Happened Again - Extremely Frustrated


steved57

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Mar 29, 2008
1,941
kilgore tx
This is the third time car will not start and I am so freaking frustrated - I know this is a long read but I gotta vent

First time - Car was two months old, go to a car show / cruise in and am there two hours and car will not start - push the start button and car makes all the noises, whizzes, clicking etc.... but doesn't activate the starter - put cables on it and it cranks but runs very roughly, drive few blocks it dies and won't start
Put cables on but this times does nothing - while waiting on wrecker we play with the neutral engagement tool kind of practicing for when tow truck arrives
Then while sitting in car waiting on tow truck just for grins push start button and it starts - drive it 6 miles home, runs smoothly and can kill it and it restarts over and over - Paul with Sterling McCall (Ford dealer in Houston) comes and picks it up brings it back a week later and says "Soft Start Module" was bad

Three months later I go to garage and same thing, push start button and get all the clicking, whirring noises etc...... but starter doesn't activate
Paul with Sterling McCall comes picks up the car - brings it back about 2 weeks later after replacing soft start module and battery - car back to operating as it should

Today I go out to garage, car cranks right up, drive to a local cruise in, stay about three hours, get ready to leave, push start button, hear a few clicking noises, fans (loud fans) in rear of car come on , dash doesn't power up at all, tried over and over, fans don't even power off when pushing start button when trying to deactivate system, lights work, windows go up and down, horn honks but dash is dead - can't release parking brake as theirs no power so now can't even put it in my trailer - shit what to do !!!! So go borrow four dollies and roll car into shop where the cruise in is being held - this is all in 100 degree heat in front of lots of people (Ford not looking too reliable here locally as this is 2nd time at a cruise in that 600k Ford will not start in front of lots of car enthusiasts) The cruise in was being held at Wagner Tuning which is a shop that manufactures intercoolers, cold air intakes etc... and I know the owner
So once we get car inside his building he plugs in OBD reader and there's a dozen faults - 9 related to body control something or other plus like seven others
He clears them, dash powers up and car starts - which is great but I'm scared to death to go anywhere in the car which is pretty sad

I failed to mention above in the first scenario when car died after driving a few blocks it died with car sticking halfway into a busy intersection on a busy Saturday afternoon - embarrassing and dangerous too

What the heck does a guy do as I'm truly afraid to go anywhere in it

Car stays on supplied charger since day I received the car, drive it at least twice a month but usually more and never let it go more than couple weeks without starting it and at least drive down 1/4 mile long driveway and back to garage

Did I say I'm Frustrated !!!!!!! And disappointed !!!!!!!

I'm now going to make a cocktail or three :)
 
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Tomcat

GT Owner
I failed to mention above in the first scenario when car died after driving a few blocks it died with car sticking halfway into a busy intersection on a busy Saturday afternoon - embarrassing and dangerous too
:)
Very frustrating and sorry to hear this. Since car "died", I'd check the negative terminal and ground (a known potential weakness).
EDIT-I missed that this is NFGT, I was thinking about 05/06 version...Sorry.
 
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steved57

GT Owner
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Mar 29, 2008
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kilgore tx
Very frustrating and sorry to hear this. Since car "died", I'd check the negative terminal and ground (a known potential weakness).

Isn't the battery almost impossible to get to without hours of disassembly and today it didn't die or run rough once started - and 2nd time it went back to dealer all grounds were supposed to have been checked thoroughly as this was discussed
 

fjpikul

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
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Jan 4, 2006
11,475
Belleville, IL
Steve, you are right about the battery. Right fender needs to come off. You should contact Italian Joe at Milliken in Detroit. He does frequent the Forum and may pick up on this.
 

steved57

GT Owner
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Mar 29, 2008
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kilgore tx
Steve, you are right about the battery. Right fender needs to come off. You should contact Italian Joe at Milliken in Detroit. He does frequent the Forum and may pick up on this.

Hi Dr Frank

Yes I've spoken to him in the past and plan on contacting him - will wait till weekend is over
 

nota4re

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Feb 15, 2006
4,177
So once we get car inside his building he plugs in OBD reader and there's a dozen faults - 9 related to body control something or other plus like seven others

Perhaps this is the biggest clue thus far. Sounds like the car is losing communication with the body control module. This explains why the dask lights didn't work and also why the car is not responding to a command to start. I'd recommend locating the body control module and checking the connections there. Sure' it's a long shot but you gotta start eliminating some things each time this dang problem appears. Maybe you'll find that all of the connections are fine - but I'd still leave access to the BCM open. The next time the problem occurs you can try wiggling around these wire/connectors to see if it makes a difference. Communication can also be lost if the CANBUS (primary in-car network) has been compromised. Unfortunately, this compromise can be almost anywhere... and still exhibit the symptoms you describe.

