Electrical Problem

alexcorbin · 03-25-2006, 08:17 PM

I own a 96 Mustang GT conv. with the 4.6L engine. And I have had nothing but strange problems. I have a new battery, New Alt,. I have pulled the starter and it turns over. But I get nothing when I try to start it. The lights dim on dash board, and hear clicking noises under the hood. I have a OMBII code scanner and It give me no false codes. My battery terminals are clean. Fuses check good and my fuel cut off switch checks good. what could be the problem? Please help.. Dazed and confused in Las Vegas

bigwhitecobra · 03-27-2006, 02:58 PM

I would say you have a dead battery. Just my $0.02

alexcorbin · 03-28-2006, 01:39 PM

Your right on the two cents. I bought the battery 5 months ago(low), It's been load tested and it's good. I also found out that my year doesn't have enough grounding points. I installed more grounds. We will see.

alexcorbin · 03-29-2006, 04:58 PM

Same problem as I described above. The battery load test confirmed that it was a good battery. I've put more ground points. I'm only getting 12.5 volts from the battery. When I turn the key. Nothing but clicking. Its their a machine that can test just electrical probems except the Actron code reader and scanner? My code reader says no codes found?

ivy95gts · 03-30-2006, 12:53 AM

You said the battery terminals are clean... are they tight? Did you pull them off and clean them? Maybe jiggle them alittle, sometimes the stupidest things can cause the most confusing problems....

alexcorbin · 03-31-2006, 12:43 AM

Yes, I cleaned them up, and I put new battery connectors. The battery is 6 months old. I also use terminal spray. Yesterday I put a charge on the battery and was unable to get it started. I had it towed to a local garage last night and the mecanic said he put a charge on it today. He was able to get it started. I'm just wondering. My mustang has been in a humid place for awhile. I'm in the Airforce and I bought it off another GI. The car was bought in Hawaii, shipped to Korea and driven for less than a year. Then I was shipped to South Carolina. When I bought it it had 45,000 miles on it. I had it for two years in the south, then last summer we moved to Vegas. This is when I had troubles with the charging system. I put a new alternator on, battery, battery connectors and new pigtails. I noticed that I still wasn't getting a good charge. So I chased wires from the voltmeter to the alternator, fuse blocks and fuseable links. One thing I noticed, next to the parking break behind a removable panel, there is a large pin connector block. That had some small amount of crosion on it. I cleaned that up with some Deoxit contact cleaner and protectant. After that I started having a stronger charge. If Autozone load test their battery and they say its good. Could it still be a bad battery?
Its a intermiten problem. I have the car running fine for a week or two. Drive somewhere, park it and the darn thing won't start. Its get frustrating to call the wife from work to pick my tail up from somewhere.

powerband chaser 302 · 04-08-2006, 01:34 PM

Ok, iv had this problem before. I had the same issues, battery was good, alternator was charging 13.6 volts but only like 4 amps. I had all sorts of electrical problems. Some days it would start like normal, other days it would just click or sometimes not even that. Leave it for a while and come back and it would start right up. I was thinking why the alternator was not charging, so to see if the grounding issue was a problem I took my jumper cables and connected the negative cable to the battery and the other end to the bracket on my alternator. Instantly my engine jumped up about 400 rpm in idle and all my lighs got brighter!! Bingo, I knew I had a bad ground somewhere now. I found that the negative battery cable connection to the block was corroded and making poor contact. I took it off cleaned it up and problem solved. This sounds like the only place you havent checked yet. Good Luck

alexcorbin · 04-09-2006, 09:32 AM

Thanks, I will check on that. I have added more grounds and and it has seemed to fix the problem. I'm suprised that a AST certified mechanic couldn't figure it out.

surfbeast · 04-18-2006, 05:50 PM

I had the same problem. I would be driving down the road and it would die. Then it would start right up and drive fine for a week. Ended up being a bad ground connection. I would replace the positive and negative battery wires and check a few of the other grounds. Mine was the ground wire that is on the drivers side right next to the radiator. After replacing wires and removing and re-attatching the ground wires I have never had another proble.

A Ford tech and 10 other mechs could not figure the problem out. I think Hammer gave me a clue and I ran with it and found the problem, that was about 2 - 3 years ago.

Good Luck.

Hammer · 04-19-2006, 08:22 PM

96-98 GTs are reknown for 2 things:

1. Crappy stock intakes
2. Grounding\Electrical problems

03-25-2006, 08:17 PM	#1
alexcorbin Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 5	Electrical Problem I own a 96 Mustang GT conv. with the 4.6L engine. And I have had nothing but strange problems. I have a new battery, New Alt,. I have pulled the starter and it turns over. But I get nothing when I try to start it. The lights dim on dash board, and hear clicking noises under the hood. I have a OMBII code scanner and It give me no false codes. My battery terminals are clean. Fuses check good and my fuel cut off switch checks good. what could be the problem? Please help.. Dazed and confused in Las Vegas Last edited by alexcorbin; 03-26-2006 at 01:06 PM.. Reason: Removed starter new problem

03-27-2006, 02:58 PM	#2
bigwhitecobra Huh? Whatcha said? Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Fayetteville, NC Posts: 1,073	Re: Electrical Problem I would say you have a dead battery. Just my $0.02 __________________ 2003 GT White---STOLEN May you burn in hell whoever took it. Dumbazz didn't even get the good engine that was in the garage.

