Low Battery | Ford Thunderbird forum club group 1955-2005 models

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Low Battery

  • Thread starter Thread starter HiBird
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HiBird

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Thunderbird Year
2002
I have a 2002 TBird. It's sits idle about six months of the year. In 2009 I bought a new battery from the local Ford dealer, warranty 36 mos. When we leave the car I put a battery tender charger on it. This year when we returned the battery was dead. I recharged it and started driving the car. Almost immediately I had instrument light issues: the AbS light wouldn't go out, the traction light came on and the emergency brake light comes on. The speedometer even stopped working. After about 2wks of this behavior I took it to a mechanic (not Ford dealer) They couldn't find anything wrong after reading the codes except that the battery was low (7volts) and recommended a new battery. We installed a new battery and all the issues went away. Anyone have any ideas as to why a low battery would cause these kinds of issues? Also, would I be better off just disconnecting the battery instead of a trickle charger. Also, I need to determine if the trickle charger is any good.

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....you are better off to disconnect the battery, thereby putting all the electronics to sleep. If not, things like the perimeter alarm (the little red light on top of the dash will kill your battery) and will trigger other diodes/circuits to act abnormally. This car is heavily dependent on electrics/diodes/computers. I have spent thousands on diagnostics and still Ford and the dealer have no clue as to what is killing the battery. So, I have adapted to the car. I disconnect it at the end of the day and hook it back up in the morning. I never lock it, as it kills the battery. Other than that, it works fine.
 
My '02 goes on a battery tender all winter, usually no starts in between fall and spring and always okay.
Been doing this for the past 11 years on this car and did the same on my antique cars for 32 years. One of them for the full 32 years, the other for 18 years
 
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