tid-bit.

Yeah, it's all very interesting. I know back in the day I was told don't breathe solder fumes, so I avoided it, and now you can get inexpensive little filter fans to work next to. I never wanted to breathe the fumes no matter what it was composed of. Didn't feel like a healthy practice. And I have wondered why they moved away from lead. Thanks for the history!