Gauge Issues, new information, please read and respond


soroush

soroush

Ford Gt Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Aug 8, 2007
5,256
OK as some know during our little trip to the texas mile last week I came upon some information which may be relevant to the discussion about the gauges.

Im interested in this subject as my car is starting to do the same thing. since about a year ago I have had gauge issues in that they would not come online when the car was fired up. sometimes I had to drive the car for a good while and turn it off and back on before the gauges would come back. this had been going on for year and half if not longer. I was on the same battery that came with the car, I thought it was a bad battery. so we replaced the battery with a new optima. when I first started the car with the new battery all gauges came on instantly and no issues what so ever.

few days before my mile trip I realized my stereo had a function in which you can monitor the voltage in real time so I started to keep an eye on the voltage, to my surprise I found that the voltage would drop to 10 v at times during idle, and when I would run the car hard it would go up to 12.9 or maybe 13. when I first put the new battery in it was as 13.8 on the first day. the car was a different car at that voltage, over the next few days I started seeing the voltage drop more and more as I was driving,, during the mile it was around 10-12.5 at Idle, all the while the car volt meter is showing normal and with in range :thumbsdow

I wonder if there are others out there with bad or going bad alternators that are undiagnosed. it may be worthwhile to look into this issue,

and if it so happens that I have solved the gauge problem than it was worth it lose to mullet :biggrin
 
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Radio set to monitor voltage? please tell me how!

Macintosh? Finally a function that has value!



Thanks in advance Soroush
 
I believe Soroush has a Kenwood after-market stereo
 
yes I believe its the kenwood and I think its the only one that has a 3" monitor in a single din location ,I bought it initially cause I thought I had to have a back up camera to see the back of the car. there is a display button pushing it goes through the modes of the display, this unit has a navigation built in. it can display the voltage, speed, and one other thing I forget what it is now, I was too busy keeping an eye on the voltage the whole time.

nitrousbuildphaseII161.jpg
 
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soroush,

Are you sure it is an alternator problem and not a battery problem? Again, I don't trust the voltage characteristics of the Optima..... maybe this is fooling the alternator too at low rpms. I would seriously doubt that there is any (widespread) specific alternator issue with our cars. It is a conventional alternator in every way. (Doesn't mean that you are not experienceing an alternator problem.) I don't know, for me I will keep recommending the Diehard. Maybe one day we will find out that the Optima is completely innocent and the owners that went to the Diehard are "out" a whopping $200!
 
When my voltage gage failed, I tested the battery and charging system (which I did not do when my fuel gage failed). The battery (original BTW) showed 12.4 volts and the alternator output was 14.2 volts; perfect for both! Thanks for the brainstorm nonetheless!
 
nota4re said:
soroush,

Are you sure it is an alternator problem and not a battery problem? Again, I don't trust the voltage characteristics of the Optima..... maybe this is fooling the alternator too at low rpms. I would seriously doubt that there is any (widespread) specific alternator issue with our cars. It is a conventional alternator in every way. (Doesn't mean that you are not experienceing an alternator problem.) I don't know, for me I will keep recommending the Diehard. Maybe one day we will find out that the Optima is completely innocent and the owners that went to the Diehard are "out" a whopping $200!
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well this is what happened:

On my original battery the volt meter read between 10-12.5 while driving, then I replaced it with a brand new optima, I charged the optima before putting it in the car made sure it had a full charge...

then when I started the car with the new battery car fired up , idled perfect and all gauges working, and on the volt meter it showed 13.8.
then the next day I started the car to drive and gauges came on, but now the volt meter showed 12.8 and as I drove the car to my friends house it would vary between 12-12.9 , then the car started to act up again, surge during adle, pressure gauge went offline, Im getting a new alternator tomorrow I will follow up.
 
Your voltage issue is a good clue and I still am suspect of Gauge control module but voltage flux may be part of it. I remember we used Ford's diagnostic tools and Tech manual and it really was not clear the gauge was faulty as it would function with manual input signal leading us to believe it was the module. But we swapped it out and lo and behold has been good since. It would be great to know if others have seen this?

Temp gauge failed two years ago. I have seen the gauges not work until a reboot /restart normally only after a long winters rest.



Replacing original battery now just because it's age. I have been happy with its performance.

Had a alternator blow in the airplane a few months back. created quite a drill of reducing draw until landing. Replaced alternator and went to leave and coincidentally now had a dead electric fuel pump and a nostart. Oh the joy of all this mechanical BS.

I see loads of batteries replaced after about 4 years or so with new cars. High power demands?
 
PILOTJPW1 said:
Had a alternator blow in the airplane a few months back. created quite a drill of reducing draw until landing.
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I had a similar alternator failure on one of my cars about 15 miles from home at about 2am. I remember turning off my headlights to conserve the battery power unless I was near traffic. :lol

I am sure a failure in an airplane is much more serious.
 
