crazyhorse

I hope I posted this in the correct place, if not please advise.

My 07 Mustang GT automatic stopped/quit today.
I've had it since 2008 and no trouble at all . It has nearly 60,000 miles and is in excellent condition, at least until today.

I started it up , drove about 1 mile notice the speedometer, turn signal, windows don't work.
I turn around and start back home , the engine dies. I turn the switch but it will only cccllliiiccckkk.
Call roll back , get it hauled home.

Try to start it and it will only click. Hook battery charger up and let charge 30 minutes, it starts up just fine. My battery is 2 year , 5 months old and is a 5 year battery which has never shown any signs of weakness.
Now I am afraid to drive it until I find the problem.

How do I tell if my problem is maybe a bad battery or maybe a bad alternator or what do ya'll think the problem is?

I don't have the diagnostic tester--- Please advise which would be a good one to purchase?

Thank you for any advice/information.

Dino Dino Bambino

Your problem is definitely either a bad battery or bad alternator though if it was the latter, your battery voltage gauge needle would be to the left of center with the engine running and you'd have the check charging system warning light.
Jump start the engine and check the battery voltage with the engine idling and again with the engine off. Report the results and we'll tell you where the problem lies.

algregory

I bet it is your battery! Years ago I was out on my '86 Yamaha FJ1200 for hours, stopped at a gas station to "top off" and the bike was dead to the world. A friend brought me a new battery.

More recently, my used 2013 Subaru Forester with the original battery after some 7k miles of being a dependable ride since purchase at about 30k miles did absolutely NOTHING when I inserted key into ignition one morning. No warning, nothing before that morning. In my case I put my volt/ohm meter to the battery and found it only had about 1.5 volts! I'm told by more knowledgeable people that it is likely a cell went dead.

Go out and check your battery with the power off. I'm thinking it won't show 12 volts and change. FWIW

Dino Dino Bambino

LOL, at 1.5V I think your battery only had one cell still living!

algregory

I don't really know how batteries work, but, we know there are several cells and that the current travels through the battery when running. I've read about the "sulfate" thing and all of that, I gather that the battery runs its cells in series, so if one cell is dead, the series/cycle is broken. Apparently, the "sulfate thing" grounds out a cell and kills it off after some time in service. Hence, a battery that worked just fine and dandy one day is dead as a doornail the next morning.

As it happens, I fairly recently went through a series of battery change outs. My retired '89 GMC gave the ugh-ugh-ugh start up sounds for a couple of days before I saw the light and changed it out. My GT came later, and one morning it started up, but, it was "different" enough that I decided to replace its battery. The Subaru, just dead! No warning that I perceived, could have been there, but I sure missed it!

I was curious, when I took the battery to the parts store I asked them to check it on their "tool" which only said it needed a charge. I have a hydrometer for testing a battery cell by cell, but, as usual, forgot all about it until the battery was gone to the parts store.

crazyhorse

Mr Dino, Mr Al, thanks for your replies.

I hooked the battery charger up and started the engine, disconnected the battery charger.
There are no warning lights of the instrument panel, everything looks normal.
The alternator hand looks like it is in the middle, it is definitely NOT discharging.

I let it idle and turned on the high beam headlights and the alternator hand remained in the middle.

What do I do next?
I don't trust it to drive it anywhere until I am sure the problem is fixed.

If the alternator quit charging , will the warning light show up on the instrument panel?

Can I purchase a diagnostic tester pretty reasonable? If so where?

Thank you for the good information, I appreciate it.

evillela2001

Drive it to an auto parts store and have them check the alternator and battery. If the battery is bad buy a new one and you're done. Alternator will require a bit more work but rather simple to install. These are your 2 most likely problems.

crazyhorse

Mr Evillela, thanks.

My nearest parts store is 14 miles away and I don't trust driving it that far yet.
It costs too much $ to have it towed and I want to check as best as I can to rule out the same thing happening again.

If I start the engine and turn all power consuming on would that tell me if the alternator is charging?

Thank again for the replys.

Chromeshadow

You really need a Digital Voltmeter to check anything more. You can get one for $10 from Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes, Ace hardware, pretty much anywhere. Good ones cost about $100 - $400, but you don't need much for this test. If you have 13.6 V or higher on the battery posts when the engine is running, your alternator is probably OK ( 95% of the time) If you have 12V or less, your Alternator is probably bad.
It is best to to have everything turned on, heater fan, wipers and lights. If you don't have a DVM, you might be able to use the meter in you charger. Hook it up as you normally would but do not plug it in. It's not really a good idea to start your car with the charger hooked up and plugged in. Some chargers are made for this, some are not.

crazyhorse

Mr Chrome, thank you for your reply.
I charged the battery enough to start the engine.
Disconnected the battery charger and started the engine.
Turned on everything that uses electricity .
I watched as the alternator hand slowly ( 21 minutes) went to the minus side and finally the engine goes dead.
Several different warning lights came on the instrument panel BUT I did NOT see and alternator warning light. Does the 2007 Mustang GT have a alternator warning light? What does it look like?

I took the alternator off and HOPE to get one from Advance Auto Parts or Auto Zone Tuesday or Wednesday .
I HOPE this fixes my problem.
Thanks for all the help, advice, information .
Please continue to give me any help , information, advice ya'll may have .
I appreciate it.