Mom's car has failed to start the past few days. Only way to get it running is to jumpstart. She had it at Ford services today, they said the battery is fine, just low on charge. Also checked the alternator and it is OK. So how is it loosing battery charge? One of the mornings, before she tried to start it, the theft light was flashing and the CD player/changer was making this whirring sound. I'm at a loss on the new models. Any ideas/suggestions? Personally, I think she has a power draw somewhere in the system and that's gonna be a bit*h to track down. *edit* Just wanted to add that the car is completely stock. No aftermarket theft, stereo, amp, lights or accessories.
if its low on charge the battery is no good. the first winter i got my 05 same thing happened to me. i left the nj snow and cold for a week to go to fl. came back car was dead. took it to the dealer they replaced the battery and has been fine ever since. i think they might be a tsb on this.
I agree with you Matt. However the service tech said the battery tested fine. I suspect that it is still the battery. I told mom that she should stop by Advanced auto or Autozone on her way home and let them test the battery (since they will do it for free). I'll see if I can find any info on the TSB, if there is one. You wouldn't happen to have a link to them would you? thanks
click the link in my signature for a list of the TSBs. (we added one today, but i didnt update the signature date.)
Update, Well she had the car back at the dealership today, because of the conflicting diagnosis from autozone. They had to put another charge on the battery, but not as much as last time. She's gonna take it again tomorrow and have them hook it to the diagnostics machine. Not sure why though, can they actually detect power draws with those things? She recently had the canvas on her vert top replaced. I asked her when this power issue started and she said after the top repair. Is it possible that when they had the top apart that they disconnected the motors for the canvas repair process and maybe did not reconnect them properly and that is what is causing the power draw? Thanks for any input.
There is a lot of info on dead batteries for the 05+ here. URL removed. Please refer to SN TOS concerning links to competitive forums. We have a lot of information on this issue under Talk and GT Tech as well. You are most certainly free to PM the link. http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=685806
Well the dealership had her car first thing this morning. When she got off work at 5:00, they still had not touched it. Her car is no longer under warranty, so she told Ford to stick it, and left. She is now at the local parts store (with her car) buying a new battery. I told her that (after reading some other forums) that her battery was probably crap from day 1. If she still gets a severe drawdown, then I will have to get physicaly involved and track it down this weekend. Glad I have a multi-meter and friends at Stangnet to help me out. Edit: My reference to "other forums" just means that I like to get answers from more than one source. I still have yet to find the cause of the problem.
UPDATE / SOLUTION Well she did buy a new battery. She drove it for one day, then let it sit for 3. No issues starting or driving. It's been a week now and still no issues. So even though Ford told her the battery was good (the auto parts store said it was not) she listened to my advice and bought a new one. Thanks for the input everyone.
Yeah - Mama's Stang is not all jacked. Just another fine example of why we all need to be cautious when we accept diagnostic advice from service centers. Time = $$$$. Happy this worked out well for your mom, Jinx.
