Bad Battery

[Phillip]

It was bound to happen, and today my 2005 T-Bird, with 45,000 miles on it, did not start. Bad battery, I am fairly sure. It happened out of the blue, but I guess that is normal for T-birds.

The thing is that when I tried to close the door after failing to get it started, the door would not close, because with the battery dead, the window would not go down the smidgen it needs to allow it to close. The door would just make a "plop" sound as it hit against the car when I tried to close it, and would rest ajar next to the body of the car. A bit of a bummer, as you might think. I was able to get my wife to jump my car, just so that I could then close the door with the window having gone down the smidgen needed to allow it to fully close against the car door body.

Is this a normal occurence when dealing with a dead battery?

From another thread, its seems that the safest thing to do is to take the car to the nearest Ford dealership and have them install a new battery, for about $110.00 to $115.00. I understand that to buy a special battery with the tube, and install it myself, is a difficult thing to do, and I should let the experts do it.

Is buying the battery from Ford and having them install the battery still the best option?

Thanks in advance for your responses.

Phil

 

[George]

Phillip, I believe it is the best option, to have the dealer do it. I'm sure others may encourage you to do it yourself, but its an individual choice. I am surprised it's gone though.
My 2002 is still going strong, but then I do use a Battery Tender. Always have for the past 30 years on any car that does not get driven that much. All of my antique cars had battery tenders and it does improve the life of the battery, since it is not a charging system but a battery maintaining sytem.


By the way, I believe that any battery can give out at any time....almost like a light bulb. So don't think it's only TBirds. As it relates to what happened with the windows, that's the first I've heard fof that.

Keep us informed please.

 

[George]

Phillip, do you have any warranty left on your car. As a daily driver you may want one if you donn't have one.
I know of a great deal if you want a name and number. These are from Ford and they still sell extended warranties even after your are out of warranty. And the price is right.
If you want the name and number, let me know

 

[jtharaldso]

Well, I got a 03, and I'm on the 3rd battery, and the replacement battery's don't have the vent tube, and they were installed at the dealer. As forthe window, that should happen to every dead batt, since it take juice for the window to operate.

 

[yrbamje]

Phillip, We have an '05 with 60K + miles on it. We had to replace the battery several thousand miles ago. Then, recently, while at the Frod dealer for something else, was told that the battery had a bad cell. So we replace dthe battery.
All this is on another thread, by the way.
However, it occurred to me, when the tube was being discussed, that I didn't have any idea what the tube was. This lead me to remembering that the battery that went bad after only a few months was installed at the Lincoln dealer. Maybe they didn't put the tube in.
Anyway, George, a lecture on the tube if you will.
Thanks.
Jim

 

[George]

Jim:
As you know, most batteries are under the hood and therefore do not require venting. That's because of the open space and air flow from the grille.

As I understand it, our batteries are vented to allow any gas build up to escape out through the tube, which goes down and out through the bottom of the trunk well. Otherwise, you "could" have that gas backing up into the trunk and possibly into the cabin area.

I hope this helps🙂

 

[Phillip]

Thanks, everyone.

George, please provide me with the name and number of the Ford person that you know who gives good extended warranty deals, since mine will be expiring not too long from now. I got a 6 year, 48,000 warranty when I purchased my 2005 T-Bird back in July, 2005, and so it will be expiring in July, 2010, or actually earlier since I have 45,000 miles on my T-Bird right now.

As to my situation, I did go to the local Ford dealer, and it cost me $135.00 for the battery and labor. I looked at replacing it myself, but I trusted George's comment about not doing it yourself. That looks to be correct, since when I went into the trunk and looked at the battery, it seemed a not-so-trivial thing to do, and I would probably only save myself $30 or so.

Anyway, it has been running fine so far, so I guess they installed the battery tube correctly.

I may look into getting a battery tender, but then again my battery lasted for 5 1/2 years, which seems to be a reasonable amount of time. I have had a battery voltage level tester plugged into the cigarette lighter of my T-Bird for about 8 months now, and I wonder if I should unplug it? Why I have it in --- it was for my other car that had a bad alternator, and so I bought it so that I would know when I had to swap batteries in that vehicle, since I was dumb enough to not want to pay for a new alternator, but rather I would charge one battery while the other one was in use in that car. That set-up did not last long, as you could imagine, and so I was left with the battery voltage level detector, which I decided to plug into the T-Bird for some unknown reason. If anyone knows if leaving it plugged in all of the time (even when the car is not being driven) is a bad thing to do (e.g., hurting the batttery in some way), please let me know. I certainly can just pull it out a smidgen from the cigarette lighter connection in the car when not in use, I suppose.

Thanks again, everyone.

Phillip

 

[George]

Phillip:
Although I am in Massachusetts, the best price around was from Lou in Illinois, another TBird enthusiast.
He is the Business Manager for Gjovik Ford. Call him, Lou Martuneac, directly at 603-925-7590 during business hours.
Mine extension on my 2002, was 48,000 miles added to my existing mileage or 4 additional years for $1295. That was a year ago and possibly the price may have increased slightly but no one could beat him.
Good luck and let me know how you make out.😎

 

[Phillip]

OK, I will give him a ring, George.

Though, should I wait a couple of months, because my warranty is for 6 years, or 48,000 miles, whichever comes first, and right now I am at 5 years, 5 months from date of purchase of my T-Bird, and I have 45,000 miles on my odometer?

 

[George]

OK, I will give him a ring, George.

Though, should I wait a couple of months, because my warranty is for 6 years, or 48,000 miles, whichever comes first, and right now I am at 5 years, 5 months from date of purchase of my T-Bird, and I have 45,000 miles on my odometer?

I am not sure Phillip. But if you wait the Ford price could increase or if your miles go up significantly, that may influence the price.

I think your best bet would be to call Lou and ask him. Believe me, if he thinks you should wait, he'll tell you.

 

[Lmartun]

Ford Premium Care ESP

George/Phillip:

Good to hear from you men. Phil, thanks for calling me yesterday. We came up with a good plan to put Ford's Premium Care ESP on your TBird in the Spring. As I said you might as well stay in the Extra Care ESP you have now until it is about to go out.

George, thanks for the recommendation. I did note my phone number needs a correction. My direct line at the dealership is- 630-925-7590.

Any TBird owner can call me with questions about the Ford Premium Care ESP I am offering through my Ford dealership.

Special pricing for TBird owners! Hundreds, sometimes a $1,000 less than what you'll be quoted at a local dealer.

Kind regards,


Lou

 

[George]

Lou:
Thanks for getting together with Phillip and WELCOME to the forum 😎

 

[Phillip]

Oh, I was going to post with the details of my call with Lou, but I see Lou already did so (and also provided a telephone number correction).

Cheers.