What Can I Expect When I Start my 2024 GT in a Month?

[armyGT]

I use my 2024 GT Premium A-10 as a cruise car. I attached a Battery Tender on the Negative Shock Tower Pin and the Positive on the Fuse Box Pin. The Tender has shown fully charged all winter, October 20th, 2024 to the present date. I intend to start the car around the 15th of April 2025. What should I expect when I take off the Tender and hit START? Will updates be on the car or come on as I drive it. At this point I have a bit over 700 miles on the clock. I intend to do a State inspection and oil change as soon as the weather permits. Should I expect the unexpected or will it start and run normally? The car has been in a dry, heated garage, no critters and checked on daily. Tire pressures have been checked.

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[GrabThatBlue]

The car will start normally.

I once left my car 6 months, outside during the whole winter period with freezing cold and the car started like a charm. It wasn't a Mustang, but still. You have your car on a tender in the garage. No worries.

 

[erocker]

Nothing out of the ordinary will happen.

 

[POHLHAMMER]

Ours just sat for about 4.5 months in a insulated garage here in Wisconsin.

It barely turned over , but fired. Had low battery warning on dash. Drove it about 15mins , still had low battery indicator on dash after refueling. Another 20 min drive and it was back to normal.

We have A.S.S. , which I heard means a larger battery than cars without. I would guess it wouldn't have started if the battery was smaller.

This was without a battery tender. If you have a quality one , I assume it will fire right up no problem.

I saw no updates , or anything out of normal. Tires were all 10 psi low.

 

[Sofa King]

Probably just a big smile on your face...

 

[Skye]

She'll start normally.

The fuel system will prime as you're getting in the car. Oil pressure will come up quickly and steadily. The tender keeps the battery optimized, so the charging system will continue to act like it always has.

I've had my car for three seasons. I've averaged about four months of storage each Winter. First start, it's like the car was driven moments before. No stumbles, smoke, lights or alarms. I will notice some minor flat-spotting with the tires for the first 15 mins or so, but that smoothes out rather quickly.

The first drive for me is a confidence check. I drive normally, the goal one hour continuous, to get all the fluids moving good. Afterwards, some visual checks. And that's it.

Edit,

Oh yea...you mentioned checking the tires. Don't forget to disconnect the tender before starting the car and exiting the garage.

This year, I forgot that.

I was initially exiting the garage while hearing this dragging sound, like, "WTF is that?!". Well, I eventually got far enough out I could see the extension cord in front of me, tender still attached. All of it had remained connected. No damage. Just had to laugh it off , disconnect and head on out.

 

[Alan Applegate]

I've never owned a garage kitty which is only driven 20 or so miles a year. So I really can't say what will happen to you, once the engine fires up? Just remember to open the garage door before you do!

 

[armyGT]

Thanks for the input! The 2024 is a new game for me. My older Mustangs were easy to store. In most cases, I stored them in a clean unheated dry storage facility or a climate-controlled limestone mine. I always took at the battery and put it on a tender in my garage. In the spring, I installed the battery, and it fired up without any issues.
And I will make sure the tender is disconnected, the cover is off, and the garage door is open!

 

[LouG]

Battery tenders are worth their weight in....batteries?
The battery on my bike was the original and still working fine after 9 years

 

[roadpilot]

It will start. Just started mine 2 days ago after she slept, covered, for months on a tender in the garage. Nothing else magically happens.

 

[R3tro GT]

I started mine a week ago, parked in an underground with no available power source so no tender, and she started right up

 

[GrabThatBlue]

I started mine a week ago, parked in an underground with no available power source so no tender, and she started right up

How long was it parked?

 

[TimSez]

I stored my 2024 GT convertible for 3 months and largely followed the procedures listed on page 325 of the owners manual. Although I purchased the Ford Performance battery tender, I only connected and charged every 30 days, which prevented the car from going into "sleep mode" to disable system components to prevent battery drain (the Ford Pass app will notify you if your car is entering this mode). I attached the positive charging cable to the positive post on the battery, and the negative cable to the connection past the Battery Mgmt System component. I also started the car monthly and overinflated the tires by 5 PSI. It started right up at the beginning of this month and I felt no flat spots on the tires. No need to reset any features. If you disconnect the battery for long-term storage, you have some memory features to reset.

 

[jkarl]

I use my 2024 GT Premium A-10 as a cruise car. I attached a Battery Tender on the Negative Shock Tower Pin and the Positive on the Fuse Box Pin. The Tender has shown fully charged all winter, October 20th, 2024 to the present date. I intend to start the car around the 15th of April 2025. What should I expect when I take off the Tender and hit START? Will updates be on the car or come on as I drive it. At this point I have a bit over 700 miles on the clock. I intend to do a State inspection and oil change as soon as the weather permits. Should I expect the unexpected or will it start and run normally? The car has been in a dry, heated garage, no critters and checked on daily. Tire pressures have been checked.

I haven't tried this with my GT but with my Ram if it sits for awhile You press the accelerator to the floor and hit start. It turns over without starting getting the oil moving. Then start as normal. Don't know if it helps but seems it should.

 

[glenng6]

Probably just a big smile on your face...

Sofa King,
I was going to say the same thing but you beat me to it. I don't stop driving my car but won't take it out in wet weather. I sometime go awhile without driving and get a message that the car went to sleep but I don't really stop driving it. Also, 54º and my top is down!

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