Should I toss my battery?


ChipBeck

ChipBeck

GT Owner
Staff member
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Feb 13, 2006
5,788
Scottsdale, Arizona
The other day after a drive I left my keys in the ignition in my garage and a week later when I tried to start the car I saw I had left the ignition on for a WEEK and totally drained the battery.:bored I know the GT uses an Optima dry cell battery and I wonder if it's screwed up now and should I buy a new one or will this one charge up and be as good as new? The GT trickle charger would not charge it and I am using a regular battery charger now but it does not appear to be charging normally. Any thoughts and how much is a new battery?

Chip
 
Bummer!
I suggest you take out the battery and get it to a service/auto station and have them run a diagnostic test to see if the battery is shot. They can tell you if it is permanently damaged.
If you have to get a new Optima, it's been awhile since I purchased one but they should be in the $120-$145 range.
Good Luck!
 
Chip, Jamal told me once a GT battery has been drained like that, it's cooked.
 
If it's anything like a dry cell motorcycle battery (and I suspect it is) ...... toss it!
 
Rats

DBK said:
Chip, Jamal told me once a GT battery has been drained like that, it's cooked.
Click to expand...

Thanks guys, that's what I needed to know.:ack

Chip
 
The risk of rescuing it Chip is that it will (of course) fail just when you need it most. The engine in the GT would be described in London as "a big old lump" and it needs a chunk of Amps in the battery to kick it into life.

So I'd dump it and try to forget about it!
 
Costco sells the Optima as cheap as anyone. Just bought one for my Cobra, and it was about 119.99.
 
Fyr-FtrGT said:
Costco sells the Optima as cheap as anyone. Just bought one for my Cobra, and it was about 119.99.
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Ford GT batteries (labed) show up on E-Bay for $149.99 every week
 
Dig this.

OK, you convinced me to get a new battery so I call our Optima battery dealer-Batteries Plus-and get a quote of $170 for the GT size but without the cool Ford GT logo on the top. Then I call my local Ford dealer-Ford of North Scottsdale-and ask how long it will take to order a Genuine Ford GT Optima battery. The guy tells me, "We got it in stock". No SH##!?!?!?! How much? $140.00 brand new in the box charged up and ready to go. How cool is that. I picked it up and when I got home I tried starting my GT as it had been on a 2 amp charger for 24 hours. Of course it started right up so we took it to dinner and it has started fine ever since. I'm still going to put the new battery in it this weekend. I love this car! Tomorrow I'm flying my son's Charley and David to Las Vegas in our Cirrus SR22 and John Walker, the manager of Shelby's operations there, is taking us on a personal tour of the Shelby GT production line and museum. I'll report on that and post some photos when we get back.

Chip
 
Chip, that's a pleasant surprise to hear about the availability and price of the FGT Optima battery from your dealer. :thumbsup
When you take out the original battery, if I were you I'd still take it to a place to have them test it and get the real skinny on how it came out of that one week of "hibernation".
Look forward to hearing about the Shelby tour.
 
high current charge

ChipBeck said:
The other day after a drive I left my keys in the ignition in my garage and a week later when I tried to start the car I saw I had left the ignition on for a WEEK and totally drained the battery.:bored I know the GT uses an Optima dry cell battery and I wonder if it's screwed up now and should I buy a new one or will this one charge up and be as good as new? The GT trickle charger would not charge it and I am using a regular battery charger now but it does not appear to be charging normally. Any thoughts and how much is a new battery?
Chip
Click to expand...
Chip,

Pull the battery and hook it up to a 10+ amp charger for at least 10 hours. See if this will recover the battery. When a lead-acid battery is left in a discharged state, an insulative coating will build up on the lead plates. A high current charge and discharge cycle will usually knock this junk off of the plates and battery will work like new! I do not know much about Ultima batteries however...

Good luck, Jay
 
Same thing happend to me.

Toss it, it will never be right.Ford should give you a new one.
 
MAD IN NC said:
Ford GT batteries (labed) show up on E-Bay for $149.99 every week
Click to expand...

Keep it! Dead or alive.It won't take much space to store it. Anyone remember how much batteries like the ones exclusive to the Boss 429's are today?
 
i had the same problem over the winter .i hook it up to a 2 amp charger for 2 days gt starts fine now
 
Blue Moose said:
Keep it! Dead or alive.It won't take much space to store it. Anyone remember how much batteries like the ones exclusive to the Boss 429's are today?
Click to expand...

I agree, even if the battery is dead, I would keep it for posterity. The GT may be worth a considerable amount of money in the future and original parts, functional or not, may also be worth a considerable amount. For example the original shocks, exhaust systems, oil filter, air filter, battery etc for my BOSS 429 now command mega dollars (6K for an NOS exhaust, 15K for a battery, 2K each for the tires etc. I plan to save everything that comes off the GT and my GT500 for maintenance.
 
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