2005 Mustang Dead Battery Problem??
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midlifeGT
New Member
Sorry such a late post on this. New to site but not new to Mustangs. My 05 will sit for 2 months and will start with no problem on the original battery. It does not have the 6 gauge instrument cluster or heated seats but does have the Shaker 1000 system.
In several cases on other mustang forums people have found that the trunk light on their Mustang is not extinguishing with the trunk closed (verified closed) which has been the cause of their battery drain problem. Many times I have found my trunk not closed though it appears to be while driving down the road because the trunk button got bumped on the remote while unlocking the car. THis accidental unlocking of the trunk could also causethe light to coem on. THe trunk does not noticeably open and you will find that the "trunk/door ajar" light flickers when driving down the road causing you to have to pull over and shut the trunk.
The trunk light at a guess is likely a 5-10 (guessing) watt bulb which will draw between 0.38 - 0.76 amps of current (based on 13V potential) which by my guess could be enough to drain off a battery in about the time being mentioned. 12 days X24 hours X 0.76A = 219 Amps of lost current @ 0.76 AH power loss.
I would disconnect the trunk light before you go spending a bunch of money on batteries and technical diagnostics with regard to this issue. It is often times the simple thing that gets overlooked that can be the cause of the problem. You can't see the trunk light staying on with the trunk closed because of the seal on the trunk. THe Trunk light disconnects cery easily.
Hope this helps out, and ...
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!!
In several cases on other mustang forums people have found that the trunk light on their Mustang is not extinguishing with the trunk closed (verified closed) which has been the cause of their battery drain problem. Many times I have found my trunk not closed though it appears to be while driving down the road because the trunk button got bumped on the remote while unlocking the car. THis accidental unlocking of the trunk could also causethe light to coem on. THe trunk does not noticeably open and you will find that the "trunk/door ajar" light flickers when driving down the road causing you to have to pull over and shut the trunk.
The trunk light at a guess is likely a 5-10 (guessing) watt bulb which will draw between 0.38 - 0.76 amps of current (based on 13V potential) which by my guess could be enough to drain off a battery in about the time being mentioned. 12 days X24 hours X 0.76A = 219 Amps of lost current @ 0.76 AH power loss.
I would disconnect the trunk light before you go spending a bunch of money on batteries and technical diagnostics with regard to this issue. It is often times the simple thing that gets overlooked that can be the cause of the problem. You can't see the trunk light staying on with the trunk closed because of the seal on the trunk. THe Trunk light disconnects cery easily.
Hope this helps out, and ...
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!!
Shakers
Doing some research, I found the shakers to be wired on all the time. Amps being wired hot at all times is ok for a daily driver, but not acceptable for a car only used occasionally. I found the fuses for the rear amps, and after much searching, found no wires to the fuses. The search continued. I found front amps, located under the drivers side kick panel. I used 2 relays to only switch them using the delay used for the radio itself. So far, so good, after also giving the battery a deep charge. You could probably go a simpler route and just put switches in line with the amps as well. Much better than disconnecting the battery and the computer which should draw very little.
Doing some research, I found the shakers to be wired on all the time. Amps being wired hot at all times is ok for a daily driver, but not acceptable for a car only used occasionally. I found the fuses for the rear amps, and after much searching, found no wires to the fuses. The search continued. I found front amps, located under the drivers side kick panel. I used 2 relays to only switch them using the delay used for the radio itself. So far, so good, after also giving the battery a deep charge. You could probably go a simpler route and just put switches in line with the amps as well. Much better than disconnecting the battery and the computer which should draw very little.
