StangFreak

Ok, here's a little background on the problem I was having. My car isn't a daily driver and can sit for 1 to 2 weeks at a time. Every time I would go to start the car after is was sitting it wouldn't start, dead battery.
I'd have to get out my jumper pack and jump start the car although once driven it would start with no problems. This has become a regular procedure for me.

So, about 2 1/2 weeks ago I parked the car and forgot to lock the doors. I was fully prepaired to jump start the car but when I got in and turned the key it fired right up!!!

WTF!!! I'm trying a little test this time. I just got done cleaning the car and parked it in the garage. I locked the doors on purpose to see if I will need to jump the car when I take it out again. Stay tuned!!!

karman

Interesting.
I always lock my garage and never lock the car.
I leave my car for 3-4 weeks at a time during the winter.
I have never had a battery problem.

06GT4RAD

Ditto

Black GT500

Many people are saying that these battery problems are related to the active alarm. Which activates when you lock your doors.

Do you have active alarm?

Cheese302

i cant believe people are surprised by the alarm draining the battery. just buy a tender and be done with it, or dont lock your car when in storage. its simple

metroplex

I always lock the doors and activate the active alarm. Never had a problem even when the Stang was stored outside for 6 months during a MI winter w/o a battery tender.

m05fastbackGT

Consider yourself as very fortunate, however the majority of us have encountered the exact same problems with the factory alarm's security motion sensors, draining the batteries within a 2 week period.

As I've previously mentioned, I had an independent garage run a voltage test on my car for over an hour, in which the results were 0.1 milliamps, but those results were also from the car being unlocked, and without the active security system being armed.


At the time, I didn't realize to have my car tested both with, and without the active security being armed. So I really can't say for certain if the results would've been significantly different or not.

What I do know, is this: Before suspecting the active security system, my batteries completely discharged within a 2 week period. So at that point, I finally decided to run a battery tender, and haven't experienced any problems since.

Although I no longer activate the active security system while my car is parked inside the garage. I still run the battery tender, just to be on the safe side.

m05fastbackGT

From my understanding, you can still lock the doors without arming the security alarm's incline/motion senors. The key, is to lock them by pushing down on the door locks manually, and do not use the keyfob, or with the key itself !

Boltzman

Bottom line is this..you should NOT have to put a battery tender on any car battery just to make sure it starts thats unacceptable if you ask me

m05fastbackGT

Although I definitely agree with you, it's unfortunate that with all these supposed advanced computer modules, they seem to require even more voltage, instead of actually being more efficient, and require less voltage to operate.

metroplex

It has more to do with current than voltage.

m05fastbackGT

Thanks for the heads up Charlie, for I ended up using the wrong choice of wording by using the term voltage, instead of current.

karman

Don't feel bad.
I find the average person doesn't know anything about electricity and would never notice your faux paux, much less point it out.
(Charlie there is nothing average about you.)
People that are savvy about electricals know the difference.
But most people can't tell an Amp from a Volt.

m05fastbackGT

At times, It just seems that I have a very difficult time, when it comes to expressing my thoughts properly.

Even though I know the difference, and intended to say "current" For some reason, voltage ended up entering into my thought processing instead.

At any rate: I'm certain that Charlie was just being helpful.

SStang

It's this sort of thing that makes some of us think something's obviously different (and wrong) with our cars. I know mine would be dead in two weeks if I did that, and in about four weeks if I left it unlocked. This is in a fairly warm garage too. But the dealer can't seem to find anything abnormal.

Glenn

but with out voltage there would be no current

Cheese302

however with no current there can be voltage. omg chicken or the egg!! lol

anyway, any modern car is going to have systems on it that constantly use electricity. either keep the car running during storage, take the battery out, use a battery tender, or don't get active anti theft. or a combo of them all. in 2 years i have never had a weak battery

runningwild4.6

Well then, riddle me this, Batman?? I too have active theft on my 08. After reading about all the woes of others on this board, I began to fret if I also had this issue. See, I had an accident back in Feb. in which I was layed up for 10 weeks. My car sat outside with alarm on. when I was able to drive again, I brought with me my jumper set to be on safe side. Luckily, they were not neccessary, she fired right up!
Is it possible Ford has actually addressed this issue and fixed it in newer production models? Or is there a difference between Deluxe and Premier models in regards to Alternator or battery capacity??? Anyone know???

DoctorQ

I don't have the factory alarm, and never lock the doors in the garage... my battery was completely dead after sitting in garage for 4 days. I was going to test for parasitic draw to see what fuse/circuit was still drawing excessive mA, but decided to just get a battery tender and be done with it. Ford replaced battery under warranty, and now I just plug in the battery tender into the dash power adapter and let it float charge.

Arrow

Ford P.O.S. Battery

Enjoy.