A little bit of a horror story...


E

enrico

GT Owner
Jul 20, 2010
70
London, UK
Took out the car this morning for work, was on its biweekly round to keep all the bits working. Started out all fine then the check engine light comes out, so I take out the obdkey just to check that it is the o2 sensor on the catback, no code found.

I stop to refuel, so far so good, get back in the car and things get interesting. Insert keys sounds and lightt first are normal then all gauges go banana (tach at 6 o clock), dash light act weird and no ignition. Odo disappears and then reset.

First thing I try is to disconnect battery for a reset, after having found the tools I manage to do it, leave the key inside the car on ignition open (to have all circuit open) and then very smartly close the door... So I am looked out with my other cars keys, wallet, house keys all inside. After 3 hours of calls and some very helpful friend that come to watch out for the car (in the middle of the street but with keys on ignition... Not very nice) I manage to get to the second house key, then to the second car keys and finally unlock the car.

Tried to restart it afterwards, at the beginning some strange bells but no Cranking, after second attempt nothing at all, just odometer works and door mechanism. All the rest is fried. Checked fuses but they seem fine.

After 4 hour and a stressfull morning I am now waiting for a trailer to roush, any clues of what could have happened? I have a very nasty feeling that I am due for a 5k gauge replacement at least (or speedhut) plus a new ecu?
 
Replacing the OEM gauges WITH OEM gauges is an exercise in futility as they are certain to fail again. Go right to Speedhut and don't look back; you'll be pleased that you did!
 
Battery. When the battery goes bad it causes all kinds of weird things to go wrong. Even a low battery will cause it. Bad ground would be my second thought.
 
For once looks like gauges are not the cuprit... Seems a major electrical failure... Lets See if they need replacing.... Hopefully not....
 
Check your ground wire were it connects to the cars frame and make sure it's getting a good clean connection
 
427Aggie said:
Battery. When the battery goes bad it causes all kinds of weird things to go wrong. Even a low battery will cause it. Bad ground would be my second thought.
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+1 , yep, start with a good charge and check the frame ground. And never leave your only available key in the car. These things somehow know when your only key is inside.
 
You didn't mention if you've kept a trickle charger on the battery when the car's not in use. If NOT, that could be the root cause of the problem. As has been suggested, the battery's probably low. If the original battery is still in the car, that could be the reason it IS low regardless of whether you've had it on a 'charger or not. It likely needs replacing.

When you get it to Roush, you might have them do a load test on the battery 1st thing along with doing the ground cable thing suggested above. If history is any indicator, you're probably going to find the battery is the source of the trouble.

Hopefully, with a new battery & cleaned 'connections' your gauges will spring back to life. That's often been the case.
 
Thanks EP, hope so. Don't have a trickle charger but the car never goes for more than two weeks undriven. I make it imperative to do at least 30 minutes of driving at least every two weeks to keep everything alive and working - this morning drive was one in question.

Battery was changed 1 year ago so very surprised if it has gone bad already (Yellow top optima). Also the car cranck up ok earlier and volt gauge was doing ok...

Will see, i ll keep you posted once Roush has a better look.


Empty Pockets said:
You didn't mention if you've kept a trickle charger on the battery when the car's not in use. If NOT, that could be the root cause of the problem. As has been suggested, the battery's probably low. If the original battery is still in the car, that could be the reason it IS low regardless of whether you've had it on a 'charger or not. It likely needs replacing.

When you get it to Roush, you might have them do a load test on the battery 1st thing along with doing the ground cable thing suggested above. If history is any indicator, you're probably going to find the battery is the source of the trouble.

Hopefully, with a new battery & cleaned 'connections' your gauges will spring back to life. That's often been the case.
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Remember that various electronics on the car constantly 'draw' from the battery 24/7. So, it doesn't take all that long to drain it down below the level of power needed. Repeated starting/shut off, /starting/shut off cycles under low battery conditions will 'do in' the battery.

Long story short, wifey's BMW was subjected to much the same scenario described above. The battery was s-h-o-t in 18 months. (BMWs, we found out from the dealer later, have to be driven 40 miles a day, or the alternator can't keep the thing charged...at least that's what we were told. ). 'Cranking amps went from 625 (whatever the battery's spec was) to something like 300 in that span of time. 'No saving it at that point.


(Edit: If I remember correctly, the factory said to put the GT on a t-charger if the car's not going to be driven for 2 weeks or more. The above is why. Your GT should have come with a factory t-charger in a pouch in the front boot. If there's none there, you might contact whomever you bought the car from and see if he still has it.)
 
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thanks, would be very relieved if it was the battery only... hopefully it hasnt fried anything else.
locking myself out was the very stupid bit, especially as i was not dressed for the weather and had all belonging (bar the iphone thank god) in the car. for a moment i though about breaking myself in by smashing the window... :(
 
You're not the 1st to do that, and you won't be the last!

Forget about it!

(Pls see the "edit" above. :wink)
 
Interested to hear the outcome. Sorry to hear of the trouble.
 
Battery.... possibly due to alternator but doubtful. The gauges will be fine.
 
nota4re said:
Battery.... possibly due to alternator but doubtful. The gauges will be fine.
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I agree :thumbsup
 
Just curious, but why did you repalce with a yellow top and not a red top?
 
fjpikul said:
Just curious, but why did you repalce with a yellow top and not a red top?
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Dave Jones suggestion, said yellow top had more stamina over long discharge periods... not that the car has ever been undriven for more than 2 weeks as said previously! really hope is the battery, only thing i still find very weird is that it manage to fire up the car no problem 10 minutes earlier, so amperage and voltage must have been decent up to that point... nothing was weird for instance when previous battery was about to die it didnt bing to life gauges on the first ignition... this time it was ok and then sudden falure on restart...
 
fjpikul said:
Just curious, but why did you repalce with a yellow top and not a red top?
Click to expand...

Dave Jones suggestion, said yellow top had more stamina over long discharge periods... not that the car has ever been undriven for more than 2 weeks as said previously! really hope is the battery, only thing i still find very weird is that it manage to fire up the car no problem 10 minutes earlier, so amperage and voltage must have been decent up to that point... nothing was weird for instance when previous battery was about to die it didnt bing to life gauges on the first ignition... this time it was ok and then sudden falure on restart...
 
While the battery may have sufficient voltage and current to start the engine, the high ampere load of the starter will drop the battery voltage to a level too low to initiate many of the other electrical initiation functions, starting them in a "confused" mode. Try push starting the car without using the starter (pop the clutch on a section of downhill road) and see if the electrical functions work normally. If so, your battery does not have sufficient load capacity to initiate the electrics when starting with the starter motor.
 
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So preliminary result is a battery fault and a high voltage error with oil pressure switch, requiring replacing of both. Will get confirmation on Tuesday as Monday is holidays on this side of the pond. So far no words on gauges from revolve... No news is good news for the weekend. :-)

Once again you guys were spot on, but that is no news! Fantastic forum....

Guess lesson learned is not to close doors when battery is non functional, and now to buy an f car (355) to properly taste true (un)reliability in comparison
 
I will never in any of my cars ever use an Optima. Many of us went to an AGM battery (Exide/ Sears) and even then still keep the car on either the C-TEK or Deltran trickle charger. http://www.ctek.com/ I'm sure C-Tek sells in England with the frigging english plug which is bigger than the smart charger itself.....
 
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