jac4412

Alright so I've own this mustang for about 2 weeks (its the 3.8l i believe, v6). It was running great, then I noticed that one front lowbeam headlight was out. Went to my guide to make sure I had the right bulb and he just noticed that the light connection was loose and out, so he popped it back in. On the way home, I noticed that my blinker was out, so I checked that out, saw it was popped out so I put that back in. Filled up the tank and washed her.

I went to go pick up my sister at the grocery store, everything was fine. Was sitting in the lot waiting, when she came out I started the car (with the lights on) and the car started up, then promply died after about 3 seconds. Started it up again, it was fine... drove it about 2-3 miles and as I was downshifting from 4th to 3rd then to 2nd and 1st the car began to shake a bit, the lights on the radio and dash would dim then come on to full power, the engine was losing power (almost stalling) then regaining power, reving up and down for about 5 or 7 seconds. I pulled over, it was idling fine. Drove to my house and as I was parking and stopped the car did it again (this was another 8 miles later). The engine would rev and then want to stall, lights dim and then go back. The dash lights would also blink, specifically the "theft" one I believe. It sat for about a day then as I was going to pick up my girlfriend I ran it with the lights and radio on as it had when it did this before and it did the same thing about a mile into my trip.

Any idea whats going on? I'm going to bring it to my auto guy... could it be a short circuit from the lights or something nuts? I'm not sure whats up but I do know electrical problems suck. The car is a beauty, 66 thousand miles on it but looks sharp and runs sweet, no idea whats going on, any help would be great

02Blackstallion

Its apparent that there's some electrical problems, given this didn't happen before you plugged those lights in, its a possibility that the person before you that owned the car, and/or the dealer that you purchased it from failed to tell you about a detail with the electrical components, without the car in front of me i can't tell you but, i would suggest driving during the day time, avoid using your lights, take it to your mech, and have him look at it, tell him what you posted here and it may be something as simple as changing some wiring. Best of luck!

Mustang795

Could be some electrical problem, but the lights dimming and the radio cutting makes me want to lean towards an alternator. My car did this would turn on sputter than die, than would turn on again when my alternator was out. Take it to Autozone and have them do a free test on your alternator. If its not that you may have much bigger problems.

BabyGT

Alt or battery, have local parts store test both, also could try cleaning the battery connections real good.

whudson1980

Agreed with the pro's above regarding the alternator and battery, just wanted to add that a loose serpentine belt can also cause some of what you're describing. Inspect the belt fully. If there is any play in the belt, check the tensioner. (Little pulley thats sole purpose is to make the belt nice and tight). If the tensioner or other problem is causing the loose belt, this is usually a cheap easy fix.

If the belt is tight, move on to the steps above.