Odd things in new to me used car

[Devastate]

So I just picked up this 2019 Fiesta S. And I've been checking it out and noticed two things that I thought were odd.

1.) The battery has 2 cut wires coming off from it. I assume from some type of sound system? What are people's thoughts on what this is for? Hopefully not anything OEM?

2.) Looks like there are holes on the rear fascia on the bottom where the trunk lid meets the fascia. I assume these are not OEM? They look like someone put them there. Either way. I assume it's to drain the water from that crevasse which I'm okay with.

hopefully nothing of concern? I was planning to detach the wires.

 

[Handy Andy]

Good Catch!

I believe they all have these - they are "weep holes"



Mine did, from a 2018 - seen these since the Nose Job of 2014 on...

You should keep these open and cleared out - they can dam up and ruin the seal thru rusting from stagnated water.

Another call on the Battery, yes you should remove these - the simple zinc plating and open-end wire cord left in the other side of the lug is just inviting trouble - just remove the nut and remove the lugs, - might want to wire brush the spot clean and retighten the nut to keep it all together. Try to keep the post and bolt together while you remove the lugs - the keep alive memory functions and PCM profile memory are stored in the live memory that when you disconnect the battery you have to redevelop a profile. So keep the stem and post together so the battery connection is not interrupted so you don't have to reset the clock.

The wire rework also should tell you to be aware of other changes they may not be disclosed or noticeable except for erratic operation or something the owner's manuals says should work this way, but you find out it doesn't.

Does Cruise control work?

AC seem ok?

Idle Up and Idle down ok?

Lights work - turn signal too?

Little things you might think are not normal - usually aren't.

I've got some how-to's and some info you might find useful - search for Handy Andy and Electrical - see if something comes up to help you find out more.

 

[Devastate]

Good Catch!

I believe they all have these - they are "weep holes"

View attachment 7097

Mine did, from a 2018 - seen these since the Nose Job of 2014 on...

You should keep these open and cleared out - they can dam up and ruin the seal thru rusting from stagnated water.

Another call on the Battery, yes you should remove these - the simple zinc plating and open-end wire cord left in the other side of the lug is just inviting trouble - just remove the nut and remove the lugs, - might want to wire brush the spot clean and retighten the nut to keep it all together. Try to keep the post and bolt together while you remove the lugs - the keep alive memory functions and PCM profile memory are stored in the live memory that when you disconnect the battery you have to redevelop a profile. So keep the stem and post together so the battery connection is not interrupted so you don't have to reset the clock.

The wire rework also should tell you to be aware of other changes they may not be disclosed or noticeable except for erratic operation or something the owner's manuals says should work this way, but you find out it doesn't.

Does Cruise control work?

AC seem ok?

Idle Up and Idle down ok?

Lights work - turn signal too?

Little things you might think are not normal - usually aren't.

I've got some how-to's and some info you might find useful - search for Handy Andy and Electrical - see if something comes up to help you find out more.

Once again thank you Andy for the reply! You are seriously a invaluable asset to these forums. Interesting fact on those "weep holes" Smart engineering if you ask me.

HA, It's a "S model" like the base base model. I don't even have cruise control or power windows. The car seems to run great, It's smooth, and tight. I spent some time underneath the vehicle as well, and the frame and suspension components all look to be in extremely good condition, honestly looks almost off the show room. But I will check the turn signals and a few other things here later. But I've put over 1000 miles on the car and have not noticed anything. I did take it to a place to have a mechanic look at it, and mentioned that the passenger side driveshaft seal looked like it was leaking? Unrelated to the wires obviously.

To me it's just weird that it's too positive wires. I've had subwoofers installed before in a vehicle and the wiring from the battery did not look like that did.

Gonna try and get that taken off today. Thanks once again for your invaluable insight sir!

 

[Handy Andy]

To me it's just weird that it's too positive wires. I've had subwoofers installed before in a vehicle and the wiring from the battery did not look like that did.

You brought up an excellent point...

Deals with the "check over" a dealership and Ford Quality service (before it leaves the door into your hands) usually do to have their CYA-moment.

Here...

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Anyone whom has had to deal with Warranty or similar coverage issues...

The black marks? Those - if the bolt is removed, the lugs removed and you can tighten the bolt back down, you'll probably see that the two black marks will re-align to each other when the bolt is tightened.

The issue comes from assembly - any marks - "match marks" - are way a mechanic and you can see when changes have been made from an original condition - to a changed condition - a bolt backed out or a part replaced, the same marks won't work - the new part doesn't have it and the original bolt or nut is the only evidence you may have but it's enough to show a change to the vehicle from its' original condition. Even if the part is original - the marks might not match up once its' put back on and re-tightened

So, you have a good example of such a match mark - used by the original dealer or a service center - then something happened later - and you have this as evidence.

Raises, what the wires provide power for? Don't know - but hopefully no damages to the Electrical - but since you see this match mark - they may be other spots you can locate and see how they are done and if their alignment aspects are changed - then you 'know that was either good to go, or someone changed something that "connected to here" moment.

Just don't know why they just cut versus the removing the nut and then retighten - don't know why it's so blatant.

So this may mean - carefully remove the nut, the lugs and retighten the nut back on.
See if the match marks will re-align.​