Just joined this forum and was hoping to get some help -

My son's 2005 base Mustang started stalling with the A/C and idling and progressed to stalling while driving making it unsafe. He has also had problems filling the fuel tank. He waits a while and resumes fueling but that has gotten worse as well.

We have tried addressing a number of the potential causes:

1. Advance Auto Parts ran the electrical check and Battery, Alternator, Starter seemed ok.
2. We cleaned the Mass Air Flow Sensor and the throttle body with the appropriate methods and cleaners
3. Since taking it to the dealer, they (claimed they) checked/cleaned the fuel vent line
4. The latest from the dealer is that he car is registering instrument cluster codes and since it was replace < 2 years ago they are replacing it under warranty

I don't have much confidence in this dealer and don't see how the instrument cluster causes the car to stall. So the positive is that they haven't charged anything for diagnostics and warranty repair and the negative is they haven't figured it out in a month. I'm thinking replacing the mass air flow sensor may be a next step. Does anyone else have this experience and any ideas what to do next?

TIA

 

My only advice is to take it the heck away from that dealer and find a reputable shop or another dealer that will fix your Mustang in a day or two. One month?? Insane or incompetent or both. Actually scary! Zero excuse for that even if parts are needed. A Mustang isn't an exotic that is tough to figure out.
I've never left a car anywhere for over one week and I've had some unusual cars in my nearly 50 years of driving. Even my old '95 air cooled 911 was in/out in two days for one of the 'major' service intervals.

 

Failing fuel pump?

 

I agree with my brother Dave, get it to a good mechanic. Also, might be a good idea to change the fuel filter if you haven't already. I bought my '06 with 89K miles, and couldn't believe how dirty the fuel filter was. I don't think it had ever been changed, and it was a wonder it was running at all.

Also, like RBB says, it could also be the fuel pump. Do the filter first, it's cheaper.

 

Please check out this TSB

FUEL FILL SLOW, OR DIFFICULT TO FILL— TSB 05-15-12
VEHICLES BUILT BEFORE 4/26/2005

https://latemodel.cachefly.net/downl...sb05-15-12.pdf

 

OP< any followup news??

 

Don' ya just love it my friend. A one hit wonder ask a question, then never returns.

 

Sorry about the delay. Finally got the car back last night, They repaired 2 problems:

1. Clearing the fuel vent line allowed it to be fueled without issues. Thanks for the TSB Buckshot Barry.
2. It turns out the instrument cluster codes were the clue that finally determined the root cause. The passive anti theft module is inside the instrument cluster and was causing problems, perhaps mixed signals with the PCM. It had been replaced by the dealer within 24 months (for the common plastic stripped gear problem) so it ended up being a warranty repair.

so although I didnt have the car for 2 months, the total bill was $25.43 for a tank of gas, they forgot about clearing the fuel vent line.

Thanks for the helpful replies. I didnt realize you were replying - I thought I would get e-mail notifications which i did for NC07GTCS's reply but none of the others. I have e-mail notification turned on and checked my junk folder. I returned to post the repair in case someone else has this issue.

 

So it stalled again today. Potentially a bad instrument cluster. They are remanufactured. Towed back to the dealership. The rationale is to have them finally fix the instrument cluster and make sure its the root cause, and if not, take it elswhere.

 

Do you have a GT or a V6? I ask because I have an instrument cluster for a GT you can have for FREE. I changed mine out to a GT500 one when I was having issues with my tach and a dealer sent me a standard GT one the first time so I ordered one from another dealer and he got me the right one. It's simple to change out but it's somewhat labor intensive because you have to take half the dash and center console apart to change it out. I changed mine out myself and it's not hard at all. Let me know if your interested!

 

Thanks Area5179 for your kind offer. Mines a base model V6 and the dealer is still working under a warranty replacement.

 

No problem. Hope everything works out for you!

 

another update - still stalling. The service manager is updating progress as we approach month #2. The replacement instrument cluster is reading 5 mph low. SM texted today that he wants to replace the PCM because voltages may be off. A different mechanic recommended reprogramming it.

The only other clue is that the service rep. (not a tech) noticed the key gets very hot in the ignition. Not sure if that's a false lead.

 

Latest - $1355 quote to replace PCM after checking wiring