Car trouble, 06 Mustang

[Cuda1447]

Alright, so I go to hop in my car this morning to head to work. Put the key in the ignition, turn... nothing. I get the seatbelt light flickering, but no other sounds. If I put the key in accessory I sometimes hear the CD player moving cd's around. Also, with the door open at times it sounds like I hear a clicking sound coming from the alternator. (At least thats where I think its coming from).


There is absolutely no one around to jump me right now and won't be for a few hours, so I have to just sit, wait and see... but in the meantime I figured I'd ask you guys. What do you think it could be? I'm guessing an alternator. I suppose it could be a battery, but I'm 98% sure I didnt leave anything on overnight and the car isn't exactly old. Roughly 40,000 miles on it.


What do ya guys think? Anything I could try?

 

[Arkaign]

Original battery? It's surprising, but that's the likely culprit at this moment. There may be secondary causes for it to have failed so early (I usually get 3-4 years out of batteries, and I drive 15-20k miles involving lots of short trips / starts).

Quality in batteries, as with many other things, seems to be on the decline.

 

[Vetterin]

I would have the battery checked before the alternator.

 

[Cuda1447]

Yep, its the original battery. I'm going to take it to a NAPA place and have the battery checked as soon as I can find someone to jump me.

 

[slickvic000]

I would also check the battery out, starting the with battery terminals. I have seen many times where a car will act odd electrically with even the slightest amount of corrosion on the terminals.

 

[Mxylplyx]

Definately battery issue, possibly caused by alternator. Take your battery to your local auto parts store to get it tested. The clicking sound is likey coming from your fuse case, possibly the fuel pump fuse as it tries to build pressure with no juice available to power it.

 

[iamwiz82]

The clicking is, most likely, the starter solenoid because it's not getting enough juice from the battery. 9 times out of 10 that is the problem, especially on something as new as an 06

 

[BUTCH1]

Since it's an '06 take it back to the ford dealer and let them pay for a new one.
My 3yr. oldl GM battery is starting to crank slow but at least it lasted to 28K..

 

[SparkyJJO]

Originally posted by: BUTCH1
Since it's an '06 take it back to the ford dealer and let them pay for a new one.
My 3yr. oldl GM battery is starting to crank slow but at least it lasted to 28K..

They must be slacking then, my previous battery in my car was the original AC delco battery that came with the car from the assembly line 10 years ago!

I still have a hard time believing that the battery lasted that long...

 

[crosshairs]

Originally posted by: Mxylplyx
The clicking sound is likey coming from your fuse case, possibly the fuel pump fuse as it tries to build pressure with no juice available to power it.

I don't mean to sound rude, but you really have no business handing out advice with a post like that...


I'm sorry..I just had too......

I haven't laughed this hard in years....

 

[GoatMonkey]

If the alternator had failed the car wouldn't continue to run for long after disconnecting the jumper cables.

Battery +1

 

[BUTCH1]

Originally posted by: SparkyJJO

Originally posted by: BUTCH1
Since it's an '06 take it back to the ford dealer and let them pay for a new one.
My 3yr. oldl GM battery is starting to crank slow but at least it lasted to 28K..

They must be slacking then, my previous battery in my car was the original AC delco battery that came with the car from the assembly line 10 years ago!

I still have a hard time believing that the battery lasted that long...

I see you live in OH which believe it or not is more battery-friendly than central
FL. Heat is just a bear on the batt., the longest I've had one last was 4.5 yrs, a
Wal-mart cheepie to boot..

 

[SparkyJJO]

Originally posted by: BUTCH1

Originally posted by: SparkyJJO

Originally posted by: BUTCH1
Since it's an '06 take it back to the ford dealer and let them pay for a new one.
My 3yr. oldl GM battery is starting to crank slow but at least it lasted to 28K..

They must be slacking then, my previous battery in my car was the original AC delco battery that came with the car from the assembly line 10 years ago!

I still have a hard time believing that the battery lasted that long...

I see you live in OH which believe it or not is more battery-friendly than central
FL. Heat is just a bear on the batt., the longest I've had one last was 4.5 yrs, a
Wal-mart cheepie to boot..

I always thought that the cold winters were hard on batteries, since that is when many of them seem to die (and when mine gave up the ghost back in February too).

 

[BUTCH1]

Maybe it's the constant drain modern cars put on a batt. with RK entry and BCM
(body control module) always on awaiting a command. I noticed when I had my car
at the park 'n fly for 6 days it turned over very slowly, this was when it was less
than 1 yr. old. Think I might invest in one of those 12V solar trickle-chargers to
help keep my next batt. topped off..

 

[ballmode]

starter

 

[Bignate603]

Originally posted by: crosshairs

Originally posted by: Mxylplyx
The clicking sound is likey coming from your fuse case, possibly the fuel pump fuse as it tries to build pressure with no juice available to power it.

I don't mean to sound rude, but you really have no business handing out advice with a post like that...


I'm sorry..I just had too......

I haven't laughed this hard in years....

How the heck would a fuse make a noise? It's a freaking piece of plastic and metal with no moving parts. You're probably thinking of a relay, and no, that's not the sound he's hearing. A relay clicking is pretty darn quiet. You'll hear the solenoid on the starter click which is MUCH louder than most automotive relays.

A bad alternator can give you a dead battery, so if they battery checks out I would check that over. If it's not spitting out enough juice or is having its voltage go screwy the battery won't charge correctly.

However, in FL with a 2 year old battery my bet is that the battery is just fried. Cold weather does lower the voltage on a battery, but in general this change goes away when the battery is brought back up to a normal temperature. Often, batteries that are going down hill will fail to put out enough juice when cold and the car won't start. Very hot weather will permanently harm the battery, I've run into it here in AZ a bunch. My Cherokee had a voltage meter in the dash. When it was 80-90 degrees my voltage was great. The summer came along and when it hit 110+ the voltage started going down to about 10 volts without the alternator running.

 

[Toastedlightly]

check the blinker fluid?

 

[DivideBYZero]

Your skyhooks are fucked.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: BUTCH1
Maybe it's the constant drain modern cars put on a batt. with RK entry and BCM
(body control module) always on awaiting a command. I noticed when I had my car
at the park 'n fly for 6 days it turned over very slowly, this was when it was less
than 1 yr. old. Think I might invest in one of those 12V solar trickle-chargers to
help keep my next batt. topped off..

I will second this. Especially based on my experiences with my own '06 Mustang. I left it parked for a week and when I came back even the remote locking didn't work. I jump-started it and put the battery on an overnight charger and it was fine after that. The '06 Mustang definitely has a very high parasitic draw on the battery. If you are going to leave the car for more than 2-3 days, I would strongly recommend disconnecting the ground cable.

ZV