Without a battery, starter, alternator and about 17 kilometers of copper wire, almost NOTHING works in your Mondeo – at least not in a coordinated way: with a discharged battery, the starter goes on strike, without a starter, the engine is silent, without an engine, the alternator rests, and without copper wire, all three major players are out of business.
Electric current is the "life juice" for engine management
Like all cars, your Mondeo is powered by electricity when driving. Its subsystems, such as engine management, fuel injection or lighting systems depend on the "current". And with such a dependency, it is not surprising that many drivers associate their unpleasant incidents with the trio: battery - generator - starter. Their cause is most often hidden under the engine hood, that is, in the places where these three main artists live and work and their periphery. In their defense, we can say the following: the prevailing working conditions there are not so ideal: sometimes it is cold, most often too hot, sometimes humid, and sometimes wet. In addition, many current consumers sit in places of exposure - so failures in on-board electrical equipment are already programmed. In addition, the battery sometimes capitulates to severe frost or extreme heat.
Easy to fix - minor problems with on-board electrical equipment
After listening to the lecture on this chapter, of course, no more convincing arguments come to mind regarding capitulating to a "dead" switch or a "black" light bulb. Most often, a rusty wire connection or a rusty contact that got "along the way" is "involved". Most faults in on-board electrical equipment can be eliminated by simple means. Even if you are not a "certified stripper worm" and you do not have any ambitions to become a professional electrician.
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TECHNICAL DICTIONARY |
Basic concepts of electrical engineering
Electric voltage (current) flows only in a closed electric circuit. Electric circuits consist of a current producer (e.g. battery, generator), a consumer (e.g. incandescent lamp, starter, electric motor) and cable bundles with their individual wires. Cable bundles implement connections between current producers and consumers.
The following example clearly explains the basic concepts of electrical engineering: imagine a water supply network in which water of a certain amount flows under a certain pressure from point A (producer) to point B (consumer). Something similar happens in the electrical circuits of your Mondeo. For example, when the light in the cabin turns on automatically when you open the door.
Voltage: It corresponds to the water pressure in the water supply system. The dimension of voltage is Volt (V).
Current: Corresponds to the water flow that flows through a pipeline over a certain period of time. Current unit is Ampere (A).
Power: The product of voltage and current. It also determines how much power an electrical consumer receives from a current producer. It is given in Watts (W).
Resistance: It can be compared to a shut-off water tap. If it is fully opened, water flows freely into the pipeline (resistance 0). When the tap is closed, the resistance continuously increases until it stops flowing (resistance ∞). The dimension of this quantity is Ohm (W).
Wire: Corresponds to a water supply manifold. The required wire thickness (cross-section) depends on the consumer: control lamps can easily do with a wire thickness of 0.5 mm². On the contrary, a consumer such as a starter requires a wire with a cross-section of 16 mm² - in our example, this would correspond to connecting a main pipeline. A thin wire quickly heats up - and the voltage inevitably drops. As a result, for example, not 12 volts reach the headlights, but only 10 or even 9.5 volts - this becomes noticeable by the dim light. |
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PRACTICAL ADVICE |
Battery regulations
In Germany, regulations on "working with batteries" have been in force for several years for the purchase and disposal of starter batteries. However, they are still unknown to the end user. Although this set of rules is addressed equally to the seller, the workshop staff and the end user. According to it, the end user must dispose of the old battery via the seller or the workshop. Returns are free of charge, only special rules apply when buying a new starter battery. Our overview presents the most important points. - For the starter battery that you purchase from a dealer or a workshop, the dealer automatically charges a "refundable deposit" of 7 euros. As a corresponding confirmation, you receive a receipt or a deposit stamp upon purchase.
- These rules contain a major exception: you are not charged a deposit if you return the old battery when you buy it. If the seller or repair shop has already calculated the deposit price for the old battery, you get your money back upon presentation of the receipt.
- You can only redeem your deposit from the seller when you buy a new battery. To do this, you must hand over the old battery and the receipt (deposit stamp).
- The old battery, of course, does not have to be identical to the purchased starter battery: with the receipt you can give away any starter battery.
- When purchasing, return the old battery for which you have not yet paid a deposit, regardless of where the battery comes from: the deposit price is not included in the price of the new battery.
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