GibMax

I have a 2008 Mustang (Shelby). It's been sitting for 2 months. Only 18,000 miles. Tried to start it - dead battery. Hooked up one of those engine starters to the battery. After fussing with it few times it started. My wife hit the accelerator a few times then she touched the brake. It stopped. We tried to start it again a few times But it wouldn't start. We ran out of time (other things to do). I want to get this going again tomorrow. So, I have a few questions.

When we hook up the engine starter unit (600 crank amps on a new unit that was freshly, fully charged), how many tries should I be able to get? Should I leave it hooked up for a while before trying the first time and between times?

Why would it have stopped right after starting?

Hint and tricks would be helpful... I just got jumper cables tonight so I may try that tomorrow too.

Nuke

That could be one of a dozen things. Does the engine crank and she's just not firing? Does it even try to light off? It could be electrical, fuel, ignition... We need more info.

One think to check, though, would be the fuel shut-off switch. Check the manual. I believe it's located in the drivers kick panel and may have inadvertently tripped. That would be one cause for a no-fuel situation.

Darren05

Pull off your throttle body and clean it. Brenspeed has a video on how to do this if you never have. It is very easy to do, about 15 minutes total to take off, clean, and put back on. Just one thing you can eliminate from all the other possibilities and it is easy. Our cars throttle bodies are very sensitive to any carbon build up or anything else. When I installed my cams I could start the car and drive but if I took my foot off the accelerator it would shut off. It turns out there was a very small amount of black carbon build up on the blades and body of the throttle body and all I had to do was wipe it off and it worked grreat after that. I was blown away that the very small amount of carbon on the throttle body was causing my car to shut off when the gas was not applied. Very weird but that is what it was. Its a good idea to clean them every once in a while anyway.

SeVeReDiStOrTiOn

Did you put fuel stabilizer into a full tank before letting it sit?

GibMax

I didn't put fuel stabiliser in since I didn't plan at the time to let it sit. We'll be trying to start it again hopefully today. I don't know how to clean the carbon off of the throttle body. Could we really have carbon build up after only 18,000 miles.

GibMax

The car starts with the car starter hooked up. It runs as long the car starter is connected. When I pull the car starter off and I check the battery with a voltmeter it shows low voltage. The engine runs rough and dies.

Calgt08

Time to replace the battery.

GibMax

Had it towed to the dealer. Replaced the battery. Under the warranty. Problem solved.

So, the car was basically stored for a while with no use. The dealer said to start it and run it for a while every so often. Can I just put it on a trickle charge?

I didn't know that a car, once started, would not run with a bad battery.

Simon1

Get a battery tender and you wont have to worry about it.

Lifter583

+1 ^^ Gas has gone bad...probably varnished up the injectors...My experience has been to give it a very heavy shot of Sea-Foam in the tank and fill it up...may take a couple of tanks to work the bad stuff out...