Hi I bought my GT in August of 2006 and loved driving it. Well in June 2007 we went to get in it and the car wouldn't start, we had it towed and was told we weren't driving it enough and they put a new battery in it. Well a month later we went to get in it and the same problem and they told us the same thing again, we weren't driving it enough. Well we picked it up again after telling them there was a problem not just a battery, they didn't agree. We were driving it once a week and everything was going fine. Well in April of 2008 it happened again and this time it was towed to a different dealer, they said it was the instrument cluster and replaced it. We hadn't had anymore trouble until today. It won't start again and the warranty is out. The same thing happened to my sister and she was given a paper from ford stating they know they have a problem and that we need to invest in a battery charger and keep the car charged at all time. I think this is ridiculous. I paid almost $30,000.00 for this car. I want to know if anybody else has had this problem and if so what else can be done. Is there any lawsuits against ford for this problem? I would appreciate any help anybody can give me.

Thanks
Debbie

 

welcome to the forum Debbie.....moved to the tech section


this is a very common and known problem that should be fixed by Ford.....can you say lemon law? 3 times for the same thing....look into it...you have amp draw somewhere.....Ford can find it but they choose not too. If you have the Shaker 500 or 1000 just turn off the radio before leaving the car to sit every time you get out of the car. The amps sometimes don't turn off after the key is removed....I bought a battery charger and never went to the dealer for anything (stealerships suck!).

Also sometimes the window switches will stick causing the amp draw after the car is off and the key removed

 

I agree with the above poster. I had this happen once to my car. I just put a new battery in it. couldn't be bothered going to the dealer. I do however have a battery tender on the car now, most because I rarely drive it. I also turn the radio off before shutting the car off.

I know it's frustrating when dealerships do not want to fix things like this, but other than Lemon Law I'm not sure what else you can do. I would suggest one or both of the above suggestions.

 

It's not the battery because I drive my '05 only on weekends and I've never had an issue with a dead battery. Hope everything works out for you in the end.

 

how old is your current battery?

I know you mentioned repair in 2008...but do you have a 3yr old battery by chance?


batteries that don't get used do tend to die. hopefully you aren't experiencing the stuff mygt500 described

 

As mentioned, MAKE SURE YOUR SHAKER/RADIO is TURNED OFF before you turn the key off. The unit stays somewhat powered up if left on and will drain the stock (POS) battery.

Keep in mind, the stock batteries are crap, and once you've had issues, your best bet is to also replace it if it happens more than once. And turn the Shaker off!!!

My car now sits sometimes 1-2 weeks, with a new non-Ford battery, and Shaker is always off. No more starting issues whatsoever.

 

Ditto here...always turn off the Shaker/Radio/CD player before turning off the ignition...haven't had a problem since (go figure)...

 

I am not even sure the lemon law applies for batteries either....had a friend that was able to get a whole new vehicle for bad brake jobs 3 times out...but that is a much bigger safety issue.


I do the same thing...I have the Battery Tender plus and love that thing...never an issue since and have the original motorcrap battery now for 05/06....will get the red top in the future but no time soon.

Debbie -if you don't want to fight with Ford get the battery tender/charger ...a 2 yr old can plug it in and if the car is NOT driven much it really is not a hassle to pop the hood and connect it and forget it! Just unplug it before driving off the next time you fire the stang up!

link
http://wwww.batterytender.com/

search for dead battery threads (this is only a few)

https://mustangforums.com/forum/2005...-the-dust.html

https://mustangforums.com/forum/2005...o-request.html

https://mustangforums.com/forum/2005...e-you-had.html

https://mustangforums.com/forum/2005...d-battery.html

 

There is at least 1 TSB on battery drain/dead battery for the S197. This is a very common, chronic issue with a large percentage of our cars and has been a common forum discussion. The Shaker radios are known culprits but not the only issue.

Do you keep replacing the Motorcraft battery with another Motorcraft? There appears to have been a bad run of those but to have 3 go bad that fast over that period of time is suspicious of the car and not the battery. But I'd try a Diehard or Interstate battery before another Motorcraft. Keep us posted.

 

I had this problem after I left the car at the airport for a week. It only had 5k miles on it. It happened several times after that as well.

I replaced the Factory Shaker 500 radio with an aftermarket radio. After I did that, I have not had a single battery issue. I have let the car sit for months at a time with no issues.