So a few months back my car was having some issues. While driving there would be times where my stereo would just cut out and die. It kept doing that and I started noticing alot of the dummy lights would turn on when that would happen too. I took the battery to be checked and sure enough, the battery is bad, done for. About a month with a new my new battery, I started seeing my battery light on in my dash, but would go away after some driving, I didn't think anything of it. This morning, same problem as a few months back; radio dies out, gauge lights come on, all gauges stopped working. As I pulled into my parking spot at work my car felt as if it were about to stall but starts acting normal, radio comes back on, no dummy lights.
I'll be taking the battery in again to see if maybe it was just a bad battery. Is there anything else I should be concerned about? I replaced the alternator maybe a year or 2 ago. My car is at 154K miles and still runs strong. Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

Just make sure to check the cables for corrosion. If the battery is good you may have to get the alternator tested next. Those are the easiest things to check for now.

 

It sounds like you've replaced the things that would cause that problem. Maybe start the car and disconnect the battery and see if it dies immediately, in that case it's probably the alternator. I wish I could be of better help.

 

Check for water damage behind the passenger side kick panel. It houses the SJB (Smart Junction Box).

On 05-06 models they were prone to water damage since ford didn't shield them properly. In some cases the leaks was so bad the passenger side foot well would get water in it. In minor cases the leak wasn't bad enough to get to the carpet but would corrode the SJB over time.

 

You shouldn't disconnect the battery while the car is running. The battery acts as a buffer for spikes as well as blocking some transient AC. Every chip in your car is at risk while the battery is disconnected...the battery also gives the alternator's voltage regulator something to bump up against. Without the battery, your voltage regulator could easily be smoked...

 

Get your alternator tested. It is probably your problem and has also likely voided the warranty on your battery if it's damaged it.

 

Thanks for the feedback guys. I'll be able to take a look at all of these things Saturday morning. Are there any other things I can watch out for to know for sure that it's my alternator going bad? As I mentioned before, I replaced it maybe a year or 2 ago.

 

Without a good load test, there's really no way for the average person to know the state of health of their alternator. It's usually best to have both the alternator AND battery tested at the same time.

However, based on your description of the symptoms, it may likely be a bad cable connection. These can cause intermittent voltage issues.

 

Hi So_Cali,

I hope you get this resolved soon. Please remember, if you get a repair done at your Ford Dealer, it’ll come with a 12 months/12,000 miles (whichever one comes first) warranty. Speak to your Service Manager for more info.

You can also check out some of our service coupons here.

Deysha

 

Just replace the alternator. After my second in less than 30,000 miles, I replaced it with a lifetime-warranty new (as opposed to rebuilt) alternator from O'Reilly. The way these things go through alternators the extra $26 was worth the cost.