Car won't start

[Fast05]

Ok, so I took my car on a 25 minute drive to go eat lunch, came home, car sat for about 45 minutes, I get in to go run errands, and it doesn't start. When I start her up I tend to push the clutch in at the same time I turn the key, and when I did this I heard a metal "clank" or hollow sound. Also, all the power to the radio, gauges, windows, lights, etc is lost when I turn the key to the ON position. As soon as I take the key out and open the door though, the shaker starts cycling through CDs (shaker 500 if it helps) So I don't know, maybe the radio is cycling through CDs when I'm not in the car and it drained my battery? The car doesn't turn over at all but I hear a tick tick tick tick noise coming from the throttle body area when key is in ON position. I think it's an electrical problem, been working on it for an hour now.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[Fast05]

I jump started the car and was driving to ford to drop my dad off to pick up his explorer and the car just turned off while I was driving...could this be a problem with the alternator maybe?

 

[DarkFireGT]

We need a sticky for this. I had this problem about 2 weeks ago. I posted it on here. It turns out the amplifiers for the door speakers are not shutting off when the door is being opened (for some reason), and thus power is still going through them. This slowly drains the battery and will cause your car to have some power, but not enough to turn the car over. When you try to turn the car over, it uses the energy that's left, and basically all of your accessories get starved and have to reset. From what I've read, there's no recall or TSB on it, because it's a hard problem to replicate for the dealer. I was told to turn the radio off before I turn the car off. I haven't had any problems since. I hope they come up with some kind of TSB/Recall.

 

[wotfr]

That's good to know now that while I'm contemplating the long winter months of Garaged-Mustang-Boredom that is a common affliction to us poor Midwesterners. So if I go out to fire her up and she's dead, I killed her. That's just too much to take in all at once. sniff sniff

 

[iskwezm]

good thing i unplugged and bypassed them

 

[wotfr]

That's good to know now that while I'm contemplating the long winter months of Garaged-Mustang-Boredom that is a common affliction to us poor Midwesterners. So if I go out to fire her up and she's dead, I killed her. That's just too much to take in all at once. sniff sniff

OK all joking aside, you can count me among the 'Stangers this has happened to. The car sat in the garage through the weekend (cold and rainy here). I went out yesterday afternoon to fire it up to try and sneak in at least one more 'Stang friendly day.
The first sign of trouble was when I pushed the button on the keyless entry remote and heard nothing. I hit it again and still nothing. So I unlocked it low tech, only to find my dome lights weren't on. I turned the key in the ignition and
nothing. Well after a minute or two with the jumper cables, I decided to see if she would crank. Well the first thing I heard upon entering the car was the CD changer continously cycling from one CD to the next. So lesson learned don't let
your 'Stang sit w/ CD's in the changer. Wha?
The upside is I took her on a cruise to help the EEC re-learn all it's voodoo. Well after twenty or so miles of mixed driving (stop and go, freeway on cruise)
and driving styles (taking off at part throttle and full throttle). It seems the computer is now making better sense of the freer flowing exhaust. She pulls harder and gets better mileage to boot.
So needless to say my dealer will be hearing about the battery discharge, but at least my dark cloud had a Satin Silver lining (or Windveil Blue in my case).

 

[kooldawg6]

I have yet to have the problem with the cd's cycling, but I've only had my car for not quite 2 months yet. So if the stereo has problems and we shouldn't leave discs in, what is the use of having a 6 disc changer if we have to take them out every time we stop the car or risk draining the battery? At least we have some way of avoiding hassle with this situation provided we keep the factory stereo. I made a mp3 cd last week and has 115 tracks on it. If we do that and only have 1 cd to unload instead of upwads of 6 it will be alot more convienent for us.

 

[bigcat]

my cd changer cycles EVERY time the power is reconnected.

 

[crowbar47032]

I'm new here. But you can count me in as another one this happened too, twice actually on a 06 GT with the shaker 1000. The first time I thought I might have left the dome light on. I charged the battery and drove it all day. It set for two more and the battery was dead again. I'm taking it back to the dealer to see what they say. I wonder what the fix is if it is the amps to the door speakers. I'll post what the dealer finds if anything.

