Battery coding

Q Thanks for a great magazine and thanks for your help with my issues in the past. My current problem is with my 2016 Ford Kuga 2.0 TDCI 150 2WD manual with Stop-start.

I have had the car for a year and it’s been fine, but the Stop-start has barely worked in that time, which never bothered me. Recently I have had a couple of instances where the car wouldn’t start, usually after being started up briefly and backed off the drive to allow my wife’s car out, so the car never got a run. I have charged the battery using my CTEK 5A smart charger but there doesn’t seem to be more than two starts in the battery unless it’s taken for a long run in between.

I understand that the car has an EFB battery, it looks like the Ford original and is rated at 75Ah 730CCA.

My question is, does the battery need coding to the car if replaced, and is this something that needs special diagnostic equipment? Also is there any way to make sure that it is definitely the battery that is at fault? I don’t want to spend around £150 if it’s something else!

Thanks in advance for your help.

John Hardy A

From your description and from the age of the vehicle, I would suspect that it is the battery at fault. The first sign that the battery is not fully operational is when the Stop-start fails to operate. This is due to the vehicle systems detecting that the battery is not up to capacity and does not have the reserve energy to operate the system. To confirm this, it would be worth checking that the battery is charging at around 14.8-volts when the engine is running at around 12.6-volts when standing, with the engine off.

On your Kuga no battery coding is not required and the only reset procedure required after replacing the battery is the automatic operation on the windows, and the sunroof and blinds if fitted. This is carried out as follows:

▶ Switch the ignition on, then lift and hold window switch to fully close the window. Release switch, then lift and hold the window switch for one second.

▶ Next press and hold the window switch to fully open window and release the switch. Then lift and hold the window switch to fully close the window.

Check that the window now operates correctly using the one-touch system, if not repeat procedure. Repeat the procedure for the remaining windows.