Well boys, add me to the list of S197s with battery problems. I've only driven the car once in two weeks and sporadically before that due to bad weather, but I went out to the garage after work to get something out of the car and my remote wouldn't work. I'm slapping the thing and pushing every button it has...no go...so I open the door with the key...no dome lights...I turn the ignition...dead, dead, dead.
I hooked the battery up to a 10 amp charger...the car comes alive honking the alarm horn at me as soon as I touched that positive battery terminal. IT"S ALIVE!!!...had a lttle Frankenstein flashback when that happened. It's been sucking on that charger drawing 9 & 1/2 amps now for 30 minutes so she was definitely flat. These cars must draw some serious amps while sitting still. Who else here has had battery problems? I know there's got to be pretty many. Well at least she gave up the ghost while she was in the garage...could've happened at work or elsewhere.
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06 Stang GT, Yeah I got stuff! Check out my profile for the low down.
When I store my car for any period of time I use one of those Peak chargers. I will keep your battery peaked up. When it gets a little low it kicks on and peaks it back up. One of the best things that I have ever bought.
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2002 Saleen S/C Coupe
#293 Torch Red
Power in the hands of a few
I switched over 3 months after I bought my car. My OEM battery stayed charged, problem was it started leaking and the car was only 3 months old. Went with the Optima Red Top and a battery Tender to throw a nice easy charge on it and all is fine here.
I've heard that some guys fixed their problem just by turning off there Shaker 500/and all other switches before they shut the engine off. One guy said his battery was always going dead. They replaced something he called the Shaker 500 head unit and that fixed his problem. I always turn off all my interior switches. Between replacing that crappy OEM battery and turning off all interior switches/Stereo included, that seemed to make many people's lives much better. May not be a total fix but it helped some!!!
I switched over 3 months after I bought my car. My OEM battery stayed charged, problem was it started leaking and the car was only 3 months old. Went with the Optima Red Top and a battery Tender to throw a nice easy charge on it and all is fine here.
I've heard that some guys fixed their problem just by turning off there Shaker 500/and all other switches before they shut the engine off. One guy said his battery was always going dead. They replaced something he called the Shaker 500 head unit and that fixed his problem. I always turn off all my interior switches. Between replacing that crappy OEM battery and turning off all interior switches/Stereo included, that seemed to make many people's lives much better. May not be a total fix but it helped some!!!
I've always made a point to shut off all accessories before I turn off the engine. Still ticking at 36 months (knock on wood).
I've had similar battery issues while my car was parked during the winter. I also bought a battery charger that will maintain the charge and all is well now. I had quite the scare from this as it happened to me after installing all my mods over a 2 day period. Finished up did a final look over then go to start her up and nothing but a strange click . Charged the battery and all was well.
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2007 Mustang GT/CS - Roush quarter window louvers, , C&L CAI, SLP long tube headers, SLP high flow cats with x-pipe, SLP power flow axle back, moto blue HO pulley reduction kit, Shelby GT500 twin 65MM throttle body, Accel super coils, Livewire tuner with Bama 91 race tune, Tru-Fiber hood, MRT rear aluminum louvers, MGW shifter, Agent 47 retro race mirrors, Foose wheels, smoked head lights & front corner lights, Ellanor Grill.
Yeah when my battery finally dies out that is what I want to get. The optima red top. That is supposed to be a good battery. The battery I got now is 6 years old the one I got with the car. And it is still going strong.
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2002 Saleen S/C Coupe
#293 Torch Red
Power in the hands of a few
Yeah when my battery finally dies out that is what I want to get. The optima red top. That is supposed to be a good battery. The battery I got now is 6 years old the one I got with the car. And it is still going strong.
Some have gone with the Yellow Top deep cycle (those with big stereos) but the Red Top works well for most. 6 years is shocking on an OEM battery, but you don't get the constant hot-cold like some of us do.
I replaced mine this winter....before calling Ford Roadside. That was stupid. They said they would have paid for it.
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Things are swinging around....might be getting back into commissions shortly... :-)
I am working on something for myself that will be challenging and exciting for me! I cannot wait to share it with the AFM crowd....and it won't be Mustang related.....WHAT HAVE I DONE!!
I replaced mine this winter....before calling Ford Roadside. That was stupid. They said they would have paid for it.
