Hi.
I'm new to the site and new to the Mustang.
.
3 weeks ago bought an '05 V6 Auto. Used, 33K miles. I went from a Kia to my now baby Sammy! Big jump, I know.
I brought it back in a few days after buying it for the inspection. Everything was signed off as good.
1 week of learning my new car I find out that the lower lumbar isn't working. Never knew it was there so god only knows if it ever worked. The lights (inside and out) dim/flicker and it feels like it wants to die when in idle. Then one morning I can't get it out of park. Shifter is stuck. Finally get it out and take it to the dealership. At that time I told them that when at a stop the inside and outside lights will flicker and the car will feel like it wants to die.
They had to replace the lumbar, gear shifter, and put new breaks. *Awesome 100 point inspection by the way* They said they checked the electrical system and can't find anything. Also drove it 45 miles and didn't see it. Well no dumbass it was day out. You wont see the lights flicker when it's 85 and sunny. But you can feel it.
Never the less I go pick the car up a few days later and sure enough still feeling like it wants to die. I take their word and continue to drive.
Another week and now the blower on the A/C doesn't work. Only works on the lowest (1). The car still flickers and jerks when in idle. Yesterday the breaks are knocking on the passenger side. So now I'm pissed off I take it straight to the dealer. No call ahead or anything.
I pull right into service and rip them apart. Oh did I tell you that my Aunt has worked there for the past 22 years and her boyfriend sold me the car. (Yes it gets better!!!)
The guy tells me he'll drive and see what's the problem. I'm not going to go into detail what the guy said because he's an idiot but told me it was fine. Said he'll get the breaks fixed, the blower, and doesn't know what to tell me about the lights/dying. Said it's normal. I'm sorry maybe because I'm a chic and aren't too good with cars he decided to talk to me like an idiot. We get back to the dealership and my uncle ask if he was able to get it to die. I speak up and said "NO! This a$$hole wouldn't let me drive it." I guarantee that I can get it to do it. So my uncle says to let me drive it and he ride b*tch! Sure enough I turn on the interior light and tell him to hold his hand under it. (It is dusk out at this point). I pull up a little and get the car to jerk and feel like it's dying. He can see the lights flicker. You know what he tells me..... I'm doing it to the car. I'm making it jerk and lights flicker because I'm riding the break. Seriously is this true???? I need some help because since I was a little girl I always wanted a Mustang and now this car is killing all my childhood dreams.
Sorry this is so long but I need to tell you the whole story.
Hi welcome to AFM. Congrats on buying your dream car, sorry you have had so much trouble with it. If it only has 33K miles on it then it is still under factory warranty, or you should have gotten an extended warranty from Ford or another extended warranty form whoever. Take it to another dealership for the maintenance, maybe someone who is not familiar with the car will have more insight to the problem. The dealership where you bought it does not want to admit they sold you a problem. That is my initail thought. Hope it all works out for you.
I agree, take it to another dealer.
Also shoot Ford HQ an email detailing your issue. My dad had the same types of problems with his local dealer, found a web-email link for comments/complaints through the Ford web-site and sent them his thoughts on the situation.
They answered back about TSB's and told him to bring his vehicle back and it will be all taken care of. It was. The dealership basically had their butts handed to them and were very apologetic after that. You also have to remember that dealer mechanics aren't the most experianced mechanics. Look at their turnaround rate. Month to month you will see different people working in the shop.
Welcome to the forum Goofie,
Everyone is right, take it to another dealership and find out also the warranty details. Find a place where you can report the issues of the current dealership.
I have encountered a great deal of problems from mechanics in the past because of being a woman, until I gently let them know I understand mechanics and can do a great deal of repairs on my own. I believe it is getting better though since more women are starting to stand up for themselves.
Hope it works out for you
Tess
Two things, first do the lights dim only when you have the A/C on? If so then it could be a normal occurrence. Then again it could also indicate that the A/C Compressor is going out and is using more and power to turn it, thus dropping the idle speed of your engine and the power output of your alternator, hence the dimming lights. The other thing is,and it's a petty thing, but in the interest of you knowing all about your car, "breaks" is actually "brakes". I know it's petty, and I don't mean to say anything else about it.
