POLL: Battery Age (Yrs) / Gauges malfunction


Age of Battery when Gauge(s) malfunction


  • Total voters
    10

Kayvan

GT Owner
Jul 13, 2006
4,782
Age of Battery when gauge(s) issue first occurred?
 

Xcentric

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jul 9, 2012
5,213
Myakka City, Florida
Voltage of battery: 11.8; 12.0; 12.2; 12.4; 12.6; 12.8

Number of days since last start: 1-3; 4-7; 8-14; 15-30; >30.

Number of days since ground cable cleaned:

Garage temperature and humidity:

Starting procedure:

Ancillary electronic devices:

Build date:

Planetary alignment:

Karma:
 

Specracer

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Nov 28, 2005
7,081
MA
1st battery lasted over 12 years, I have long looked past when the gauges failed. Speedhutts have served well since.
 

GTED

GT Owner
Apr 4, 2006
783
Hope I don't jinx myself. I have never had an issue with any of my gauges. Below is my quick answers the questions:

Replaced the battery once about 4 years ago;
Number of days since last start: start at least once a month;
Number of days since ground cable cleaned: for more than a decade ownership, probably cleaned it less than 5 times;
Temp and Humidity: I'm in California
Start procedures: Like Kendall has always said- 1. turn key on; 2. wait until the systems cycle thru and all the blinking and beeping stop; then, 3. push the red botton;
Device: when parked, connected to trickle charger religiously; when driving, only plug in iPhone or V-1;
Karma: don't ask don't tell.... ;)

Voltage of battery: 11.8; 12.0; 12.2; 12.4; 12.6; 12.8

Number of days since last start: 1-3; 4-7; 8-14; 15-30; >30.

Number of days since ground cable cleaned:

Garage temperature and humidity:

Starting procedure:

Ancillary electronic devices:

Build date:




Planetary alignment:

Karma:
 

TO AWSUM

Ford GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jul 4, 2007
1,506
Niceville FL
Sorry, but this is a bad poll. It assumes the battery is causing the gauge failures which is an unsubstantiated assumption. I doubt very much the battery is the cause. My original battery discharged to the point the gauges did not operate several times when I first purchased my GT. I finally bought a battery maintainer to keep the battery from discharging when the car was not being driven. Then at about the 10 year point the original OEM battery caused my car to go into limp mode due to the amperage being too low. I have not experienced any OEM gauge failures.

Since this poll made a huge unsubstantiated assumption, I'll make one of my own. I believe the problem is due to poor quality control during the manufacture of the OEM gauges and or poor quality control of the individual components in the gauges. Some owners were lucky to get good units that are not failing and others got poor units which are failing. I think it is that simple. That being said, I'm not taking any chances. As I was taught during my flying career, always let the system boot up and accomplish all the computer handshakes before you start the engines to protect the equipment, this is what I do with the GT. I always wait, on every start-up, until the computer handshakes are done and the odometer displays before pushing the red button. It's possible the power surge caused by starting the engine during the computer handshakes is causing the failures or it's just plain bad quality control during the gauge manufacturing. Who really knows?
 
Last edited:

Kayvan

GT Owner
Jul 13, 2006
4,782
Voltage is an issue with gauges.

Battery produces voltage.
 

KMCBOSS

RED GT owner
Mark II Lifetime
Dec 3, 2006
995
Bremerton, Washington
1. I always keep the battery charged
2. After turning ignition on, I always wait for the numbers to show in the odometer before pressing the start button.

11+ years and no gauge problems so far......knock on wood
 

AJB

GT
Mark II Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Jun 28, 2006
2,943
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
I hope this does not cause me bad luck but .: 2006 FGT
--My gauges are all original and all working
--Always use OEM battery tender
--for the past 2 years have been following the 'wait till all units cycle on before hitting the red button to start" once folks recommended it.
--My original battery has been fully discharged in my trailer heading to VIR from Michigan with the Key left 'on'. Jump started car with my 'battery box'- no issues with starting or gauges.
--New battery is a Sears Platinum/ installed several years ago to 'be safe'. Optima was still fine.
--never a gauge issue.....fingers crossed.

ajb (andy)
 

Xcentric

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jul 9, 2012
5,213
Myakka City, Florida
Voltage is an issue with gauges.

Battery produces voltage.