 

[mustangsquared]

Count me in... dead battery after 2 weeks of sitting... onthe charger now... maybe its time for an after market amp... something that actually TURNS OFF like tis suppsoe to!! Hopefully she will start in a few minutes...

 

[Jenns01TA]

This blows fellas.

Has anyone hooked up a meter to see what the drain is on this? Knowing that all modulated devices will pull a acceptable level of parastitic draw, this seems a little excessive.

Couple folks have indicated that the Shaker system is pulling a parastitic draw of around 0.12 amps and this issue is widespread among the 05-07 with the Shaker systems.

Item to note: some have mentioned that if they actually use the "On/Off" knob to turn off the audio system prior to turning the ignition key/accessory to off, it does not continue to draw the amps as it does when relying solely on the accessory delay circuit to trip when the doors open.

Something to try fellas. It does not make the situation acceptable, but may make it manageable as you seek resolution under warrenty or with an aftermarket unit.

 

[DarkFireGT]

I've been turning off the radio in my '05 ever since I had the problem, and it has not persisted. The car sat for 2 months at one time and started right up. I haven't been turning off the radio in my '07, but I haven't had the problem in that one. The radio is a little different. Maybe they fixed it.

 

[Jenns01TA]

My PoP always said "They make an "Off" button for a reason, Runt". Now, I tend to think of the accessory delay/circuit trip functions as a "short-term" convenience more than a built in aspect of the electronics.

Yes, some items are just bad and need to be fixed/replaced; however, most vehicle manufactures will design the electrical and accessory system so that for moderate to long-term storage you remove a specific fuse to prevent draw.

I have a friend at work who keep taking her car to the dealer for batteries and then they decided to add a new alternator, although nothing showed the need. She told me after I walked her out of the shop after the second battery that she was leaving her headlights on and simply letting the door trip the circuit off. Nope-Nope-Nope.

 

[Warlok]

All good

I bought my 07 GT allmost a year ago and it has the shaker 500. I dont know if I have been lucky or what, but my cd shanger has had 6 cd's in it for ever and execpt for a change in one now and then it is allways full. I never once had an issue with this in over 14.000 miles but I have allway's turned everything electrical off before I shut the car off all my life.

Good to know about this. Thanks

 

[tr7driver]

luck

I bought my 07 GT allmost a year ago and it has the shaker 500. I dont know if I have been lucky or what, but my cd shanger has had 6 cd's in it for ever and execpt for a change in one now and then it is allways full. I never once had an issue with this in over 14.000 miles but I have allway's turned everything electrical off before I shut the car off all my life.

Good to know about this. Thanks

That post might just jinx you. Better buy some jumper cables on your way home tonight.

 

[mustangsquared]

well got her started after 2 hours on a charger...now the stupid driver window wont close... and I have followed the instructions in the manual!! Not happy at all. Any ideas??

 

[bigcat]

i dont have time to search for you, but svttech76 posted the procedure to fix the window. it was straight from the service manual. if you get a chance, search in this forum, or PM him and ask what is needed.

 

[mustangsquared]

thanks BigCat...the owners manual did not do a thing but make it go up and down repeatedly... some help it was... LOL...

 

[Jenns01TA]

well got her started after 2 hours on a charger...now the stupid driver window wont close... and I have followed the instructions in the manual!! Not happy at all. Any ideas??

Try pulling the window motor fuse (#7 in the distribution box), get in the car, close the door, turn the ignition switch to Accessory/On, wait a minute, turn off and then try the window calibration sequence again. If this does not work, one last shot at disconnecting the blasted battery, wait several minutes, reconnect and try calibration. Last resort DEALER for a little love feast with a VCM.

Here is Mike's post concerning this: http://forums.stangnet.com/showpost.php?p=6627098&postcount=5



Good Luck - Electronics Suck! Give me a hand cranks and a manual seat and I am a happy woman.