I've replaced my battery twice, since owning my car in 5 1/2 years. Go to a local auto parts store (Autozone, Advanced Auto Parts, O'Reilleys) and have them test your battery and alternator. Never hurts to check and it's free. =-)

 

man you guys are givin some good input on this for me, love the love in this forum.

So after removing the TB Spacer and having driven my car a couple days it seems to have less of the "excessive cranking" issue, which is cool, but I would really love to get her back to normal.

Last time I replaced the plugs(Bosch Platinum 4+), plug wires(Bosch), and ignition coil(Duralast ) was on 2/25/2012 at 92k miles, I just rolled over 100k last week. I havent checked any of that stuff yet, but will be the next thing I do here in the next day or so.

My alternator burned up (literally smoked the crap outta my hood) at 83k and was replaced by carquest's OEM alternator on 5/13/11, haven't checked it yet but seems to be charging my system fine from what I can tell (accessories work fine, lights dont dim, speed of the cranking when starting the car is as fast as always).

My battery was replaced 2/25/11 (for the third time while owning the car) with an interstate battery this time as well as the positive terminal because it was corroded to hell, haven't checked that yet either tho. I did notice some leakage around the removable caps that you can access and check...going to top off with distilled water and have checked at local auto parts store ASAP.

I cleaned the TB and MAF sensor the other day when I took off the TB spacer, so that's checked off my list.

Once again I really appreciate all the input you guys are giving...best Mustang forum for sure

 

This is a great forum and you can learn a ton just by searching and reading.
Sounds like you are doing all the right things to find a resolution.
Good lucks and keep us posted!

 

I'm glad it is getting better. A couple more thoughts: While you are getting your battery checked, have them check your starter-quick, easy, free! While they are checking things get the engine codes tested. (If you haven't already) Not all codes will throw a check engine light.

Your fried alternator bothers me. It could have damaged any of its wires and anything else in the area that doesn't like heat. You might want to inspect the wiring, hoses, sensors and connectors under the hood for heat damage. The heat and nasty smoke may have had more effect on the MAF and the intake a a whole. I'm not sure regular MAF cleaner would remove that kind of smoke. The heat could have distorted rubber or plastic parts and caused vacuum leaks, which are particularly hard on cold starting.

Shouldn't take long to check it out.

Good luck!

 

I know this is a couple days old, but I noticed my 03 Explorer 4.0 has been hard to start from time to time. Never the Mustang.

I hear sometimes the firmware in the computer can sometimes fix starting issues.

 

Hey guys, sorry it took so long to get back to update this thread...I took your guys' advice and had the battery checked. It turned out the battery was on its way out, "Mediocre" was the word they used LOL. It was an Interstate battery that I had gotten from the local mom and pop Omaha Auto Parts (GREAT place, very friendly). The guys there pro-rated and gave me a new one for $40...they couldn't believe the damn thing only lasted 2 1/2 years. My baby starts right up just like she did off the lot. I hope that anyone else that has an issue can come here to figure it out. Big thanks to you guys on the Mustang Forums!

 

Fantastic! Did your alternator smoke due to bad bearings, or did you have voltage fry the internals? Never had an alternator go up in smoke.

 

I'm not sure what cause it to go up in smoke but the bearings were definitely bad when I took it off and checked it as the pulley was pretty hard to spin and definitely hit rough spots as I spun it. All the visible wiring turned black and looked like it got burnt by a fire or something, twas pretty weird. Hopefully that doesn't happen again, so far so good on the replacement.