Riptide

It's a DESIGN PROBLEM with the car. I have had it happen a few times now in my 06. No rhyme or reason to it. When this happens to me the car has usually been sitting only about 4-5 days. Strange thing is that it has sat for nearly a month before and started right up. The other times this happened it also had only sat for a week or less.

The dealer told me these cars are "notorious" for this problem. He said there is no recall or TSB out on it. There is in fact a TSB for it but it applies only to cars sitting a month or more.

There is no fix for this but I can offer some suggestions. One, make sure you always shut the shaker head unit off before you turn the engine off and before you open your car doors. Make it the very first thing you do before you do anything else when you park the car. Second, if you replace the shaker with a new stereo it might fix the problem entirely. I haven't heard of anyone around here with the problem after replacing the shaker stereo. Thirdly, buy a battery tender and use it or keep the car driven more than once a week.

Goldenpony

I have an '06 GT. I've heard about this problem, but have never experienced it, and I never turn off my Shaker 500 HU when leaving the car. I don't know, maybe I've just been lucky - for 60K miles. I have let my car sit while on vacation for as long as 2 weeks and she fired right up.
I did replace my OE battery with an Interstate MegaTron battery about a year ago, but I figured 3 yrs. was as long as I could exoect from the original battery anyway.

05gtdriver

I was dreading some type of draining issue too, but it was just a 3 year old original battery taking it's last breath. It started becoming hard to start about once every few days earlier this month, then once a day(usually after sitting over night or after work while sitting all day), then it was at every start. I took the battery to get checked when the symptoms first arose, but the AutoZone guy said it was charged(I forgot to ask for him to put a load on it), then when it got worse, I made sure it was charged before shutting off, I disconnected the battery, then reconnected it in the morning and it had drained while removed. Put in new battery, no problems at all............

debbiec

Thanks everybody who replied. I make sure everything is off when I turn the car off. It has just really upset me because I have a legitimate problem and all Ford can say is that it is a known problem and give me a paper stating the problem and send me on my way. Once again thank you everybody.

Debbie

Burrosito

I also have an '06 GT, but I bought mine used at 15k miles. The only problem with the battery was earlier this year. It wasn't having any hard starts at all that day, and it wasn't giving me any problems. I had gone to the mall with the g/f, went inside a shop, then came back out. And it wouldn't start. A guy next to me even tried giving me a jump but she wasn't taking a charge at all.

So the g/f mom came and got us, and I took the battery to Autozone. Had it checked and replaced. Didn't have another problem for maybe a month and a half. Then one day while driving home, the gauges would shut off while driving, then turn back on. Even all the gauge lights would turn off, then shut off. It was almost like in intervals: all lights on for 10 sec, then everything off. But the car wouldn't turn off. I made it home, turn the car off, then tried starting it and nothing. So I jumped the car with the g/f car, and it started. I tried driving it to the dealership but she only made it about 200 feet before quiting on me. So we had AAA come out and take a look.

He put his testers to work, and came up with a bad alternator. So he towed me to the dealership where they put on a new alternator and charged the battery (it was under warranty so it only cost me $75 for new alternator and labor ). No problems since then.

Dunno what would make the alternator quit after only 3 years. But then again, I have a Belkin iPod dock plugged into the center dash power outlet at all times, but I didn't think it had enough draw to screw anything up.

pascal

I just came back from Europe...
Was gone for 10 days and I didn't disconnect the battery on purpose
I also had the A/C and radio on before I shut everything off.
The car cranked right up.
Even though it's not the original battery, I feel that I'm free of drainage.
This car has been totally trouble free with 48K miles so far...
Makes me wonder when I hear people having all kinds of problems with these cars.

Good luck OP.

Koolade

I just joined this forum, and am glad to have it as a resource. I've got an '06 GT that due to a company car doesn't get driven much. Another thread I just read said that it could possibly be due to a fog light relay that receives constant power as well. I see from this picture that you've eliminated that possible issue, so maybe that's why you've never had an issue. I love this car and am neck deep in Ford's so I don't want to have to get rid of it to avoid an annoyance, and I agree with the original post that you spent 30K for a car that shouldn't have this issue. That being said, for the same reason it shouldn't have to have a battery tender either (even though I've got one and as soon as I don't use it the battery dies, and it's the second new POS Motorcraft that they finally gave me right before the warranty was up stating that I should "drive the car more") I'm going to see if I can get some info from some Ford Engineer buddies i've got. Thanks for the thread, and I'll let you know if there is anything I find out to add to what is here.

alkemist

hmmm interesting. I never had this problem yet, and knocking on wood. Only had a few times where it was slightly difficult to crank due to the cold (I have to park outside). I've let my stang sit for a few weeks at a time due to not being able to drive or out of the country during fall. I still have stock battery and shaker 500.

tcmustang06

Hi everybody,thanks for info,still having problems with battery. I turn everything off ,still problems.Drive car two hours once a week ,working on fourth battery in two years.Had everything checked ,always the same car good ,battery bad. My question is what is the best battery i can buy?

Nuke

If you're having issues due to high parasitic draw, then ANY battery, no matter how good, will eventually suffer a premature death. If you've gone thru 4 batteries in 2 years, then I'd be looking for the problem (which could be a high resistance short-to-ground if not one of the car's accessories) rather than bandaiding it with another battery.