Last Saturday, I bought a new 2007 Stage 1 Roush. The test drive was great and sold me on buying the car. The dealership I bought it from is about 100mi away from where I live. I bought the car there because none of the locals here had the right Mustang for me. I saw the white w/ blue stripes and loaded with all Roush options and had to have it.

So...half way home I notice wierd electrical things happening. Dash lights dimming, the clock and shaker stereo resetting with the low battery read out. I'm thinking WTF! This whole scenario came and went the rest of the drive home with my headlights actually going out on me once. At one point everything went out on me except the engine. I called the dealership while driving to let them know what was going on. By the time I get home, the car seemed ok, the dash was lit up and everything seemed fine.

The next morning I wake up to head into work and the car is dead. I jump start it and it fires right up no problem. I get to work and I'm a little worried about shutting the engine off, but I do anyways since I have a battery charger at my disposal. From that point, I go a few days, Monday and Tuesday with no issues until I drive home Tuesday night. The headlights and dash lights are doing the same crap, intermmitently fading then lighting like they should. When I get home everything seems fine.

This morning I go to start the car and it barely cranks over. I'm thinking this is BS, so I make some phone calls and take the car to the nearest Ford service department. I explain my problem in detail and leave the car for the day. By the end of the day, they call me and tell me they cannot find any problems. So I asked the service manager to take it out for a test drive. Just drive it until it fails and then figure out whats going on.

Sorry for yapping so much here, but, I'm trying to be as detailed as possible about my problem. The electrical comes and goes so my guess is an intermittent short somewhere. I would be asking them to just change the battery, but I don't think will resolve the problem. I can't imagine it being an alternator problem because the car drove for miles without any electricity to my gauge cluster, AC or stereo(w/ low battery reading on the stereo).

Please, let me know if you've had this problem or just let me know it's going to be alright.

 

There could be a couple of things to look for. Being a brand new car, I would rule out a short right now, and look to bad battery connections, possible loose connections, especially on the negative or grounds. Also, you could have a bad cell in the battery. I had a battery where one cell broke loose and fell against another, my vehicle was dead in the water until I replaced the battery.

 

To me this sounds like a problem with your altenator.My buddy purchased a steddamodded mustang and they replaced the altenator with a more efficient one(ie not ford stock) however he did not have any problems,purhaps Roush did the same.If it was a battery problem then you would not experience these issues while the engine is running. As I understand it, all electrical components run off of the altenator while the engine is running as to not drain the battery.However, if the altenator stops functioning correctly everything runs off of the battery hince your issue with the battery loosing charge. I would think the dealership mech. would have thought to check that though. Often if the altenator is not kicking back any error code of sorts the mech. will not check it. perhaps there is an issue with the wiring harness. I don't know, just a few things to check.

 

+1 on the alternator sounds like its not charging properlly. plus it could be a loose connection at the battery. And i work at a dealer and i can't tell how many times i had to put a battery in a brand new mustang. i dont know what it is with them. and as for a short in a new cardon't even rule it out. in the last year i must have fixed atleast 5 shorts in brand new cars. most of them are pinched wires.

 

im going with the loose battery cable suggestion. ive had many alternators go out on me... i just have bad luck with em i guess *shrug* and whenever my alternator goes bad none of that really happens... at least not for more than 2 mins. usually when an alternator goes, it goes quick. at least with all of them that ive gone thru.

 

You bought a Ford... might as well get used to having it worked on. My dad has owned several Fords... they were always in the shop. I've owned 3 Mustangs... guess what they were always in the shop. It's just in the breed I think.

 

Well, problem solved. I told the tech at the Ford service dept to drive the car and find the problem, which they did. Alternator was replaced and no problems since.

BTW, Maz, I've owned5 Mustangs and the only ones I did anything major to was the 67 and 68 that were restored. The only POS Ford I've ever owned was an Excursion.