I feel your frustration - who wouldn't be! But just stick with it and keep trying different things in hopes that you may get lucky! Also, you may also occasionally read codes - even if you don't have a check engine light. Look for any pending codes as these may also help you to narrow in on the problem.

Best of luck.
 

steved57

GT Owner
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Mar 29, 2008
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kilgore tx
Perhaps this is the biggest clue thus far. Sounds like the car is losing communication with the body control module. This explains why the dask lights didn't work and also why the car is not responding to a command to start. I'd recommend locating the body control module and checking the connections there. Sure' it's a long shot but you gotta start eliminating some things each time this dang problem appears. Maybe you'll find that all of the connections are fine - but I'd still leave access to the BCM open. The next time the problem occurs you can try wiggling around these wire/connectors to see if it makes a difference. Communication can also be lost if the CANBUS (primary in-car network) has been compromised. Unfortunately, this compromise can be almost anywhere... and still exhibit the symptoms you describe.

I feel your frustration - who wouldn't be! But just stick with it and keep trying different things in hopes that you may get lucky! Also, you may also occasionally read codes - even if you don't have a check engine light. Look for any pending codes as these may also help you to narrow in on the problem.

Best of luck.

I'm not sure the OBD reader kept the codes in history but in heat of moment we cleared them before actually recording them but I'll find out Monday if the reader kept them in the history as I suppose it could be useful to a tech
 

DakotaGT

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Dec 9, 2012
1,694
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
So sorry to hear about your trouble... how frustrating. Such a variety of codes being thrown made me wonder about a major ground continuity issue right away too, similar to how the 05-06 GTs exhibit such a variety of faults with a bad ground connection. I had an irregularly recurring issue where I would get a "transmission failure" warning (also had some pretty frustrating moments due to that), and in the end, it ended up being a faulty wiring harness. It didn't surface for the first 600 miles, so I wondered if some wiring somewhere was pinched and it perhaps took a bit of driving to wear something through, to the point of failure.

Good luck and keep us posted. Like I told my young son (who was WAY more concerned than I was)- Ford WILL get to the bottom of it and there will come a day soon when you start to put these unpleasant memories in the rearview mirror!

Also- agree with Italian Joe as an excellent starting point for troubleshooting.
 

GKW05GT

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May 28, 2011
2,755
Fayetteville, Ga.
+ Plus one Joe he would be the guy closest and most connected to MM.
 
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FlagstaffGT

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Steve, you are right about the battery. Right fender needs to come off. You should contact Italian Joe at Milliken in Detroit. He does frequent the Forum and may pick up on this.
Sorry to hear this. I’ve done this numerous times but just the right front wheel and fender liner, 15 minutes max. Battery can be reached from wheel well. search on previous posts For pictures and what to pay attention to. I had the ground terminal just sitting on the ground post, lifting it off by hand. Made for interesting intermittent behaviour0.
 

steved57

GT Owner
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Mar 29, 2008
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kilgore tx
+ Plus one Joe he would be the guy closest and most connected to MM.
Sorry to hear this. I’ve done this numerous times but just the right front wheel and fender liner, 15 minutes max. Battery can be reached from wheel well. search on previous posts For pictures and what to pay attention to. I had the ground terminal just sitting on the ground post, lifting it off by hand. Made for interesting intermittent behaviour0.
Okay definitely something to check
 

JWZ

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Nov 17, 2013
747
Texas
steved57 sorry this is happening to you. Please let us know what you figure out. Oh, and cocktails were a very good plan!
 

italianjoe

Well-known member
Apr 9, 2018
180
Dearborn Heights Mi.
This is the third time car will not start and I am so freaking frustrated - I know this is a long read but I gotta vent

First time - Car was two months old, go to a car show / cruise in and am there two hours and car will not start - push the start button and car makes all the noises, whizzes, clicking etc.... but doesn't activate the starter - put cables on it and it cranks but runs very roughly, drive few blocks it dies and won't start
Put cables on but this times does nothing - while waiting on wrecker we play with the neutral engagement tool kind of practicing for when tow truck arrives
Then while sitting in car waiting on tow truck just for grins push start button and it starts - drive it 6 miles home, runs smoothly and can kill it and it restarts over and over - Paul with Sterling McCall (Ford dealer in Houston) comes and picks it up brings it back a week later and says "Soft Start Module" was bad

