I bought my wife a 2005 GT convertible in September. About a month later the battery went dead, so I had it tested and it appeared to be bad. Since it was over 3 years old anyway, I replaced it with the best battery available from Advance Auto Parts. The car does not get driven much, and it had not been started in about 3 weeks when I tried to start it last thursday. The battery was so dead it wouldn't even take a charge, so I had to jump start it. (There were no lights left on, and it is kept in a heated garage). I let it run about 1/2 hour and it has been started and driven short distances a couple of times since then. I am wondering if any other members have experienced a similar problem of their battery going dead in a short period of time. I know these cars have some battery drain at all times, with computers and security systems, etc., but I would not expect the drain to be enough to kill the battery in 3 weeks. I am going to have the battery tested just to be sure it is not the problem, but since this is the second time I have had this problem, I am hoping some other folks may have some thoughts. If this is somewhat "normal", then I'll just get a Battery Tender and be done with it. If I have to start chasing the cause, I expect that will be nearly impossible.

This happened two days after my wife was in an accident in my 2008 V6 Coupe (icy roads), so it was a bad week all around. She is o.k., but the car got hit really hard in the left rear. Not only was there body damage, but my new Ford Racing dual exhaust got destroyed as well.

Any help with the battery problem will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

That is definitely not a normal condition, did you take it to the dealership?? Afterall you did just buy the car a few months ago.

 

I know the 05's had alt problems (relating to a bad diode) so I'd get the alt tested.

 

Definitely bring it back to the dealership. Something is up with it and it could keep happening.

 

Yep. I had to have mine replaced when I hit 12,000 miles back in March. A guy I know who has an '05 who had to have his alternator replaced yesterday at 45,000 miles. Neither one of us had problems starting our cars, though.

telestrat, there is a TSB on the batteries for the '05 GT. Here is a link and I believe it is the 4th link down.

http://www.allfordmustangs.com/forum...sb-list-2.html

I agree with those who say to take it to the dealership. The dealership should be aware of the TSB and should know how to fix it.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I took the car to Advance Auto this morning and the battery tested good. It has only been in the car two months, so I suspected it was o.k. anyway. The car is now at a local shop, and they are going to put a load on the system and look for something that has excessive current draw. The charging system seems to be working fine, as the battery is staying up as long as I drive the car every day or so. But, there could still be a problem with the alternator. My guy at the shop told me that sometimes the voltage regulator stays energized when the engine is not running, and this causes excess current draw. He told me to put a battery charger on the car and wait a while, then feel the back of the alternator to see if it is hot. I tried that last night, but I could only touch the edge of the alternator (no room to reach the back), and I did not feel any heat. But, I only have a 10 amp charger, and the battery was fully charged anyway, so this may not work.

I checked the TSB's that were suggested, and I scrolled through all of them on the link (thanks for sending it). I did find one that specifically relates to dead batteries in cars that are in "storage". The notice said 30 days or more, and my car sat for about 3 weeks, so it could just be one of those quirky situations.

I'll let you know what my shop finds out today. If they don't find a specific problem, I will just get a Battery Tender and forget about it. (This car is out of warranty, so I did not take it to the dealer. By the way, when I was a Corvette owner, everyone call them "stealerships" instead of dealerships. I don't have enough Ford experience yet to make that statement, but I hope I don't have to!).

Thanks again.

 

Yes but the dealership (if it's not a stealership one) will at least tell you if your alt is included in the TSB. If it is, just pick up a new one and install it yourself. The Mod engines make alt changes a breeze since it's located up top.

 

Just picked up the car. The tech could not find anything that was creating an excessive draw. Everything checked out normal. It could be an intermittent problem, maybe a loose connection, bare wire shorting, or who knows. It could just be one of those things I have to live with. I think I'll just try to drive the car more often (the fun part), and maybe keep a Battery Tender hooked up just in case. The problem is that this is not a winter weather car, so we'll have to take advantage of the nice days when it's not raining, snowing, or worse. Thanks for all the suggestions and feedback.

Regarding the 2008 Coupe that was rear-ended, the estimate is around $9,000. It's all fixable, and the guy who will fix it is as good as they come. But, it's still a real shame. I guess that's why the call them "accidents". No one in their right mind would do this to such a great car on purpose.

Thanks again, and best wishes for a great Christmas.

 

They couldn't find anything on mine that was creating excessive draw, either, and I left the car at the stealership for 4 days! However, they had a good idea that it was the alternator, so they replaced it and I haven't had any trouble since. I never had any problems starting my car, but I'm sure that if I didn't have my 'message center', I wouldn't have even noticed anything was wrong at all.

Good luck fixing it, though. I don't know anything about cars, but I'd almost bet it is the alternator.