What is the voltage issue? I don't recall anything beyond speculation about the mode of gauge failure.

The gauges need ">10 volts." This is a diagnostic test for all the gauges. Is voltage greater than 10 volts? Yes. Go to the next step.

A 12 volt battery is at 0% charge at 10.5 volts. So...even a dead battery has more than the minimum voltage to operate the gauges.

I too do the voodoo ritual of letting the gauges boot before pressing the engine start button. However, there is no evidence this procedure has any effect. Even a battery too weak to crank the engine will have sufficient voltage to operate the gauges.

It's appealing to think that low voltage could be a failure mode. And conversely, that high voltage (as in a spike) could be a failure mode. Humans like to create explanations for things we don't understand. Total lack of evidence doesn't bother many of us.

I like the Occam's razor explanation. The Autometer gauges are crap. No failures for me though.
 

Art138

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jan 4, 2011
624
Weston,FL
I accidentally left the key in the on position and went on a one week business trip. Came back to a dead battery. Gauges for the one week were still active. After recharging the battery, there was no impact to the functionality of the gauges. Go figure.
 

2112

Blue/white 06'
Mark II Lifetime
I have lost 2 temp, 2 fuel level and 2 voltage, but never oil pressure or boost.

Add me to those thinking it quality control is the issue. Hope the replacements are better.
 

bonehead

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Aug 18, 2012
2,814
Houston, TX
I'm down 3 gauges. Car is either running or on a CTEK. I always let the diagnostics cycle before starting the ignition. Battery is getting a bit old, but it still puts out adequate voltage.
There is absolutely no rhyme or reason as to why some have multiple failures and others have never had one. What I don't understand is why Autometer doesn't just share what they know about the gauge failures? Liability? Or they just want to cash in on selling these redesigned units?
 

BlackICE

GT Owner
Nov 2, 2005
1,416
SF Bay Area in California
Go with Speedhut and never look back.
 

2112

Blue/white 06'
Mark II Lifetime
I'm down 3 gauges. Car is either running or on a CTEK. I always let the diagnostics cycle before starting the ignition. Battery is getting a bit old, but it still puts out adequate voltage.
There is absolutely no rhyme or reason as to why some have multiple failures and others have never had one. What I don't understand is why Autometer doesn't just share what they know about the gauge failures? Liability? Or they just want to cash in on selling these redesigned units?

Forgot to mention I am on a smart charger too.


Go with Speedhut and never look back.

Speedhut isn't interested in getting the faceplate right. That black Powdercoat is horrible.
 

PeteK

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Apr 18, 2014
2,268
Kalama, Free part of WA State
Well, you can pack away the original gauges and panel, like I did, and then customize the Speedhut panel any way you like. The gauges are different anyway (especially the tach), so there's no point in trying to make it look original. You could take the panel to a machine shop and have it "engine turned." That would be a really cool look, like something from the 1960's or earlier.

Yeah, I know, I'm beating a dead horse....
 

2112

Blue/white 06'
Mark II Lifetime
Speedhut does a fantastic job on their brushed aluminum faceplate.

They refuse to correctly hard-coat anodize it. I offered to put them in touch with a Boeing contractor who could do it before they press-fit the screws on the back side. Were talking less than $20 per plate.

They are not interested.
 

KJRGT

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
May 4, 2006
2,840
SoCal
I replaced OEM battery at 8 years. Never on a tender and never a gauge issue.

At that time I preemptively removed the OEM gauge cluster and replaced with Speedhut system. OEM gauges are tucked away nice and cozy.

One of the lucky ones, I guess.
 

Xcentric

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jul 9, 2012
5,213
Myakka City, Florida
It's proven that lack of use is the primary failure mode.
 

KJRGT

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
May 4, 2006
2,840
SoCal
It's proven that lack of use is the primary failure mode.


Are we still on topic here? :biggrin
 

texas mongrel

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
May 3, 2009
1,661
Houston Texas
I’m on my third battery, always replace with a Ford unit. I’ve never used a trickle charger because back in the day when the failures started popping up, one theory was that the charger was causing the failures. I can always tell when my battery needs replacing because the gauges stop working, but put the new one in and presto (fingers crossed) the gauges come back to life. 48,000 miles in I have all functional original gauges, even after multiple temporary failures.