wtf am i smoking??? whatever, staying closed minded may be fine with you but not me.
1. from what i gather it was working perfectly fine before he left, came back and battery was dead
2. all he did was replace battery, not maf not anything else.
3. im not saying this is it but I have seen this happen with alot of pcm antitheft systems losing the coding after the battery dies and he has those exact symptoms! I am just giving him one other thing to look at. does this happen often? hell no it doesnt otherwise there would be a lot of irritated ford owners out there. I have seen a few instances where this has happened. I didnt see how he installed the battery or maybe he left something out.
did i say that was it? no then you just remember this forum is to give people feedback and help them out which is what my best intentions are. I am not the final word in diagnostics but I do know what i know. kiss