Rideredder
Member
Same problem here. Although I did install an aftermarket HU and Subwoofer system, my problem just started a couple weeks ago. It still has the stock battery in it. I've had the stereo installed for three years with no problems but now the battery will not die so to speak, but the voltage will get low enough that the engine won't turn over. If I let it sit for a day or so it will start, but barely. I've been looking at the Optima Red Top batteries. Just wondering if this one will fit. I haven't measured the stock battery yet. RedTop Battery - 9020-164 Optima Batteries
Interesting thread.. Seems to be a LOT of different opinions on what's causing this problem, and what the best solution might be... Let me add another datapoint.. I bought an '05 v6 covertable mustang this Spring. It had only 20k miles on it.. typical used car dealer story - "Old man only drove it on the weekends.." And for the first several months, I had no problems or reason to doubt what I'd been told. Then, first problem was that the small gauges (gas, temp, etc) began to fail - They just point random ways now, and dont work at all. Then, a couple months later, one day all at once, the car wouldn't start.. Needed a jump. Nothing left on in the car, but it came and went on random mornings. This IS my daily driver, so the longest it would sit MIGHT be over a weekend, but generally, even after driving 2 hours to work, and two more back home, I would usually have exactly the same problem the next morning.
I verified that the Alternator works... At least at a basic level, by removing the battery while the car was running,. and the Alternator kept the car running, and all the accessories, while it idled.
I replaced the battery with whatever battery I found at the local Advanced Auto Parts, and for a day or two, it seemed fixed, but then it went back to acting dead. This is when I noticed something....
When I try to start it, I get the starter to engage, and it will turn the engine weakly, and stop. If I let up on the key and try again, or sometimes even if I hold it on, it will start to turn over, and actually gets more and more strong - Cranking STRONGLY for maybe 15-20 seconds, and then it starts. I guess my point is, after starting WEAKLY, the battery SEEMS fine, in that I'd expect that if it was really weak, I wouldn't have been able to crank it for so long with no evidence of a slowdown... I am familiar with the concept that turning it over the FIRST time might be harder, because the pistons aren't pressurized, and then after the first time around, the pressurized cylinders are actually helping the starter to push it around to pressurize the next ones, but if the battery was really weak, I'd think even so, I wouldn't be able to turn it over so long... ALTHOUGH, each time it does start, the radio presets are lost, so I do figure that there is SOMETHING to the current drain.. I'm not sure...
THe ONLY thing I could think to do was to check the voltage of the battery while I'm cranking, to see if perhaps I am sucking it down so hard that the radio is losing it, but after reading all of these posts, I'm thinking that it MUST be a combination of the radio cycling the multi-CD, and/or leaving the AMPs on 7x24, and the radio resetting while I crank the engine over.
Since I drive 3.5 or 4 hours per day just to commute, I dont buy the "not enough time to recharge" in my case, and I've had it give me trouble starting to go to lunch, just 3 hours or so after arriving at work, so all the people talking about 7-21 days are definitely not experiencing what I am...
SO.. Just after reading these posts, I went out, got the car started tonight, (30 seconds of slow cranking) turned the shaker 1000 off in the head unit menu, then shut the radio off for the night. Hopefully tomorrow morning, it'll start right up... We'll see, and I'll try to remember to update this thread with the results.
I do have a couple questions.. If this mediocre radio is really the problem and I choose to replace the head unit, will I have to bypass/remove the rear amp and re-wire to the speakers? Is there a post or site you can point me to, which can talk about what the best way to get rid of or get around the shaker 1000 radio/amps in the car, without a bunch of re-wiring? I've done some radio installs in the past, but I want to make sure what I'm getting rid of includes those parts causing my problems in this specific case.
Thanks in advance!!
-Steve
I verified that the Alternator works... At least at a basic level, by removing the battery while the car was running,. and the Alternator kept the car running, and all the accessories, while it idled.
I replaced the battery with whatever battery I found at the local Advanced Auto Parts, and for a day or two, it seemed fixed, but then it went back to acting dead. This is when I noticed something....
