HELP - '24 GT Convertible is dead

[samson]

Just got back from a one week vacation and went out to take the car I adore for a drive and it's completely dead. Like nothing at all. I got the LF door open with the metal key from the FOB. No power to anything.

Any suggestions for me? Last time I ran it was about 10 days ago. I've never had any battery issues with this car. I didn't do anything different the last time I drove it. I made sure it was off with the doors locked and alarm set as I was leaving for vacation the next morning. I've had it sitting for longer periods of time before with no issues. Not sure what the difference is this time.

Is the first step here to jump it? The problem with that is that my cables are in the trunk and I don't know any way to get it open without power? If I do get it running should I take it over to the Ford dealer to check out? Or just wait to see if it happens again?

Appreciate any suggestions or to hear from anyone else this has happened to. Car is roughly a year and a half old with ~10K miles. Thanks.

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[GrabThatBlue]

Batteries on this car are junk. But also the way this car eats the batteries is also bad. Hundreds or maybe thousands had the same issue.

You can acces your trunk when folding your back seats. There are straps on both sides to pull it.

 

[Starship Enterprise]

Get a jump pack to wake it up then get a battery tender....and use it OFTEN.

The way you're running your car, you don't get battery issues right away. It's cumulative until you have less and less of a charge....then it goes into sleep mode or just dies.

I didn't drive my last Mustang often enough and battery went dead within 2 years. Next battery I installed got the Battery Tender and lasted me a full 10 years. It was still going strong, but the neg terminal corroded off....lol.

 

[LouG]

I know you can jump start modern cars succesfully, but I try to avoid it given all the electronics that have palpitations if you give them .5 volts too much.
I prefer to put them on charge if possible.

 

[samson]

I just put it on the NOCO Genius 5 charger I bought when I first got the car. Figured that was better on the battery than jumping it. I'll report back on how that works out. I still have no clue why it went completely dead like that. Again it was only ~10 days in 50-65 degree temperatures.

As for keeping on a trickle charger. I'm in a condominium so it's not convenient to leave it plugged in. Right now I have an extension cord coming off the second floor balcony down to the car in the garage below. I made a point to run it right before I left for vacation to avoid this problem. Wondering if I could have left something on - but I can't think of what

 

[Snakebyte]

Parasitic discharge of add-ons...Including aftermarket camera, Allstate Drivewise, Progressive Snapshot, and etc.?

 

[dusman59]

A battery at 80% is considered dead and would need a charge. With all the electronics the alternator rarely will charge to 100%. If you have an early build job one I wouldn't have much faith in it taking a full charge. Many sat months after the lines were stopped with production problems.

 

[AZ_Ryan]

A battery at 80% is considered dead and would need a charge. With all the electronics the alternator rarely will charge to 100%. If you have an early build job one I wouldn't have much faith in it taking a full charge. Many sat months after the lines were stopped with production problems.

An 80% charge is not dead my friend. Plenty of people here (including me) have driven around under that with no issues.

 

[AZ_Ryan]

OP - get yourself a battery tender and charge the battery. I got a 5 Amp at Costco for like 50 bucks. It charges pretty quick. I'd prefer that over a Jumpstart. Side note - you don't need to take the batter cover off to do this.

As others have said, the batteries on these cars drain quick. Most people are drivimg around at or below 80% and dont know it. The jury is out on if it's poor batteries or too much drain due to the electronics when sitting. Either way, if you are going to let your car sit that long without driving, you need to keep a battery tender on it.

Once it's charged, I'd take it somewhere and have the batter tested just to be sure. The dealer should replace it under warranty it's it's not taking a full charge.

 

[dusman59]

AZ_Ryan I miss spoke at 80% being dead. However it should be enough to start your car but with an aged battery the CCA at 80% might not.

 

[DT-GT]

Unfortunately not in the convertibles.

You can acces your trunk when folding your back seats. There are straps on both sides to pull it.

 

[samson]

OP - get yourself a battery tender and charge the battery. I got a 5 Amp at Costco for like 50 bucks. It charges pretty quick. I'd prefer that over a Jumpstart. Side note - you don't need to take the batter cover to do this.

As others have said, the batteries on these cars drain quick. Most people are drivimg around at or below 80% and dont know it. The jury is out on if it's poor batteries or too much drain due to the electronics when sitting. Either way, if you are going to let your car sit that long without driving, you need to keep a battery tender on it.

Once it's charged, I'd take it somewhere and have the batter tested just to be sure. The dealer should replace it under warranty it's it's not taking a full charge.

I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I have the charger hooked up as instructed in the "jump starting the vehicle" section on page 280 of the manual. It's been going for three hours and still only the first red indicator is flashing on the charger and no power at all in the vehicle. I don't get it. Should I be charging directly to the battery or is it fine to connect this way?

 

[Paul's stable]

Just got back from a one week vacation and went out to take the car I adore for a drive and it's completely dead. Like nothing at all. I got the LF door open with the metal key from the FOB. No power to anything.

Any suggestions for me? Last time I ran it was about 10 days ago. I've never had any battery issues with this car. I didn't do anything different the last time I drove it. I made sure it was off with the doors locked and alarm set as I was leaving for vacation the next morning. I've had it sitting for longer periods of time before with no issues. Not sure what the difference is this time.

Is the first step here to jump it? The problem with that is that my cables are in the trunk and I don't know any way to get it open without power? If I do get it running should I take it over to the Ford dealer to check out? Or just wait to see if it happens again?

Appreciate any suggestions or to hear from anyone else this has happened to. Car is roughly a year and a half old with ~10K miles. Thanks.

Pull down back seat to get into trunk.

 

[smurfslayer]

Get a jump pack to wake it up then get a battery tender....and use it OFTEN.

As for keeping on a trickle charger.

get yourself a battery tender and charge the battery. I got a 5 Amp at Costco for like 50 bucks.

And, once you have that trickle charger set up, get it to the dealership to diagnose the parasitic draw that's killing your battery.

I've gone 3 weeks multiple times without even opening my Mustang and not had this problem and I'm sure a bunch of people who bought Mustangs have similar experiences. This does not minimize anyone having the issue, but I'm just trying to point out it's not normal, it's a problem.

Something is draining the battery and/or it's not getting charged. Putting a trickle charger on it is a workaround, not a fix.

 

[JAM486HP]

I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I have the charger hooked up as instructed in the "jump starting the vehicle" section on page 280 of the manual. It's been going for three hours and still only the first red indicator is flashing on the charger and no power at all in the vehicle. I don't get it. Should I be charging directly to the battery or is it fine to connect this way?

I have the NOCO 5, No need to go direct to the battery. Make sure you have a good connection on the red jumper post and the ground, otherwise it will stay on that first indicator and not charge. After it is connected properly it will still take about 5-10 minutes to show progress.

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