Paris MkVI

My '06 GT just had battery #4 installed two days ago. Yes, number four. Battery #3 lasted about 8 months - a new low. The average life of a battery in my car is 15 months. I turn everything off prior to shutting down the engine, and always have. The car is unlocked in the garage at night, and is a daily driver. Go figure. Every time they tell me the system checks out and replace the battery under warranty. I wonder how many free batteries I will get before they decide to find out what is up? I looked to revive another older battery thread I knew I was in, but that one must have been lost in the site crash a while back.

3Mach1

Sounds like you are getting them free at least. When I took out motorcraft number 2 it said it had a 36 month warranty and it was just barely out of that. Just my luck. I am curious what the dealer tells you? I have bought a lot of batteries in my time and most average 4 years give or take. One of my family members has a 4 runner on the original battery and its 7.5 years old and still load checks out in good condition.

MadGT

You must be a first. I have not heard of that one before.

Jayhawk

I do not get why some S197s have this battery problem and some do not. The very next day after we purchased our '07 GT, the battery was dead. The dealership probably did NOT charge it prior to us taking her off the showroom floor. However, the battery they replaced it with has lasted three years. Knock on wood.

topbliss

Im on my original one still.. Put a battery tender on it every time you shut it down.. It will never die again..

jayguy

I've been thru 3 or 4 now, on my '07. The first one was definitely a bad battery, happened pretty much before I did anything. The second one happened after I installed an E-bay NAV system (out of an Expedition, they said), but the battery did fail the load test. After that, my Nav system seems to not shut down all the way, no matter what state I leave it in when I get out of the car, so I finally had to take it out. I tried the battery tender route, even had a small solar panel in the back window (lots of sun in Las Vegas) to keep it charged up, but parking it on the top roof of the parking garage at the air port for 8 days still killed the battery.

Finally took out the nav, and I haven't had battery problems since.

I wonder if an '11 will have those problems.

wjones14

Judging from these posts, I'm expecting mine to go anytime soon. After 5 years and 51K miles the original battery is still working somehow - never even paid attention to it yet.

Doesn't the dealership at least admit there's a problem somewhere? Yes, the system may be checking out, but common sense should tell them something is wrong.

I believe if you buy a Die-Hard battery at Sears, even the cheapest one, you're going to get at least a 3 year guarantee. So why shouldn't the Motorcraft battery be at least as good?

GottaHaveIt

cost cuts etc I got so fed up I sold my original & bought a Optima so far no worries !

Paris MkVI

If your experience is like mine, you'll have a couple of days where your Mustang seems just very slightly harder to start. Then after those few days, the battery will be dead as a hammer. There's no gradual reduction in battery performance. This pattern has held true prior to each battery failure.

Each time the dealership has done a performance check on the electrical system. Each time the electrical all checks out OK and the battery throws a code.

Maybe it is just coincidence. But I have a feeling it is not. Three bad batteries in 4 1/2 years? All failing in the exact same pattern? That's the part that suggests to me that something else is involved here, regardless of what the tests indicate.

Beargap

After I found my '08 GT dead in only 2 days of garage sitting (doors unlocked) after a 1300 mile trip, I had the dealer check the battery and system and they could find nothing wrong. Recently I had to leave my car at the airport for 18 days while on a long trip, and I was sure I would see a problem on return, but it started right up. Hmmmm...

Just this week I returned at night and shut down as usual, but as I was getting out I noticed my headlights were on. I checked, and the switch was off. I rotated the switch several times (key out) and the lights finally went off. This is something that our other cars with Autolamp have, of course, where the lights stay on as you exit for a minute or so, but this model of Mustang did not have that option. So, I am wondering if things get randomly left on by the car computer sometimes like my headlights (or radio or ignition) and that is what kills the battery.

Incidently, my '97 Explorer bought new in '96 has almost 270K miles and is still on the original battery!

=Vic=

3Mach1

My 03 Mach1 battery lasted 5 years. The 06 GT just eats them it seems. I cant pin down the problem. The first one was just no good and went bad in a few months. Now, the alternator went bad and it may have killed battery number 2 in the process at about 3 years. PUt in a new Die hard. I have no idea if its any better but I paid about 100 bucks for it. I think it has a 3 year warranty and then its prorated after that.