You may have already checked it, but a weak belt tensioner can result in low voltage output from the alternator.

Just a thought, Jeff
 
I'll be surprised if the new alternator fixes this issue. At the Texas Rally, Ray's matte black car had a similar charging issue. There was a really nice guy that had an extra GT, (some dentist from Texas), who offered to loan us his alternator but it didn't solve the issue. It ended up being a grounding issue. We added an additional ground wire from the chassis to the alternator case and that seemed to solve it. I believe that there is a TSB from Ford on this.
 
Heffner Performance said:
I'll be surprised if the new alternator fixes this issue. At the Texas Rally, Ray's matte black car had a similar charging issue. There was a really nice guy that had an extra GT, (some dentist from Texas), who offered to loan us his alternator but it didn't solve the issue. It ended up being a grounding issue. We added an additional ground wire from the chassis to the alternator case and that seemed to solve it. I believe that there is a TSB from Ford on this.
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Man thats good to know, I seem to remember this fellow you speak of, and was actually going to call you and ask you about that, since it seemed like the same situation, but nonetheless thanks for the heads up in advance. Im getting the alternator today and should have it in the car by tomorrow if Im not too tired when I get home from work :)

oh if its not too much trouble shoot me a pm on how you went about doing the fix. thanks!
btw when you guys were going through all that what was the gauge on the car reading?
 
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I am a Ford Dealer in the Kansas City Region. I too have a gauge problem. My engine temp gauge quit working sometime over the winter. Car was kept on a charger all winter in Missouri. Today we got it out and tested the battery. It has 650 cold cranking amps and is putting out 14 volts. Hooked up the IDS computer and all systems check out fine. We have pin pointed the problem to the gauge. I am in the process of talking to Ford about my car and others on this forum. I will keep everyone posted on the outcome. I know there are other Ford Dealers as well as Ford employees on this forum. If anyone else has any information they can share, please jump in.

Mike Anderson
 
Do you have the TSB number for the grounding of the Alternator as mentioned by Heffner Performance?????

05 Ford GT said:
I am a Ford Dealer in the Kansas City Region. I too have a gauge problem. My engine temp gauge quit working sometime over the winter. Car was kept on a charger all winter in Missouri. Today we got it out and tested the battery. It has 650 cold cranking amps and is putting out 14 volts. Hooked up the IDS computer and all systems check out fine. We have pin pointed the problem to the gauge. I am in the process of talking to Ford about my car and others on this forum. I will keep everyone posted on the outcome. I know there are other Ford Dealers as well as Ford employees on this forum. If anyone else has any information they can share, please jump in.

Mike Anderson
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Let me get into this TSB and see what I find. I will post back as soon as I get some information. We are running an oasis report as I post this. Stay tuned!

Mike Anderson
 
There is a TSB number 05-16-01 that discusses the failed gauge issue but doesn't actually tell us much more than this forum has discussed. The IDS can activate the gauge manually so we are trying that now. They do discuss checking ground on the back side of the temp gauge in the service manual. We are working on the car right now so the updates may seem a little disorganized. I will post any information that might be helpful. The ground issue that Heffner Performance mentioned sounded like a potential fix for a voltage gauge failure. All grounds are good and the gauge does NOT move with the IDS operating it. MY problem is the gauge. FIX about $630. I will continue to discuss with Ford our issues. Sorry for rambling.

Mike Anderson
 
Mike, your not rambling and any help you can provide is much appreciated!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Thanks for looking into this Mike!
 
OK here is some help for all of you with issues. Ford has a program for all Ford vehicles. It is a Customer Loyalty Program or (CLP) and the dealer refers to it as P18. This is an After Warranty Adjustment program or called (AWA). The Ford GT is grouped with diesels so it is under the program for 6 years or 150,000 miles from the warranty start date. Under this program, the dealer at his/her discretion can repair the vehicle as if it was still under warranty. The dealer may ask for customer participation in the cost of the repair (shared participation) depending on the relationship of the customer and dealer. Dealers have limited funds allocated each 6 month period just for this program. These moneys can be used on any and all Ford vehicles under the program. I sell 85 cars a month and get $2500 every 6 months. This is a use it or loose it program. If you bought your GT from a local dealer or have a good relationship with them, I think the dealer will use this program to help you. This is totally up to the dealer. A slush fund if you will. I do have a gauge failure and the temp gauge is like $600 so I will not use my money up since I have so little. I am going to pony up on this one but am going to the Regional Manager of Ford and discussing everyones issue with the gauges. Don't know if it will do any good but we will see. I hope this explains an option to all of you. I should have discussed this earlier on the forum but until I had the problem myself I wasn't sure what was going on with the cars and my Service Manager reminded me that the GT fell under the P18 program.


Hope this helps someone
Mike Anderson
 
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