2005 Mustang Dead Battery Problem??

Do you have the shaker 500 or shaker 1000 system in your car?

This issue has been brought up before here on StangNet. I think that the problem might be that the amps for the subs for the shaker 500 or 1000 are staying on after you turn the car off. How to fix this problem, I don't know. Somebody that is more knowledgeable on this subject might be able to chime in pretty soon though.

I have the standard 1 disc stereo system, not even a shaker and my '05 just started doing the same thing. It will sit for a week in the garage, then the battery is dead. Then it will sit for a week again with no problems at all. It's happened 2 time now. I made sure the radio, heater controls, etc were off when I put it away the last time.

racegirl1 said:

I have the standard shaker 500 no sub in the trunk.

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I don't know about the new Shaker 500, but if it's anything like the Mach 460, there are 2 small amps in the back under the rear speakers.

Just throwing an idea out there, could be something completely different though.

I have parked mine for 3-4 months without issues and I have gone to Florida for 5 days and upon returning home my battery was dead as a door nail.

The radio amps seem to be what's causing this.
It's been a year since the last time its done this to me.
I make sure the radio is always off before removing the key.

Recharge your battery fully with a battery charger.
Don't let the alternator do all the work.

I had the same problem with my 06' brand new. my car sits for 2-4 days at a time. battery kept dying. your best bet is to go up to costco or sams club and buy a optima red top. i have that in my 06' my 04'Saleen and my 93' cobra. best battery ever.

Complain to the dealer. This should not happen. The Shaker 500 and Mac 460 are two totally differenty animals.

stanmckinney said:

Complain to the dealer. This should not happen. The Shaker 500 and Mac 460 are two totally differenty animals.

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The problem is so intermittent that you will end up leaving the car at the dealership multiple times with no assurance that the problem will be found. I'd rather spend my time driving it.

racegirl1 said:

I need your help...I own a 2005 GT going on two years the end of this month. Just last week it started up with somthing draining my car's battery power? This has never happend before first time? This car is not my daily driver so most of the time it will sit in the garage for three to four days before I decide to take it for a spin...it has always started right up before unitl last week. I go to use the key less entry to unlock the door and it doesn't work no battery power to even unlock the door. How many of you have run into this problem with your 2005 mustangs? What have you discovered the problem is?

Thank You,
Carolyn

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Here's several posts that will explain in complete detail what the problem and solution is that you may find helpful..I've taken my 05 to 3 different dealerships, for the very same reason and didn't finally get a straight answer, until speaking with a Ford field service engineer..And this may not make any sense, but it appears that this is how Ford designed these cars, and the explanation I got was, each computer has a timer that is running continulessly, in addition each sensor or module also stores computer memory.. for ie there's one for the drop down window module, another for the motion sensor on the alarm system, another for the radio, power door locks, power windows and so on..and if the vehicle sits for more than 10 days and the battery is not fully charged and also if the computer reads less than 9volts, it will automatically drain the remaining voltage as some sort of fail safe protection, that has to do with preserving computer memory..I was also informed that it's even worse, if you start the vehicle and only let sit at idle for 15-20 min. because he claims that sitting at idle, does not rev the rpm's enough to fully keep the battery charged..Therefore, their are only 2 options..either run and drive the vehicle at least once every 5-7 days or install a tender or trickle charger if the vehicle is going to sit more than a week...As I said before, I know this doesn't make much sense and I still don't quite understand it all, but that's just how these cars are now designed..Anyway, hope this helps out in someway...Quote:
Originally Posted by 310stanger
as a ford tech i have this to say. the ford motocraft batteries really seem to be crap. we replace them constantly on stock units. meaning cars on our lot that may sit for awhile. also. if you dont run your car for a long time yes there actually is a draw. the computer uses some electricity to run your kam. KeepAliveMemory. bring it to your ford dealer and see if they can warranty you a battery.....
Quote:
Originally Posted by red05bullitgt
As for the Motorcraft Batteries are concerned ?? I couldn't agree more.. In less than 2 years of owning my 05 GT I'm now on my third battery, The first one lasted 2 months and the dealership replaced it due to it having a bad cell and then got 6 months out of the second before it went dead, took it another dealer for a second opinion who claimed that battery more than likely sat on the shelf too long and wasn't fully charged, so they replaced that one as well and was then advised by their feild service engineer to invest in a tender charger and ever since then, I haven't had any dead battery problems..However, I still think that it's rediculous that a brand new car can't sit for more than 10-14 days without it's battery going dead but at least I'll give the dealerships credit for this ?? they did replace both batteries under warranty...Anyway, being that your a Ford tech. perhaps you can answer this for me..Does the electricity that is required to run the keep alive memory, cause enough of a draw to drain these batteries, if they sit for 2 weeks ?? or does it take longer than that ?? The reason why I ask, is because this was also what the feild service engineer explained and this is the explanation that seems to make any logical sense..
evidently it does, i havent ever tested the draw from the computer across the power to test but if i remember i will and report back. one thing i can say more then anything is that i think a lot of these batteries although they may start the vehicle dont actually have a full charge which is what i feel to be a big reason on why they go dead. your battery needs to have a full charge to avoid it going dead when its left to sit. personally i highly recommend you guys using a battery tender if at all possible. or even pulling ur batteries and chargin them up then storing them. an easier way may be to jus disconnect the battery. when i perform work on my 5.0 and i know the car is gonna sit i jus disconnect the battery and dont seem to have a problem. granted my car is quite a bit different. but dont feel bad guys, all fords at my work across the board i have replaced batteris in before they even leave the dealer. now one could say that ford engineers the vehicles **** up and be right, another could say that motorcraft batteries suck and you wont be getting any disagreement from me on it.