When I try to start it, I get the starter to engage, and it will turn the engine weakly, and stop. If I let up on the key and try again, or sometimes even if I hold it on, it will start to turn over, and actually gets more and more strong - Cranking STRONGLY for maybe 15-20 seconds, and then it starts. I guess my point is, after starting WEAKLY, the battery SEEMS fine, in that I'd expect that if it was really weak, I wouldn't have been able to crank it for so long with no evidence of a slowdown... I am familiar with the concept that turning it over the FIRST time might be harder, because the pistons aren't pressurized, and then after the first time around, the pressurized cylinders are actually helping the starter to push it around to pressurize the next ones, but if the battery was really weak, I'd think even so, I wouldn't be able to turn it over so long... ALTHOUGH, each time it does start, the radio presets are lost, so I do figure that there is SOMETHING to the current drain.. I'm not sure...
THe ONLY thing I could think to do was to check the voltage of the battery while I'm cranking, to see if perhaps I am sucking it down so hard that the radio is losing it, but after reading all of these posts, I'm thinking that it MUST be a combination of the radio cycling the multi-CD, and/or leaving the AMPs on 7x24, and the radio resetting while I crank the engine over.
Since I drive 3.5 or 4 hours per day just to commute, I dont buy the "not enough time to recharge" in my case, and I've had it give me trouble starting to go to lunch, just 3 hours or so after arriving at work, so all the people talking about 7-21 days are definitely not experiencing what I am...
SO.. Just after reading these posts, I went out, got the car started tonight, (30 seconds of slow cranking) turned the shaker 1000 off in the head unit menu, then shut the radio off for the night. Hopefully tomorrow morning, it'll start right up... We'll see, and I'll try to remember to update this thread with the results.
I do have a couple questions.. If this mediocre radio is really the problem and I choose to replace the head unit, will I have to bypass/remove the rear amp and re-wire to the speakers? Is there a post or site you can point me to, which can talk about what the best way to get rid of or get around the shaker 1000 radio/amps in the car, without a bunch of re-wiring? I've done some radio installs in the past, but I want to make sure what I'm getting rid of includes those parts causing my problems in this specific case.
Thanks in advance!!
-Steve
Whitey96
New Member
I finally solved my problem by putting in a power cut off. I think it is the amps not shutting off, but the radio power switch did not work 100% of the time. If you do use the power switch, leave the drivers door open when you break circuit. Otherwise your window will catch on the convertible top. I have parked mine for 2 months in the winter with no problems. Before it would die in 2 days. Here is the switch i used: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001N72FES/?tag=stangnet-20
I have had this problem since I retired. The car is not used daily and not at all in the winter. I think the drain is from the front amp(shaker 500). I pulled the radio fuse and the next day my charger was drawing about 2 amps, to charge the battery shown on the meter. Then I put back the radio fuse and pulled the front amp fuse ( under the hood #16 fuse ). The charger showed almost no draw. The battery stayed fully charged. I am not sure what to do with this bad amp. Looking into getting it replaced along with the Shaker 500 cd/radio.
I had battery problem for about a year and finally traced it down to a faulty ground connection with one of the ground wires that connected to my battery. It would start and run fine, but some times the connection wasn't strong enough to start the car or the battery wouldn't charge. I spent weeks trying to chase down an electrical leak, I even bought an inductive volt meter so I wouldn't have to deal with the computer programmed electrical feeds before I finally discovered the loose connection. Haven't had an issue in about 3 years since.
I removed fuse#16 from under the hood. It takes out the front amp from the mid range speaker. Problem fixed and the sound is hardly any different. A car that starts all the time, yeah!!!!!!
P.S. It took years to figure this out.
gregthomas129
New Member
- Jun 20, 2014
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I've had this problem on 2 different mustangs, 06 V6 and a few weeks ago on my 07 GT. The first time I had the problem I fought it for a month until it finally got to the point it would die overnight. Changed the battery and never had the problem again. Then my GT started doing it and I immediately went and got a new battery. Both times the batteries tested fine but wouldn't hold a charge overnight. Not sure what causes it, but apparently this is the failure mode for mustang batteries. Neither of these 2 batteries were original so I think it's something in the charging system or, as someone else said, high heat that makes the batteries fail this way. Either way a new battery fixed it for me both times. I did not replace them with Optimas either.
