pandastang

So I'm not too happy with my mustang right now. For being my first Ford I am really disappointed. Let me start off by saying that I bought this vehicle with 31k and in the year Ive had it, the electrical bugs have left me stranded multiple times, the ac started acting up and the water pump and thermo went out at 36k. Last week as i was driving car died. I had no charge. Took it to the dealer and at first they tried to blame my alpine head unit (last time they told me the shaker 500 unit was garbage and that I should replace) Wasn't that, so they went with a new alternator. Once installed they ran tests again and found out that maybe my cooling fan was causing the drain. Today I found out that my fuse box fried along with the harness and another part of the battery due to that cooling fan.

Has anyone else experienced this as well? I'm still under power train warranty plus i got that extended warranty as well. Really don't know what to expect....any info would greatly be appreciated. Car was only gonna be there a day and now its the 2nd week.

Nuke

Sorry to hear about your troubles but the charging system and parasitic current drain are known issues with the S197, particularly the earlier models. Also, and hopefully not your case, their is a chronic water leak issue where water will drip down the inside of the passenger kick panel and eventually corrodes the electrical connections on the SJB causing many gremlins.

This is my first Ford, also, in over 40 years of driving and although I can't say I'm thrilled, I think I can say that I'm not too disappointed.

Keep us posted.

Roy_R

There a bunch of TSBs on the water leak issues, and another 5000 000 threads... Have fun finding it, start with the rubber drain grommets!!

pandastang

Hopefully I can get my car back this week, what really gets me is that whenever I talk to the dealer they give me the impression that they don't know what they're doing. They were giving me so much crap in the week and there were a couple of days that I didn't even hear from em. I'm also worried they they will tell me that warranty doesn't apply and ill have to shell out for the repair. Wish me the best of luck guys, ill keep you posted

svastano

+1 on the water issue!

pandastang

Hello All,

So We are done with week 3 and my car is still at the dealer. Originally I was supposed to get my car back this Monday that just passed and I didn't even get a call. On Tuesday I spoke with the service writer and he stated that fuse box was on back order and that they didn't know when it would become available but they had ordered an other non oem box to replace it with. Ok well I thought we were making progress....until I spoke to him on Thursday again. They ordered the wrong part so AGAIN i am forced to wait. I get a call today and I was told that The part itself would be a used part but that it was all taken care of thru the warranty. I have tried to be understanding and patient but I think they are just screwing with me. Is this acceptable that with all the mustangs on the roads they couldn't get me a replacement and not even a new one at that? I'm looking to a lawyer now to see if there is anything on the legal side that we can do. I have lost all confidence in Ford and their products and I'm worried that next week Ill have to call and they tell me that it wasn't that fan/fuse/harness that is the problem.

Anyone have any ideas on what I can do or where to start looking for legal advice?

I just want a good working car if I gotta make pmts on it.

end rant/

pandastang

UPDATE-

So I got my car back this week, after almost a month of being at the dealer. Luckily the "repairs" were covered under warranty so I Just had to pay my deductible. I haven't received the full summary of repair yet (should be in the mail) but what i was told is that my fan was intermittently draining my battery which was causing the charging system issue. That same fan caused a short which caused my fuse box and harness were fried. All of that got replaced. Ive been driving the car all week and keep in mind that my commute to work is less than a mile so everything seemed ok up until last night....

Battery light came on and the same message appeared "check charging system"

to say I'm fed up at this point would be a huge understatement. I really don't know what to do and im scared to take it to the dealer and have it gone for another month. Im thinking of contacting Ford directly to see what can be done. This has been a nightmare and for a car that doesn't even have 50k on the odometer, i could only dread of the future issues that could be waiting for me.
I haven't gotten too many responses in this thread, so i could only hope that no one else has had the issues Ive had. This thread just serves to keep a record of the situation.

Feel free to add any info/opinion to my crisis ha

wayne613

The above is part of the problem. If you're just turning on the car, going for a 2min drive, then it's off again, that's not going to re-charge jack.

Did they replace the battery?

Mr.Ski

+ 1 above. No way that battery will ever charge with that short of a drive.

wayne613

In addition:

Take it to autozone or the like when it is on to verify the DTC.
http://iihs.net/fsm/?dir=361&viewfil...g%20System.pdf (bottom of page 3)
Ask them to verify the alternator and battery while you are there, for free.

This is an extended "FORD" warranty, yes? If so, just take it to another dealer, explain your concerns and exasperation. More than likely they'll want your business and be far less troublesome/slow.