Hello everyone, I hope I get some help with this problem that showed up out of nowhere yesterday morning.
I have an 07 GT 5 speed with 48k miles. It’s been running amazing since I bought it in December. It’s not heavily modded, some exterior bits, a Ford Racing cat-back and cold air intake. Yesterday morning, I started it to go to a local cruise and as soon as I turned the defroster on to defrost the windshield, the car Immediately shut off. I restarted the car, waited a bit and then turned the defroster back on, same thing. I started it yet again, this time gave it 5 minutes and turned on the defroster and it was fine. I drove to the show and just as I pulled in, the car stalled. Nothing was on except the radio, maybe the cooling fan, but I had turned the defroster off 20 minutes before. The car would not stay on after multiple tries. It would start and then die after 20 seconds or so. I called Hagerty to come get me and 45 minutes later, when the truck showed up, I was able to start it and drive it up onto the flatbed. It stayed on and didn’t stall. I got the car home and experimented a bit. I tried the defroster thing again after it was off the truck in my driveway and it shut down like in the morning. I also turned on the lights instead of the defroster and same results, instantly shut off.
Today, after doing some research, I tested the battery and the alternator this morning. It was a cold start like the day before, I was trying to duplicate the same conditions. The battery is over 4 years old but it tested good. The alternator failed the test though. It started to rain so stopped testing until the rain stopped and then went back out after about a 1/2 hour with my multimeter. The battery read 12.65 volts and after it was started, the voltage was 14.32 volts. I turned on the lights and it stayed on. I turned on the a/c full blast and the rear defroster, it stayed on. Voltage dipped to 14.20 and slowly climbed to 14.30. I shut it all down and repeated the test to the same results. I did a retest on the system and the battery passed again but so did the alternator. I’m stumped. The grounds on the radiator support look new, the cowl is clean of debris so no water is collecting. I’ll pull the panel to check the BCM when the rain stops to be sure.
The battery is over 4 years old and I know voltage plays a big part in these cars, I’ll do a load test next when the rain stops just to be sure I can rule out a battery. I have no check engine light or maintenance light either by the way, just a low tire pressure light that came on while driving (I have a slow leak in my drivers side rear tire).
Sorry for the long post, just wanted to give as many details as I could. Has anyone experienced this? What was the issue? TIA
I have an 07 GT 5 speed with 48k miles. It’s been running amazing since I bought it in December. It’s not heavily modded, some exterior bits, a Ford Racing cat-back and cold air intake. Yesterday morning, I started it to go to a local cruise and as soon as I turned the defroster on to defrost the windshield, the car Immediately shut off. I restarted the car, waited a bit and then turned the defroster back on, same thing. I started it yet again, this time gave it 5 minutes and turned on the defroster and it was fine. I drove to the show and just as I pulled in, the car stalled. Nothing was on except the radio, maybe the cooling fan, but I had turned the defroster off 20 minutes before. The car would not stay on after multiple tries. It would start and then die after 20 seconds or so. I called Hagerty to come get me and 45 minutes later, when the truck showed up, I was able to start it and drive it up onto the flatbed. It stayed on and didn’t stall. I got the car home and experimented a bit. I tried the defroster thing again after it was off the truck in my driveway and it shut down like in the morning. I also turned on the lights instead of the defroster and same results, instantly shut off.
Today, after doing some research, I tested the battery and the alternator this morning. It was a cold start like the day before, I was trying to duplicate the same conditions. The battery is over 4 years old but it tested good. The alternator failed the test though. It started to rain so stopped testing until the rain stopped and then went back out after about a 1/2 hour with my multimeter. The battery read 12.65 volts and after it was started, the voltage was 14.32 volts. I turned on the lights and it stayed on. I turned on the a/c full blast and the rear defroster, it stayed on. Voltage dipped to 14.20 and slowly climbed to 14.30. I shut it all down and repeated the test to the same results. I did a retest on the system and the battery passed again but so did the alternator. I’m stumped. The grounds on the radiator support look new, the cowl is clean of debris so no water is collecting. I’ll pull the panel to check the BCM when the rain stops to be sure.
The battery is over 4 years old and I know voltage plays a big part in these cars, I’ll do a load test next when the rain stops just to be sure I can rule out a battery. I have no check engine light or maintenance light either by the way, just a low tire pressure light that came on while driving (I have a slow leak in my drivers side rear tire).
Sorry for the long post, just wanted to give as many details as I could. Has anyone experienced this? What was the issue? TIA
