Anyone Heard of Serious Electrical Issues in '05?

[knsbball]

On Saturday my "Check Charging System" light came on. I took the car to Ford and had them check the battery and alternator and they said both we ok. The light had gone off by the time I got there so I thought nothing of it.

On Monday I was driving and the light came back on. As I continued to drive the traction control kept turning itself off and on. Additionally the radio turned off and on again but ended in the on position. My voltmeter was at 0. I pulled the car over and had it towed in. My windows were down and when I tried to roll them up they would only move for a split second as I turned the key to on. All the lights worked however, break, headlight etc had no problems, even the dash lights were on.

The tow truck driver told me that he had seen several like this. Has anyone heard of an electrical issue?

For has looked it over and is replacing the alternator, but like me they are sceptical it will fix the problem. They however, say they have no clue where to go from here.....ahhh gotta love the service department.

Thanks in advance.

 

[mustangmike6996]

yea it kind of sounds like a faulty voltage regulator to me... let us know what you find tho....

 

[Jenns01TA]

MMmmm electrical. FUN. I have a gal friend with a 2003 Mitsu Spyder. She has gone through the undiagnoised electrical dance for about 7 months now. They are still not sure what is the issue.

As for this being a common problem. NO. However, with a couple miles worth of electrical wiring and more onboard computers and regulators than the first space craft, sometimes poop just happens.

Let us know what your told.

 

[LV51FER]

It may be unrelated but when I had my Corvette C5 Z06, a low battery would cause all sorts of mayhem from all the door switches not working to warning lights for ABS, traction control, you name it, coming on and the car would also misfire and stall.

Charging the battery up (I'd been sitting in it with the stereo on and so forth while converting it to UK spec) and keeping it on a battery tender kept it perfectly happy.

I think if the modern computer doesn't get it's fix of electricity, it gets up in a really cranky mood. When the battery went on my Z28, starting it on low juice resulted in a 2000rpm idle and it went real sluggish.

In other words, it could just be a duff battery or alternator so don't rule it out. However, I've never had this on my Mustang but then I've never had a problem with the battery.

 

[knsbball]

Well.....I got the car back on Thursday after 2 full days with the dealer. They replaced the alternator and I, along with them, was pretty confidant that all the craziness was just caused by the low power. HOWEVER, today I was driving and the car went into engine fail-safe mode......NOT GOOD! I drove the car straight to the dealer, who of course was closed. I am going to call them in the morning and am tempted to start shopping for a new car soon thereafter......I love the car but this is nuts! Any one for carb?

 

[Mike97gt]

Tell the dealer to check for water intrusion into the SJB ( smart junction box) I have replaced several of them already on these cars.

 

[knsbball]

Got it back later that day. Sounds like when they replaced the alternator the air filter got bumped and the housing opened a little. Since the failsafe system is so touchy it sent it off. O well at least it wasn't anything major. Thanks for all the tips.