Yes, you need a new battery quickly.
And checked charging System.

 

$140 at Advance Auto Parts and they installed it for me.
I got it swapped right after I put the oil in the engine.

 

I would pull out the battery, the battery box and what ever else there is below it checking for damages. I recently had a battery leaking a lot of acid which ate my transmission shift linkages as well as the hydraulic line between the master/slave clutch cylinders.

 

The Ford Focus has a Smart Charge charging system. This is a special charging system.
You can not charge the battery with standard charger. These destroy the battery.

But you're right. Check the charging system and alternator.
You have Start/Stop system in your car ???

 

No start/stop.
I have been checking the voltage using Test Mode while I've been driving.
My voltage consistently shows 13.5V or above while driving.

FWIW, test mode is incredibly distracting while driving. Especially when you go to Gauge Sweep, LED test, or the Test Pattern.

 

@lumpthar

The alternator always supplies a higher voltage than the battery itself has.

Do you have any installed something later? e.g. Daytime running lights, amplifier or other headlamp?

 

@lumpthar

The alternator always supplies a higher voltage than the battery itself has.

Yup. That's how charging works.

Do you have any installed something later? e.g. Daytime running lights, amplifier or other headlamp?

Nope. Nothing other than stock.

I have about a dozen computers and a radio and gauge/console backlights and a fan on nearly all the time.
But, so does everyone else.

I think it was just a bad battery.

 

You must use a charger for silver-calcium batteries. A standard charger can also work, but a Silver-calcium battery (in Ford Focus Germany (and not only here)) is not really fully charged.

Please look Wikipedia

 

Ok, thanks for the link.

I'd hope, should I ever get to the state of a low battery and it be chargeable that my charger could get it close to max charge, and then, depending on distance and time of course, have the vehicle's charging system "top it off" or increase over what my home charger could.

And then another question: Does the US still get the lead-acid batteries?

 

You do not use a lead-acid battery in a Ford (all cars) with smart charging system.
The smart charging system overloaded this battery. Then cook and broken battery. :-(

 

I didn't know about silver-calcium batteries. Thanks for the link.
I'm pretty sure US still gets lead-acid, though.
Maybe our alternators aren't as cool as yours.

 

I found an image of the US Spec battery.
Unfortunately, the only good picture is of the optional 590 CCA version, rather than the 500 CCA stock version.

Based on what you're saying, you use a different battery in Europe. Right?
Does this look different from what you use in the civilized world?

If you look extra close inside the recycling arrows on the top, you can see "Pb".

 

Appears that all the links to a Google search of "Ford smart charging system" refer to European vehicles. Thinking we have good ole Lead-acid batteries and charging systems here in the U.S. if not all of N.A. as the battery found by lumpthar illustrates.

 

You are right. In Europe we have silver calcium battery.

Question, this is better or worse ?
I think better.

Okay.
We have in Europe Start/Stop system. Because of green ecology. [twothumbs]


I think you still have old lead acid batteries.
Please forget what I wrote to SmartCharge.

 

You are right. In Europe we have silver calcium battery.

Question, this is better or worse ?
I think better.

Okay.
We have in Europe Start/Stop system. Because of green ecology. [twothumbs]


I think you still have old lead acid batteries.
Please forget what I wrote to SmartCharge.

It's okay. North America FMVSS specs always lag far behind the ECE specs.
We simply accept it now.