Invective
New Member
This thread has been going for quite awhile! My '05 GT w/auto has just 16k miles and has experienced an intermittent parasitic power loss since new. I'm the second owner since 6k miles; first owner reported the issue too. I rarely drive the car as I travel for weeks at a time for employment. Replaced the original battery last year with the largest of the 4 Motorcraft batteries recommended for this car, depending on the options.
Car has been mostly reliable with the rare 'no start' due to a dead battery. After an unexpected 'no start' last week (dead battery - 5.9v) I finally got around to connecting a multimeter to check for parasitic loss. I first connected the hot battery to lower the windows and drew substantial fire from the connection. I disconnected the battery (positive cable) and connected my multimeter and read an astounding 1.6a! Everything was off, doors closed and trunk light off. Ford states that only 50ma max is acceptable.
I pulled every fuse, circuit breaker and the instrument cluster, coming to the following results:
High Current Box (under the hood)
30a fuse in #67 position: SJB #4 (whatever that is?) Instrument Panel Fuse Box - draw dropped by 30ma when fuse pulled.
Low Current Box (behind RH kick panel)
10a fuse in #8 position: Cluster, Data Link Connector (DLC) - again, draw dropped by 30ma when fuse pulled.
Instrument Cluster: again, draw dropped by 30ma when cluster pulled.
Thinking these 30ma draws are normal and within the 50ma limit. But what could be drawing 1.3a? I noticed when I reconnected the battery there was no visible fire during contact. Hmmm.
A possible clue? Whenever I reinstall a fresh battery after a near complete discharge (like last week) the Shaker 500 radio comes on as soon as I turn the key. I always turn the radio off manually before shutting down the car as recommended.
All thoughts appreciated.
Car has been mostly reliable with the rare 'no start' due to a dead battery. After an unexpected 'no start' last week (dead battery - 5.9v) I finally got around to connecting a multimeter to check for parasitic loss. I first connected the hot battery to lower the windows and drew substantial fire from the connection. I disconnected the battery (positive cable) and connected my multimeter and read an astounding 1.6a! Everything was off, doors closed and trunk light off. Ford states that only 50ma max is acceptable.
I pulled every fuse, circuit breaker and the instrument cluster, coming to the following results:
High Current Box (under the hood)
30a fuse in #67 position: SJB #4 (whatever that is?) Instrument Panel Fuse Box - draw dropped by 30ma when fuse pulled.
Low Current Box (behind RH kick panel)
10a fuse in #8 position: Cluster, Data Link Connector (DLC) - again, draw dropped by 30ma when fuse pulled.
Instrument Cluster: again, draw dropped by 30ma when cluster pulled.
Thinking these 30ma draws are normal and within the 50ma limit. But what could be drawing 1.3a? I noticed when I reconnected the battery there was no visible fire during contact. Hmmm.
A possible clue? Whenever I reinstall a fresh battery after a near complete discharge (like last week) the Shaker 500 radio comes on as soon as I turn the key. I always turn the radio off manually before shutting down the car as recommended.
All thoughts appreciated.
Invective
New Member
Update:
Yesterday, I redid the parasitic draw test, this time using the recommended protocol. Meter started at a rapidly fluctuating 1.65a and over the course of a minute or so fell down to a slowly fluctuating .09a to .1a or about 100 milliamps. Roughly 45 minutes later the meter read zero. Repeated test twice with same result- it appears the meter is timing out after about 45 minutes? Others stated I need to check the alternator as a shorted diode will create a parasitic loss - anyone know of an easy way as it's up under the intake manifold.
Yesterday, I redid the parasitic draw test, this time using the recommended protocol. Meter started at a rapidly fluctuating 1.65a and over the course of a minute or so fell down to a slowly fluctuating .09a to .1a or about 100 milliamps. Roughly 45 minutes later the meter read zero. Repeated test twice with same result- it appears the meter is timing out after about 45 minutes? Others stated I need to check the alternator as a shorted diode will create a parasitic loss - anyone know of an easy way as it's up under the intake manifold.
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