Sc2DD117

The other day I made this thread about an issue I was having-

https://mustangforums.com/forum/2005...ing-smell.html

-The problem described in that thread has turned into a massive disaster...

I woke up this morning and the battery was dead, so I called AAA and got them to take it down to the dealership. I made sure it got there OK and the service manager said it seemed like it was an alternator problem. The dealer called me 4 hours later telling me that nothing needed to be replaced and they tested both the alternator and the battery. When I got there I told the service manager that it doesn't make sense that after everything that had happened there was nothing wrong... he just kinda shrugged it off. I kinda took his word for it and left.

As I drove away I couldnt have been more than a mile away and my drivers side window's auto switch would roll the window up. Then the TCS/ABS lights came on again. I immediately pulled over and turned the car off and called him. He told me to bring it in on Monday...

Then I called another dealership which told me I could come right away. On the way there the errors I had been getting got worse and more frequent. I got there and a Service Manager told me I had been misinformed that he would like to help me but they only do simple quick jobs on Saturdays and I would have to leave the car there or bring it again on Monday... UGHHH

I decided to take it home. On the way home the TCS/ABS lights kept coming on and turning off, then the engine light turned on for the first time, both windows started to malfunction, I got 2 error messages (1. that says to "Check Charging System" and 2. "Fuel Low DTE FLI Data Error"), and the engine seem to have fluctuating power (revved up or down a little for no reason).

Finally I got home and my dad and I thought it would be a good idea to take the terminals off the battery because maybe the car was draining it. I got the hood open and there was battery acid leaking all over the place. I immediately did my best to stop the corrosion but it got on some of the paint in the engine bay, the engine itself, and some other components and stained them... I also took the battery out and bagged in up.

Now I'm posting this wondering, What the F*** just happened... My beautiful Mustang was roaring 2 days ago and now is a sad state of disarray... I plan on going to war with the dealership I went to this morning on Monday...

rdsx18

Do you notice after it rains if the passenger side carpet gets wet? I don't know that a wet SJB will cause all of that, but it does cause electrical problems and it is known that there is a seal that can leak right above it.

Nuke

rdsx18 is referring to the chronic water leak issue described in one of the many TSB's associated with the S197 and mainly the 05's and 06's. The water leak will corrode the Smart Junction Box (SJB) components/connections and results in some rather weird electrical gremlins.

It's possible that it's still an alternator problem although I've never heard of a bad alternator (another S197 common issue is a weak charging system) causing a battery to crack and spew acid (which is possible with gross overcharging). I think you'd do better having Autozone or O'Reillys do a load test on the alternator. But I still think you need to look into the water leak. With as many folks affected by it, I can't believe it never became a recall. Also, delaerships HAVE to be aware of it and to have them not even look into it when a customer comes in with electrical issues is a farce. Ford sucks, period.

defiance

Yeah that leak is a biotch, I really hope it is not that. I had it for a long time and my car was hit hard, window seals went bad and all 10 grommets had to be replaced. As an after mass, I have mildewed carpet and firewall foam, both of which will be getting replaced tax time......

As soon as I found out that leak was coming in at the top of the SJB I unbolted it from the panel and laid it down on the carpet to prevent the water entering it. It just may have saved it....knock on wood.

Sc2DD117

I can't say for sure, but I really doubt that is the issue.

My dad and I think it may still be the alternator, and that maybe it is overcharging the battery. We also looked up some stuff on Optima, some forums hinted that Optima may no longer be the best choice for batteries...

This whole thing this the dealership is really getting me pissed off... the more I think about it I wonder how could they think two tests could answer the question of whether or not there was a problem after the story I told them... I mean when someone says "there was a "ELECTRICAL BURNING SMELL" that sounds PRETTY FKN BAD to me...

Sc2DD117

Oh and this morning I decided to wash all the baking soda off my engine bay...

So I go out there and open the car up to pop the hood and as I close the door the window scratches the trim over the window because the damn thing doesn't have any power to roll down that little bit... I couldn't even close the door for a half hour because the trim was blocking it. I finally found a trim stick and pushed it up as I closed the door but now my trim is messed up...

UGHHHH!!!

GM Supercar

Wow man, I'm sorry to hear that. Interestingly, I had the battery die twice on my 2006 GT when I went to start it. Both times I just put a charger on it and it was fine and haven't happened in over a year. The first time it did it, the car was only a few months old. The Check Engine light came on two years ago and I took it to the dealer, but as usual they could not find anything wrong. The light has since gone off, so who knows.

Can you post photos of the damage? I hope the dealer helps you out on this