The A/C and lights are two different situations. With the radio and A/C or Heat off they will still dim. They currently have my car in the shop and said I should get it back tomorrow. I keep getting "we've checked the electrical system and it's fine". Anyone of you want to come with me and kick this guys butt. I'm a little thing. I couldn't take him on my own : )
- Also thanks for the correction. After I sent it I realized I did it. : )
The A/C and lights are two different situations. With the radio and A/C or Heat off they will still dim. They currently have my car in the shop and said I should get it back tomorrow. I keep getting "we've checked the electrical system and it's fine". Anyone of you want to come with me and kick this guys butt. I'm a little thing. I couldn't take him on my own : )
- Also thanks for the correction. After I sent it I realized I did it. : )
I still would question the integrity of the alternator. They are prone to failure.
Well then let me put forth another possibility, does the dimming of the lights correspond to the cooling fan cycling on and off? The fan starts and stops automatically. The thing that normally causes the lights to flicker (dim) at regular intervals would be a cycling type of load on the electrical system (ie A/C or the cooling fan). Additionally,as others have stated, the alternator is prone to fail on these cars. With your car having 33,000 miles on the clock, an intermittent alternator malfunction is not out of the question. In any event the engine shouldn't almost stall, and cycling demands on the alternator rarely result in an RPM change you would notice, unless there is a malfunction. It doesn't appear they are turning over every stone (so to speak) to discover what your particular malfunction is. You may have to seek out another dealer, as already suggested.
There have been loads of "odd" electrical/computer problems caused by the common leak around the firewall on the passenger side. (There's a TSB on this issue I think) The computer that controlls EVERYTHING is located behind the passenger side kick plate. Sniff around the footwell carpeting (with no one in the passenger seat - people will begin to talk) to see if you get a musty smell, maybe pull up the carpet an look underneath for evidence of water. Luck!
Just got a call. Sammy is ready to be picked up. The blower is fixed, the breaks are done, and they still can't figure out the dying /dimming problem. Said they checked the electrical system and everything is fine. Also said the alternator is good. What they're going to do is drive it for about 10-15 min down a major stop and go road before I arrive and when I get there I'll take the salesman (uncle) and the service manager for a ride. They want me to see if I can duplicate what I'm experiencing. It will be a little difficult as you wont see the lights as much as you would when it's dark. You can however see the tail lights pretty good when it's doing it. So..... we'll see.
Morning! Picked up Sammy yesterday. Breaks done, blower done, dimming not done. I went for a ride with the service manager. NOTHING!!! It didn't do it. Said he had it running for about 15 min before I got there. So, he said if it happens again to bring it in. I get out of the parking lot and into the turn lane and sure enough it does it. I did the fastest U-turn that I could and pulled it into service. The manager came out and I said "look it's actually doing it". Sure enough he got into the car and saw what I was talking about. He played with the A/C and radio. The lights would go solid for a little bit when he first turned something on but within 30 sec go back to flickering. He turned on the head lights and sure enough the head & brake lights were flickering. He looked up some website to see if this is a common problem and couldn't find anything. He looked over some other things and came to the conclusion that it has to be a faulty ground. Told me the car wouldn't die on me from it. So now I have to arrange for Sammy to go back in sometime next week. I told him that instead of giving me a Focus or Taurus again just have that pretty clean Blue GT ready when I come him. He laughed, don't think he took me serious. So it seems that we're on the road to recovery.
I would say, as stated from many members before, it's the alternator. especially the voltage regulator. i have had similar trouble with my pony.
your master computer is the pcm in the engine compt. take the pcm as a kind of manager. the job of a manager is to keep the "company" running. the "company" is your car.
the manager, from now "pcm" (power train control module) again, has priorities. among lots of different other "jobs", it compares the needs of electrical power from your car (lights, ac, radio, ignition,environmental control, etc.) and what it gets from the charging system. in the first stage of a faulty voltage regulator you'll get this electrical fluctuations in the whole grid, intermittent. the pcm is now having problems in providing all systems with elec power.in the dying stage the pcm starts to shut down all electrical circuits (bus shedding) which are not needed to keep the engine running: radio, abs, tcs,etc. if the voltage regulator fails completely you'll see the red charging (bat) light. from this time you're running more or less on battery power. if your battery is in good shape it will keep you running for about 1 to 2h even with lights on. (own experience)
so, keep an eye on the behavior of your elec system. furthermore check the "green eye" of your battery.and tell the dealers they should view the wdm's,(wiring diagramm manuals).
good luck!
What a nightmare - Long Story (sorry) 
Welcome to the forum Goofie,
let them know I understand mechanics and can do a great deal of repairs on my own. I believe it is getting better though since more women are starting to stand up for themselves. 
