Starting Problem


1

1931imperial

GT Owner
May 15, 2006
27
When the car sits overnight sometimes the starter is dead and a push start or jump doesn't help. Sometimes I can lock and unlock with the key fob and it will start. Sometimes I wait a few hours and it starts. I'm inclined to think it's part of the interlock system with the alarm. Ford indicates no service bulletins, etc.; hard to diagnose when it's intermitent. Mine is a late 2005. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Ron
 
IS YOUR BATTERY FULLY CHARGED? Do you keep a trickle chgr on it when not in use?

Try the usual 2 things: clean the battery ground to be sure THAT'S providing a good ground, and plug your factory trickle chgr in for 2-3days.

DON'T do a QUICK charge. 'Could ruin your battery.
 
1931imperial said:
a push start or jump doesn't help.
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push start ?

IS that wise ? :shrug
 
Trust YOU!

I didn't wanna bring that up! :lol
 
Empty Pockets said:
Trust YOU!

I didn't wanna bring that up! :lol
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Well ....I wouldn't get finger prints on the clammshell. :rofl
 
Aren't the trickle chargers that come with the car designed to stay on the car when ever the cars parked? I was under the impression you can leave them on indefinately as they were automatic and work like any battery tender. I noticed you said 2 or 3 days?
 
Jamie,

You are correct as to the use of the factory supplied charger. If the battery is low it may take 2 to 3 days to bring it to full charge and then the charger would act as a maintainer keeping it in a fully charged state. If it will not come to a full charge then I would expect the battery is on its way out.

AJK
 
Your symptoms were very similar to mine.

Resolution:
Highly recommend that you sandpaper away some of the paint where the ground strap from the battery connects to the frame. You have to remove the tray under the front hood to have access to the battery and frame.
 
jamie said:
Aren't the trickle chargers that come with the car designed to stay on the car when ever the cars parked? I was under the impression you can leave them on indefinately as they were automatic and work like any battery tender. I noticed you said 2 or 3 days?
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The point I was making was that 2-3 days should be long enough to bring the battery up to snuff, Jamie. Your impression is correct - they can (and should ) be left plugged in anytime the car isn't being driven.

Actually (before Jeeeerzee or some OTHER nitpicker jumps in here:rofl), the factory says plug it in if you're going to leave the car parked for 2-3 wks (or whatever their EXACT stmt is) or more w/o operating it. :cheers
 
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EP ... Did you ever unplug your car?
 
DPGT said:
EP ... Did you ever unplug your car?
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SHUDDUP! Jus' SHUDDUP!!! :slap
 
sandpaper is your answer...

Kingman is spot on:

The ground wire from the battery is connected to a "painted" frame. Bad contact = bad ground = unreliable current = troubles.

Diconnect the lead from the frame. Shine it up. Reconnect (tight) and drive worry free.

Speaking from first hand experience. 5 minutes to fix but 2 months to diagnose. Now pushing 14,000 miles on my '06.

Hope this helps
 
Empty Pockets said:
SHUDDUP! Jus' SHUDDUP!!! :slap
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Well ... whoever does buy your old car will have a great ride ... but a burnt out battery tender. :biggrin
 
1931 when you say sometimes the starter is dead does it even crank once or slowly? Are the lights in the gauge cluster coming on and going out normally and do the gauges read when you turn the key on? The ground connection to the frame is a problem for a lot of cars so you should check it and the batt needs to be kept charged, but also next time it doesn't start for you pay attention to what the pats light is doing in the gauge cluster. See if it is flashing when you are pushing the start button and nothing is happening. From the way you are describing your problem of completely dead then a few min. later it starts it is possible you have another problem that may be pats system related. Just an idea of something to look for when it doesn't start, but don't rule out a ground issue.
 
SFLGT said:
1931 when you say sometimes the starter is dead does it even crank once or slowly? Are the lights in the gauge cluster coming on and going out normally and do the gauges read when you turn the key on? The ground connection to the frame is a problem for a lot of cars so you should check it and the batt needs to be kept charged, but also next time it doesn't start for you pay attention to what the pats light is doing in the gauge cluster. See if it is flashing when you are pushing the start button and nothing is happening. From the way you are describing your problem of completely dead then a few min. later it starts it is possible you have another problem that may be pats system related. Just an idea of something to look for when it doesn't start, but don't rule out a ground issue.
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It has been a while now, but I recall that the car wouldn't turn over one minute...then it would a bit later. All of the lights wouldn't work, except the passenger side rear brake light would stay lit.

There were some other wierd stuff that didn't make sense.

I disconnected the battery and everything worked fine. Drove it a bit...then nothing again.

The sandpapering of the frame corrected this issue.
 
DPGT said:
Well ... whoever does buy your old car will have a great ride ... but a burnt out battery tender. :biggrin
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He would have taken it for a drive but didn't have enough cable..... :biggrin
 
starting problem

was passive alarm module.when i finally had to have it towed the dealer found a computer code even tho by the time the tow truck got their the starter was working again.when it was dead starter didnt work period.
 
It sounded like a pats problem. Glad you got it worked out. Usually it's the transceiver that goes bad. Haven't had a bad module yet.
 
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