Cobbson

Hello:
I am a new member of this forum and a new Mustang owner as well.

I purchased a 1995 Mustang Convertible, 3.8 recently. I am encountering the following problem which I have been unable to resolve.

When I turn off the motor, the electrical system shuts down the same as if the battery was disconneced. That is, the car's clock resets to "12:00" as does the clock on the after-market radio/CD player. All settings on the radio are lost. Also, unless the the ignition is in the "on" or "accessory" position, the lights built into the rear-view mirrow won't work when the door is open.

Once the car is turned on and the motor is running, the clocks start from the 12:00 position and all the lights work. The radio setting are lost.

In a nut-shell, the effect of turning off the motor brings the same results as if you disconnected the battery. Except for this most annoying problem, the car starts up with no problems and there are no other electrical problems whatsoever.

If anyone has encountered this problem or has any idea of what is causing this, I would appreciate some advice on what may be the source of the problem and how to fix it.

Thanks in advance,
Cobbson

ticopowell

I would check the battery cables, they might not be in good condition

dawson1112

Have you checked all the fuses?

BabyGT

Fuses would be a good start, but if the stereo is aftermarket I bet they wired it themselves and botched the job. Seen this way to many times.

If the battery was that loose I wouldn't think he would be able to start it half the time. The clock and radio take a miniscule amount of energy to save memory, if he was having connection issues that bad he should not be able to get enough juice to start the car.

I'm guessing they didn't wire the 12v constant on the radio to an actual 12v constant, and have the ignition on source and the 12v constant hooked up where they should not, and the draw from wherever they hooked up the 12v from the stereo has tried to pull to much through to small of a fuse and blown it out. Or burnt up something else.

They being the previous owner.

ticopowell

The miswiring of the radio would make more sense, I agree, but there is usually more than one cable coming off of the battery. if it is corroded but the cable going to the starter is still decent he could still start the car and have other issues.

But yes, check the radio wiring and see if that's the issue

BabyGT

If the starter cable was good yes it would start, if the battery had a charge but if the rest were corroded then the battery would not be getting a charge to start on the next go round. The alternator isn't charging the battery through the starter wire.....

Cobbson

Thanks for your replies. No problem with the battery. I am going to follow through on the miswiring of the aftermarket radio. which seems logical. I'll let you know if that's the problem.

I spoke with the service manager at my local Ford dealership on the phone. He suggested that maybe the battery is falling below 12V when the ignition is turned off. I don't think that's the problem because if I turn off the ignition and turn it on immediately, the problem manifests itself, but I'll have my mechanic follow through on that idea. I don't want to pay the dealership time charges to go on a fishing expeditions.
Thanks again,
Cobbson