I've had the same problem w/ my '06. Even after having the battery replaced under warranty. I've heard so many different possible causes that I finally just bought a charger that kicks in once the battery is down by a certain amount. It was only $25 at Wally World so it's cheap but it is still a pain w/ a 2200 mile car.

The bottom line is this...it's the keep alive memory that's responsible for draining these batteries and not the shaker 500/1000 ?.. therefore YOU MUST RUN A BATTERY TENDER IF THE VEHICLE IS GOING TO SIT FOR MORE THAN 7 DAYS AT A TIME

red05bullitgt said:

The bottom line is this...it's the keep alive memory that's responsible for draining these batteries and not the shaker 500/1000 ?.. therefore YOU MUST RUN A BATTERY TENDER IF THE VEHICLE IS GOING TO SIT FOR MORE THAN 7 DAYS AT A TIME

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My car routinely sits 3-4 weeks and sometimes 3-4 months if there is snow on the ground. My battery only went dead once when I was in Florida for 5 days.

Consider yourself as very fortunate because the majority of 05+ Stang owners have experienced the very same battery issues and most will tell you that after 7-10 days of sitting ? their batteries are completely dead..However since installing my tender charger ? I haven't had any battery issues in well over a year now, which confirms everything the Ford engineers and technicians stated all along concerning the KEEP ALIVE MEMORY drawing continuous battery current as the culprit..

I have the same issue. I bought a battery charger, and chalked it up to experience. Bear in mind that the S197 is still relatively new and is dealing with a bunch of state-of-the-art technologies which were bound to go wrong (things like batteries in cars, stereos, fuel tanks, etc)

My car did the same thing. Car was less than 1.5 years old, approx 20k miles, car never sat more than 12 hours during the period of failures. I tried charging the battery when the car would experience difficulty starting , but it would just drain again. I replaced it with an optima (like many other people did who experienced the crappy battery syndrome)

Not to be a nay sayer but if the memory depends on the battery.Why would it deplete the battery to KEEP ALIVE?

It's not the battery itself that depends on it.. The Keep Alive Memory is stored in the computer which depends on it and is also the culprit for drawing current from the battery..As to exactly how much current it draws ? wish I could answer that but the Ford field service tech I spoke with didn't quite go that far into detail...all I know is that it does draw battery current non-stop and for whatever reason ? Ford programmed the computer to shut down the battery if there's 9 volts or less from being inactive too long as some sort of fail safe measure in which again I cannot figure out any logical purpose behind this ?.. Seems as though all this modern day technology is becoming more and more complicating to understand than what it's really worth IMO But since installing my tender charger ? I haven't experienced any further battery problems in well over a year and the car sits just as long as it always has so I honestly cannot think of any other reason as to what was responsible for causing the battery failures

gp001 said:

My car did the same thing. Car was less than 1.5 years old, approx 20k miles, car never sat more than 12 hours during the period of failures. I tried charging the battery when the car would experience difficulty starting , but it would just drain again. I replaced it with an optima (like many other people did who experienced the crappy battery syndrome)

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Since replacing the car with an Optima, have you experienced any further battery failures ? and here I thought 7-10 days was bad enough but 12 hours ?? geez if that had been my car ? I would have demanded a new car replacement under the lemon law..