Name that problem

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Jeffrey Travis

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Trouble picking the Category but since it is under warranty, and will be fixed under warranty and was towed under warranty - I picked warranty.



Drive 18 miles in above average Atlanta heat (94F), turn ST off to pick up kids at day care, come back out. Nothing. Remove key, get and odd ticking noise in the steering column. Power locks acting funky (work/won't work), remote the same. Try to get a jump but at that point I only get the quick click-click-click-click-click-click.



So - let's play 'Name that problem'.



Ford will be able to tell me tomorrow after they trouble shoot it but let's see who knows their ST sounds.



Good luck and good guessing.
 
1. Battery

2. Bad ground cable



Hope to never hear or have this issue with my ST, but have with other cars in the past.
 
If battery, how come the jump did not get it at least started?



I thought it would have at least fired up and allowed me to drive it to the Ford dealership.



I can also state - 57K, 2003 ST, not sure if it is the original battery as I am the second owner and have not looked for any numbers on it to state when it was installed. (although that would have been a good idea - tough to think straight when you have 3 kids loaded in and a baseball game to get to - last I heard we were up 9-3 in the 5th.)
 
I bet they tell you that you need a battery and an alternator. If the battery was really discharged, which it sounds like it was, a jump probably wouldn't have worked, cars these days are very critical of system voltage, if there is too much or too little voltage it will shut the system down.
 
battery, alternator, starter/cylinoid or the relay switch



Could be any one of those three. I'm leaning toward a starter issue...



 
If battery, how come the jump did not get it at least started?
Click to expand...



Batteries don't like heat.....seems most die in the summertime. As 1tech stated above, the newer cars can't be jump started with a bad battery. A weak battery, yes.....but it sounds like yours is toast.



I had a Sears "Die Hard" in a previous car....it started up fine one morning and two hrs later it was dead.......thus the name "Die Hard" :) Sears checked the battery and it had an internal short which is why I couldn't jump start it.
 
Batteries don't like heat.....seems most die in the summertime
Click to expand...



I would disagree. Working in a parts house for 2 years, I would say most fail when a cold front comes through, rather than a heat wave. There were days when I would replace 2 dozen batteries in a day in December, myself alone, and we would sell 300-400 a week...
 
Guess it depends on what part of the country you live in.....here in Tx, it doesn't get that cold in the winter....rarely do we go below 30. The techie's here say we have more probs during the summer months with batteries failing along with other electrical devices.



I've never had a battery go bad on me in the winter, only in the summer here.



Not knowing how old Travis's battery is and that it was 94 deg out, my guess is the heat got to his battery in this case or it was just due to go regardless.



The following is what I got from a battery spert:



THE MOST COMMON CAUSES OF PREMATURE BATTERY FAILURES



1. Loss of electrolyte due to heat or overcharging.



2. Lead sulfation in storage.



3. Undercharging.



4. Old age (positive plate shedding)



5. Excessive vibration.



6. Freezing or high temperatures.



7. Using tap water which causes calcium sulfation.



8. Positive grid corrosion or growth due to high temperatures.



9. Fast recharging at rates greater than C/10.







 
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....and the answer is........



Battery. And only the battery.



I thought that was odd as it would not get ANYTHING when I tried to jump it.



Will post more of the story later as it is a 'service department/Ford survey' thing.
 
Travis.....



Did your tech explain what exactly went bad in your battery? Guessing, I'd say you had a 'dead' cell and the others just drained into the bad one. If the cells were just weak and you'd get the click, click, click.....usually a jump will still get it started....sometimes you can damage an alt if it has to continue running trying to charge the battery while your driving. I smoked two in my lifetime.



So, just having to get a new battery, I think you got lucky and didn't damage the alternator.
 
Travis,

If there is either a short (Plates bend and touch each other) and or dead cell it is normal not to be able to jump the car.



The junk battery takes so much of the charge coming from the good battery there isn't enough to crank the engine...
 
I would disagree. Working in a parts house for 2 years, I would say most fail when a cold front comes through, rather than a heat wave. There were days when I would replace 2 dozen batteries in a day in December, myself alone, and we would sell 300-400 a week...
Click to expand...

Batteries have a much harder time cranking in the cold weather but actually extreme heat takes a bigger toll on the life of a battery.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
if the seperator wall between the plates fails, the battery will short itself out, and in turn, you might get the dash lights or headlights to work, but it sure as hell won't start, has happened to me in 2 different vehicles, and one boat
 

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