Stupid is what stupid does! | Ford Thunderbird forum club group 1955-2005 models
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Stupid is what stupid does!

  • Thread starter Thread starter pkboyd
  • Start date Start date
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It takes some humility to write this! Yesterday, I took off from work and my wife and I planned a fun day to run errands in the convertible mode of our treasured Yellow,premium,full interior T-bird. I keep it covered in a carport, and as I removed the cover, I noticed the trunk lid was open. I immediately sighed knowing the battery was probably dead. It was. I shut the trunk lid, and figured there were some good lessons to learn here. First, one of us likely trigged the trunk release accidently on the remote control as we passedd thru the carport to our other vehicle, therefore teaching us to remember to check the trunk when the T-bird is covered, and second, be more careful with the remote control. Second lesson, was we could learn how to jump start the T-bird. This really became the big lesson. Of course, everything electrical was dead. I was able to pop the hood, and lo and behold, I couldn't find the battery. After a long incredulous look under the hood, I realized I should have paid more attention in my first perusal of the owner's manual. Oh well, to the trunk, where we keep a packet of the manual and registration documents, but some of you may have guessed, I couldn't find a way to get into the trunk! The door panel trunk release of course was dead, and for the life of me I could not find a way to access the trunk. Again, I became incredulous, concluding Ford really went too far securing the car leaving no conventionally key access at the trunk, or another way to access otherwise. To shorten this story, I did call on my service contract with Ford, by the way, excellent response time,ie 35 minutes. Even stumping the tow service man, he had to call a local Ford dealership to learn the trunk release was behind the driver seat, requiring activation with the ignition key. The battery indeed is in the trunk! Many lessons here, probably too many! But if in case there is another new owner "studpid" like me, beware of these valuable lessons...check your trunk periodically even if you don't keep your car covered. Read the manual, and note that the battery is in the trunk, that you can get to it only with the ignition key at a location on the panel behind the driver's seat, if the battery is so dead so as to prevent trunk release from the door panel. A footnote, we did finally get our errands done, but halfway thru our mission, unexpected rain forced us to put up the soft top. However, all is well because we are in that special number who now possess a 2002 TiBird!

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It doesn't sound that stupid to me....so what does that tell you?
Thanks for sharing that story...most of us learned at least one or two new things....like I didn't know about the key thing behind the driver's seat.

Hope to see you in Destin....you are relatively close to there, aren't you?

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blue/blue/full blue prem
Vin 16050;Rotation 5856
Delivered 4/29

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The only thing stupid here was the fact that you didn't read the owner's manual. How many of us buy a new car, think it's all the same as the old one and don't bother to read the manual. EVERY new car has some nuances that make it different from the last. There are some new owner preference programming capabilities in all the new cars now, and every one is different. Our 2002 Grand Cherokee for instance has many personal reference modes that can be programmed, but reading the manual is the only way to find out.
These T-Birds have several things that are unique to them, like the window programmer, and the emergency trunk release, as you found out. There are other things you can program, such as the seatbelt warning buzzer. The real lesson here is what .... READ THE MANUAL, it has a wealth of useful information.
 
Originally posted by pkboyd:
noticed the trunk lid was open. I immediately sighed knowing the battery was probably dead. It was.

Doesn't the Tbird have the "Battery Saver" feature that keeps the battery from being drained when interior lights are left on? Some vehicles turn them off like our sable.


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Tbird
 
and after a couple of months, read it again to see what you missed (or forgot) the first time.

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neiman vin#00035
delivered October 4, 2001
 
Anybody can be uninformed, it takes a bird man to admit it. Enjoyed your post.
smile.gif



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Charlie
VENUS, a Blue/Blue Premium w/full accent.
VIN 12778
 
I'm stumped as to why the battery would have gone down from the truck being opened. How long did you have the car in storage? The light should have gone off on its own. I've left my trunk open for at least couple of weeks at a time with no ill effects. Makes me wonder if somethin else was going on.

Seems like someone else was reporting that their battery would go dead if they didn't drive the car in a couple of weeks. Maybe your car is having the same problem. You might want to have your battery tested.

Paul

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#3739 Premium
Torch Red w/matching top
Standard Interior
 
Have enjoyed reading the responses to my post. First, won't be able to make the Destin trip, wish we could. Second, the car had not been driven for a little over a week, so perhaps it wasn't the trunk lite, but bad battery or lack of use. I will follow up on this later. Thanks again to all the replies.
 
Originally posted by 2K2BIRD:

Seems like someone else was reporting that their battery would go dead if they didn't drive the car in a couple of weeks.

Actually, I rememeber reading a thread a couple of months ago where someone said the car was dead everytime they went out to start it after it sat for two weeks or so.
Not normal for sure.
 
There is a battery save feature. I know because my light switch was left on (valet parking did it. I never actually turn the knob myself) and lo and behold the next day my car started without a problem. I don't know about battery saving if the trunk is left open though.
 
Originally posted by icrovop:
There is a battery save feature.... I don't know about battery saving if the trunk is left open though.

Must be, as I left our trunk open yesterday for a test - light was on - and 45 mnutes later came back to check it - light was out.


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the New T-bird
 
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