2008 Ford Focus SES - After changing the battery, engine sputtering, no power, and won't rev past 3000 in neutral.

[fishes8]

This was the final symptom in a cascade of issues.

Initially, it was having difficulty with shifting. I took it to Jiffy Lube to swap out the transmission fluid, they said the fluid was very low and filled it up. This helped but it still wasn't shifting well. Then the car randomly died a few times while driving, like the alternator failed. However, it always responded to being jumpstarted. The battery was old and needed replacing anyway.

It was right after replacing the battery that timing issues began. I can drive it on level ground if i keep the RPMs about 2250. It has no power and can't climb hills. Before i replaced the battery performed and ODB sensor test. And cleared out the codes. My thought was if there were any lingering issues it would throw new error codes. Despite the engine having significant problems, i can't get it to generate any codes. I suspect the PCM (power control module) or ECU Module Relay Help?

 

[Handy Andy]

IT sounds more like, if they changed the fluids, and changed the Battery - did they forget to clean the connections? Either that or the battery to Terminal block they had to remove to even get the battery out - they forgot to assemble some wiring harnesses back correctly.

The reason it's not storing any codes, may be due to how / because of, the fuse block may have been damaged during the replacement - so the keep alive memory it uses - can't store any codes simply because it has no to way to remember them.

Battery Junction box, BEHIND - the battery - may need a look-see and recheck. Poor or loose ground connections can make things go awry - real quick.

Have them reclean and reassemble the battery box and review their work in the Battery Junction box, they may have damaged it.

 

[fishes8]

IT sounds more like, if they changed the fluids, and changed the Battery - did they forget to clean the connections? Either that or the battery to Terminal block they had to remove to even get the battery out - they forgot to assemble some wiring harnesses back correctly.

The reason it's not storing any codes, may be due to how / because of, the fuse block may have been damaged during the replacement - so the keep alive memory it uses - can't store any codes simply because it has no to way to remember them.

Battery Junction box, BEHIND - the battery - may need a look-see and recheck. Poor or loose ground connections can make things go awry - real quick.

Have them reclean and reassemble the battery box and review their work in the Battery Junction box, they may have damaged it.

I swapped the battery out myself. If its broken, its on me. I will try your suggestions tomorrow.

 

[Handy Andy]

When you work on a battery - the box right behind it can get bumped, so it is possible that some of the fuses need to be reseated.

When I encounter problems like with Sync "losing" track of MP3 or the radio seems to want to "hang up" I just take some time (it may seem like a ritual or a PITA moment but it does work) to simply do a system reset and pull some of the fuses in the Engine compartment to see if they are good, or just need to be pulled and reinserted - this action is like wiping - scraping off the old oxide and re-installing the fuse re-establishes the power connection better than it was.

The Battery may have bumped the housing - it may have upset a few of the fuses - they may have dislodged or when the battery posts were re-attached, the battery terminal block (distribution) and Ground point - might need a look see and possibly cleaned up - so the old battery may have failed because of the two main connections to it, one or both may have needed attention for some time because other connections not messed with for some time started developing problems - your dead battery problem just emphasized it.