I love the car but the electrical system seems to be a weak link. The 06 GT is a vert to boot and gets the top run up and down all the time. If its warm the top comes down every single day. Its used to the max trust me. We run it up and down a lot. Maybe thats killing the battery I dont know.

I know I was never a vert fan before but they are tons of fun to drive. Man, I love this thing even though is an auto and heavy. This is one fun car. I just wish we could get a better electrical system that was bullit proff.

cdynaco

I keep mine garaged all winter. Last winter I started mine every 5 or 6 weeks and drove to the mailbox (about a mile R/T) so everything would get warmed up, and had no problems with the battery. Fired right up.

This year I've only done this every 8 weeks. So today was the second time since Nov. Started right up.

FYI I have all switches turned off, but I don't lock it so the alarm is not on.

So those with batteries dying, there is definitely something wrong and Ford should fix it.

Paris MkVI

chevys, I know what you mean. If it is at least 60º and not raining, I generally have the top down. She's a daily driver and I have the top down most of the time from April-November.

But this most recent failure comes at the time of year where the top hasn't budged in several months. So that doesn't appear to factor into this particular battery failure.

I don't know what it is. And apparently they don't either!

azoufan

Well, our cars weren't built on the same day, but they almost certainly were built by the same guy at the factory. I have an Autozone a block from the house, 3 year warranty on batteries, I'm back in there every year like clockwork. I've bought one battery in 5 years, but I've put in 6 of them. To be fair, 2 were because of a firmware issue with my PIE adapter that has since been fixed. Other than that, you and I are on almost the exact same battery schedule. I turn off the A/C, radio, lights, wipers, fan, roll the windows down, car unlocked and parked in the garage overnight. When I have to go out of town for a week, I just dread the dice I'm rolling when I return. Knock wood, haven't been stuck at the airport yet, but I've been CLOSE.

3Mach1

Thanks for your reply. Its not just me then. We run the top up and down like crazy. Its always been in the back of my mind if I am killing the battery. But, I love going topless. The car gets driven a lot in the summer months also. From November to the first of March it sets around a lot. I admit this and it may be a factor on the battery life. Its one of those things I cant prove one way or the other.

I now have a new die hard battery so we we will see how this one goes. The Motorcraft batteries were good for about 3.5 years the best I can tell. Its hard for me to say becauxe my alternator ate one I think.


I just wish we were not having this conversation. Ford could spend another 20 bucks to make this go away imo, It would not deter me from having a GT vert but they could do a bit better here. . Its just pure sex to drive around with the top down. I am not a vert fan either. Thats how much I like this car.

Paris MkVI

My parents bought a 1966 Ford Fairlane 500 convertible new. I was six or seven years old. That was my first exposure to convertibles.

From then on I knew I wanted to have a vert one day.

Actually, before the Fairlane, my dad had purchased a '66 Mustang convertible (200 CID 6, 3 speed manual, red). He traded it in for the Fairlane because the Mustang bucket seat hurt my mom's hip. She had surgery due to injuries from a bad traffic wreck three years previously.

I only got to ride in that Mustang a few times.

I am with you man. If the weather is nice, the top is down. That is what it's all about!

06 Screamer

I still have my original one and its been through 4 winters in storage and every spring she fires right up. I've never bothered hooking it up to a battery tender because of all of the things i've been hearing about these batteries going dead in such a short amount of time . Its still way Ford installed it and I've never touched it. The only thing i think of is even though it goes into storage evey winter, from March to November its my daily driver. Could that help keep this battery going after all this time when others are failing?

JimC

After 4 years and 130,000 miles I am still on the original battery. Never put it on a charger and this winter the car had to sit outside while we were doing construction at the house.

Do those of you having problems with the battery have a lot of aftermarket audio equipment in the car?

GottaHaveIt

I had all my problems when my car was fully stock audio just the Factory amps would kill it in 12 mins just listening to the radio ? Then when they tested they said it was all good BS after my 3rd time down bought an Optima I can listen to tunes carnked while wash/dry/wax the car, I did have a thought on the cheap positive battery cable in the car they are very cheap on the battery end a few months back it fell apart

NJ3

My battery #2 was dead this morning at 53 weeks old, I drove it 6 days ago and it was fine. At least I'll get a free replacement because of 36 month warranty.

I still have the OE Skipper 500 with some aftermarket speakers.