Yeah, I'm still under warranty (until Jan 09) so if it fails completely, I'll make Ford buy me a new one. I will definitely go with a Optima red top though when warranty is out...they are very nice batteries. I really don't think it's the fault of the battery though...I think these cars must draw some serious amperage while sitting still. I don't drive it much in the winter and when I do it's only 5 miles to work so the alternator never got a chance to charge it back up. I'll make sure the stereo is off when I shut her down. I think I will buy me one of those
1 amp battery tender jobbys. My 10 amp charger is too big to use for the job of just topping it off. Been three hours now on the charger and it's dropped to 8 amps so we're getting there.
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06 Stang GT, Yeah I got stuff! Check out my profile for the low down.
Yeah, I'm still under warranty (until Jan 09) so if it fails completely, I'll make Ford buy me a new one. I will definitely go with a Optima red top though when warranty is out...they are very nice batteries. I really don't think it's the fault of the battery though...I think these cars must draw some serious amperage while sitting still. I don't drive it much in the winter and when I do it's only 5 miles to work so the alternator never got a chance to charge it back up. I'll make sure the stereo is off when I shut her down. I think I will buy me one of those
1 amp battery tender jobbys. My 10 amp charger is too big to use for the job of just topping it off. Been three hours now on the charger and it's dropped to 8 amps so we're getting there.
When my alternator failed my mechanic did a test. Car only pulled 81 amps at idel with every accessory (incl eH2O pump) on.
my battery is dead.....but Im still under warranty...Ford will buy this one and then the Optima will be fitted in.
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Saleen S/C 3.2 pulley tuned by JDM Engineering, GT500 pumps, CHE goodies on the rear, 4.10's, KOOKS/ high flow catted X pipe with PYPES Violators, Spydershaft, TCI 3500 stall, PA deep tranny pan. Meziere w/p,M&H 325/45/17 DRs.
future mods.... a 3.0 pulley
Exact same thing happened to me about 2 weeks ago. I was taking her out from her long winter nap and of course, the battery was dead, hooked her up on the safe charger for 18 hours on low, she's all fired up now. I took her out in the beautiful weather for once saturday, man the feeling of turning that key for the first time in like 3 months and hearing all 8 cylinders sing to me...
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2005 Ford Mustang GT *Black Sunshine* Current Mods: head & taillight covers, red tri-bar pony floor mats, sequential tail lights, chrome skull & flame pedals, red wire covers, underhood billet caps/covers 1990 Ford Mustang LX Convertable *White Lightning*
Guys I did a little research on those little battery chargers last night and wanted to share it with you in case you ever decide to get one.
I was all set to buy the "Battery Tender Plus" (1.25 amp) from Deltran and read all of the specs till I was bleeding from the eyeballs when I ran into the "Battery Minder" (1.3 amp) from VDC Electronics. The Battery Minder does everything the Battery Tender Plus does PLUS it's a Desulphator when it's in float mode. What a desulphator does is pulse the incoming charge and knocks the crystals off of the plates in the battery. Those crystals to a lead acid battery are like cancer to a human...they eventually kill it. I've talked to our folklift maintenance guy at work many times about our forklift batteries and you have to knock those crystals down to extend the life of the battery. The Battery Minder is about the same in price as the Battery Tender Plus...I started in the $50 + range and I found it for about $45 at: BatteryMINDer Plus 12 Volt 1.3 Amp Battery Charger: BatteryMart.com The charger also comes with a free battery condition monitor (after you mail in the warranty registration) that you hook up to the battery (worth about 12 bucks). So I ended up ordering the Battery Minder. So if you're in the market, it looks like the Battery Minder is superior to the Battery Tender Plus.
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06 Stang GT, Yeah I got stuff! Check out my profile for the low down.
S197 Mustang Battery Woes 
IT"S ALIVE!!!...had a lttle Frankenstein flashback when that happened. It's been sucking on that charger drawing 9 & 1/2 amps now for 30 minutes so she was definitely flat. These cars must draw some serious amps while sitting still. Who else here has had battery problems? I know there's got to be pretty many. Well at least she gave up the ghost while she was in the garage...could've happened at work or elsewhere.
. Charged the battery and all was well.
