I had the clock spring replaced on my 2007 Ford Focus replaced at the dealership exactly 1 month ago because the airbag light kept going on and off. I paid about $200 for that repair.
Yesterday when I was driving home (after being on the highway for about 20 miles) everything on the dash went dead except for the ABS light. When I tried to turn the radio back on, it said “Low Battery.”
I was able to make it to the dealership, but as soon as I turned off the engine, it was completely dead. When I turned the key, a couple of lights came on but it wouldn’t even turn over.
Is is possible that the mechanic didn’t hook the battery up correctly after replacing the clock spring? Should I expect the dealership to pick up the cost for whatever needs replacing now? Or is this just really bad luck?
Sounds more like coincidence to me. If they had failed to hook up the battery correctly it would have died long before now.
I’m sure they will check the battery and alternator.
If the battery in the car is original it may be time for a new one.
What the heck is the clock spring?
It’s under the air bag in the steering wheel. It gets discussed here frequently. You can probably find it by searching for it.
There is not a lot involved in hooking the battery up correctly and after 30 second look it can be determined if your battery is hooked up correctly. It was not a bad idea at all to suspect the battery was not hooked up correctly (hooked up correctly means the cables being clean and tight) as the mechanic would have disconnected the battery for the clock spring work (if he followed SOP that is) Give the cables a check out.
It’s possible something came out of place at or near the clockspring, caused a short and blew a fuse.