Three months later I go to garage and same thing, push start button and get all the clicking, whirring noises etc...... but starter doesn't activate
Paul with Sterling McCall comes picks up the car - brings it back about 2 weeks later after replacing soft start module and battery - car back to operating as it should

Today I go out to garage, car cranks right up, drive to a local cruise in, stay about three hours, get ready to leave, push start button, hear a few clicking noises, fans (loud fans) in rear of car come on , dash doesn't power up at all, tried over and over, fans don't even power off when pushing start button when trying to deactivate system, lights work, windows go up and down, horn honks but dash is dead - can't release parking brake as theirs no power so now can't even put it in my trailer - shit what to do !!!! So go borrow four dollies and roll car into shop where the cruise in is being held - this is all in 100 degree heat in front of lots of people (Ford not looking too reliable here locally as this is 2nd time at a cruise in that 600k Ford will not start in front of lots of car enthusiasts) The cruise in was being held at Wagner Tuning which is a shop that manufactures intercoolers, cold air intakes etc... and I know the owner
So once we get car inside his building he plugs in OBD reader and there's a dozen faults - 9 related to body control something or other plus like seven others
He clears them, dash powers up and car starts - which is great but I'm scared to death to go anywhere in the car which is pretty sad

I failed to mention above in the first scenario when car died after driving a few blocks it died with car sticking halfway into a busy intersection on a busy Saturday afternoon - embarrassing and dangerous too

What the heck does a guy do as I'm truly afraid to go anywhere in it

Car stays on supplied charger since day I received the car, drive it at least twice a month but usually more and never let it go more than couple weeks without starting it and at least drive down 1/4 mile long driveway and back to garage

Did I say I'm Frustrated !!!!!!! And disappointed !!!!!!!

I'm now going to make a cocktail or three :)
Hi Steved57, sorry to hear that you are having problems with your Ford GT. I did have a Ford GT with the same Issuse and in my case it was a ground cable on the driver side head towards the front. Funny enough it was not in the work shop manual or in the wiring diagram but I did find it eventually and it was the bolt that holds the cable to the head that was loose and intermittently making contact. I would be more the happy to talk to you anytime and if someone on the forum could forward my number to Steved57 it would be appreciated.

Joe
 

steved57

GT Owner
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Mar 29, 2008
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kilgore tx
Hi Steved57, sorry to hear that you are having problems with your Ford GT. I did have a Ford GT with the same Issuse and in my case it was a ground cable on the driver side head towards the front. Funny enough it was not in the work shop manual or in the wiring diagram but I did find it eventually and it was the bolt that holds the cable to the head that was loose and intermittently making contact. I would be more the happy to talk to you anytime and if someone on the forum could forward my number to Steved57 it would be appreciated.

Joe

Sending you a pm
 

roketman

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Oct 24, 2005
7,995
ma.
I had a similar issue.It was the fuse receptacle where you actually plug the fuse in to the female section. It was actually loose on the fuse box itself.
 

italianjoe

Well-known member
Apr 9, 2018
180
Dearborn Heights Mi.
I had a similar issue.It was the fuse receptacle where you actually plug the fuse in to the female section. It was actually loose on the fuse box itself.
Hi Rocketman, in your case you had no power/voltage going where it should be......In steved57 case everything powers up but the starter will not engage.

Joe
 

steved57

GT Owner
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Mar 29, 2008
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kilgore tx
Actually Joe in this past weekend's issue the dash did not power up
 
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GEE-TEE

GT Owner
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May 1, 2009
617
Calabasas, California
I'm sorry to hear this and can relate to your frustration as I did also have a few minor issues since day one which have now been resolved so far🙏🏻 As for what you're explaining,
I just had a similar experience after pushing start button and then realized I had a brain fart and was not stepping on the brake. Dahhh?. Im not a techie but only reason I say this is maybe whatever makes the car know you're stepping on the brake is not working or making contact??? I know sounds silly but just a thought🤷🏻‍♂️
I hope it's resolved and you start to enjoy the best car in the world. I have put the first 200 miles on mine and looking forward to the thousands more ahead. Enjoy
 

italianjoe

Well-known member
Apr 9, 2018
180
Dearborn Heights Mi.
Actually Joe in this past weekend's issue the dash did not power up
Your still getting all the clicking noises of everything activating correct ?
 

steved57

GT Owner
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Mar 29, 2008
1,941
kilgore tx
Some but not all - and as mentioned on initial post above the loud fan in the rear of car came on and would go on and off too
 
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