03-28-2006, 01:39 PM	#3
alexcorbin Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 5	Re: Electrical Problem Your right on the two cents. I bought the battery 5 months ago(low), It's been load tested and it's good. I also found out that my year doesn't have enough grounding points. I installed more grounds. We will see.

03-29-2006, 04:58 PM	#4
alexcorbin Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 5	Re: Electrical Problem Same problem as I described above. The battery load test confirmed that it was a good battery. I've put more ground points. I'm only getting 12.5 volts from the battery. When I turn the key. Nothing but clicking. Its their a machine that can test just electrical probems except the Actron code reader and scanner? My code reader says no codes found?

03-30-2006, 12:53 AM	#5
ivy95gts 5.7 < 5.0... and I failed math Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Mooresville, N.C. Posts: 13	Re: Electrical Problem You said the battery terminals are clean... are they tight? Did you pull them off and clean them? Maybe jiggle them alittle, sometimes the stupidest things can cause the most confusing problems.... __________________ 95' Mustang GT-S: Mac headers, off-road H, and cat back, 3.73, Mac fenderwell cold air, throttle body spacer, Mac under-drive pulleys, crane cam .530/.530,Professional products intake, 70mm TB, Tremec TKO500, Hurst short throw, UPR handle, Ford racing strut tower brace, Mickey Thompson ET's, broken stock axles Best ET: 8.53 @ 81 MPH Sponsored by Modular Madness Mooresville, N.C (704) 660-3464

03-31-2006, 12:43 AM	#6
alexcorbin Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 5	Re: Electrical Problem Yes, I cleaned them up, and I put new battery connectors. The battery is 6 months old. I also use terminal spray. Yesterday I put a charge on the battery and was unable to get it started. I had it towed to a local garage last night and the mecanic said he put a charge on it today. He was able to get it started. I'm just wondering. My mustang has been in a humid place for awhile. I'm in the Airforce and I bought it off another GI. The car was bought in Hawaii, shipped to Korea and driven for less than a year. Then I was shipped to South Carolina. When I bought it it had 45,000 miles on it. I had it for two years in the south, then last summer we moved to Vegas. This is when I had troubles with the charging system. I put a new alternator on, battery, battery connectors and new pigtails. I noticed that I still wasn't getting a good charge. So I chased wires from the voltmeter to the alternator, fuse blocks and fuseable links. One thing I noticed, next to the parking break behind a removable panel, there is a large pin connector block. That had some small amount of crosion on it. I cleaned that up with some Deoxit contact cleaner and protectant. After that I started having a stronger charge. If Autozone load test their battery and they say its good. Could it still be a bad battery? Its a intermiten problem. I have the car running fine for a week or two. Drive somewhere, park it and the darn thing won't start. Its get frustrating to call the wife from work to pick my tail up from somewhere.

04-08-2006, 01:34 PM	#7
powerband chaser 302 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 10	Re: Electrical Problem Ok, iv had this problem before. I had the same issues, battery was good, alternator was charging 13.6 volts but only like 4 amps. I had all sorts of electrical problems. Some days it would start like normal, other days it would just click or sometimes not even that. Leave it for a while and come back and it would start right up. I was thinking why the alternator was not charging, so to see if the grounding issue was a problem I took my jumper cables and connected the negative cable to the battery and the other end to the bracket on my alternator. Instantly my engine jumped up about 400 rpm in idle and all my lighs got brighter!! Bingo, I knew I had a bad ground somewhere now. I found that the negative battery cable connection to the block was corroded and making poor contact. I took it off cleaned it up and problem solved. This sounds like the only place you havent checked yet. Good Luck

04-09-2006, 09:32 AM	#8
alexcorbin Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 5	Re: Electrical Problem Thanks, I will check on that. I have added more grounds and and it has seemed to fix the problem. I'm suprised that a AST certified mechanic couldn't figure it out.

04-18-2006, 05:50 PM	#9
surfbeast Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Maryville,TN Posts: 415	Re: Electrical Problem I had the same problem. I would be driving down the road and it would die. Then it would start right up and drive fine for a week. Ended up being a bad ground connection. I would replace the positive and negative battery wires and check a few of the other grounds. Mine was the ground wire that is on the drivers side right next to the radiator. After replacing wires and removing and re-attatching the ground wires I have never had another proble. A Ford tech and 10 other mechs could not figure the problem out. I think Hammer gave me a clue and I ran with it and found the problem, that was about 2 - 3 years ago. Good Luck. __________________ 98 GT / convertable -98 Saleen engine, Saleen appearance pkg. SHM cams,P&P NPI heads, and so much more!

04-19-2006, 08:22 PM	#10
Hammer AKA "Dr. Evil" Join Date: Feb 1999 Location: South Fork Ranch Posts: 1,721	Re: Electrical Problem 96-98 GTs are reknown for 2 things: 1. Crappy stock intakes 2. Grounding\Electrical problems __________________ Uncle Sam "What the hell is up with all the gauges? Calling Captain Kirk, your ride awaits... Phasers on stun...."

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