well my mustang was dead the other day, strange bc i didnt leave anything on, it did a .5 second crank, then died......but was
reborn bout 15 min later as i was awaiting my friend to get a jump, however, after the power was back the same thing happened.....



well today it did the same thing again.....nothing on then a quick noice and BOOM.......dead

but after bout 20 sec the power came back and the car started




what could the issue be?

do i have a short? is it the battery??

i think im goin to take it to the dealership but i want to see if any1 has had this problem b4

 

I would first make sure the battery
and starter terminals are clean
and tight.

 

+1

 

one thing to consider is the age of your battery, how old is it, is it factory? From your avatar, the newest your car can be is an '04. Most batteries avg lifespan is 4 yrs under stock use, high load use as in stereo, lights etc, can shorten that by as much as two years. Having sold batteries for a better part of my life, the factory MotorCraft labeled battery is only of moderate quality, expect 3-4 yrs avg life under normal use. Get it checked you may have a dead cell or a shorted plate stack, esp if the batt has had a rough life (vibration etc). And rereading that you heard a small boom, I would venture to say a shorted plate stack. Do you have a slight rotten egg smell from the area of the battery, also does the battery feel warm to the touch?

 

I have had bad starters do this. The starter shorts out intermittently & makes it seem like a bad battery. If it is the starts DONT buy a re-manufactured 1, they dont last.

 

yes, the battery is the stock motercraft one

my car is an 03



as for the smell, i couldnt notice anything, but the terminals are all tight/clean

 

This is the firs thing I would do:

Terminals start to get gunky from the inside out so don't trust the way they look - take them off and clean them with a piece of sand paper or wire brush, then you will be sure they are clean.

Also follow the ground wire to where it attaches. Make sure it is clean and tight.

Next guess would be the battery itself followed by fusible link connections and then the alternator.

After the above - the ign switch since it is a mechanical part - wiggle it to see if the car comes back to life or goes out.

Good luck and keep us posted

 

well its not the starter, bc my car died while it was at a red light the other day, but then sprang back
to life about 5 sec. later and i could restart it


my guess is that there is a loose connection at this point, but i really dont have time to check till tomorow

 

When it dies - does everything die as if the battery had been disconnected or is it just the motor that dies?

 

everything