05 Mustang GT Problems

Our 2005 Mustang GT Premium came with the Shaker 1000 factory upgrade. We've had two problems with the car that are forcing us to use the Ford arbitration / Nebraska Lemon Law process. If anyone else has seen these issues on the 05 Mustang, please post a reply.

  1. The stereo will not stay at a constant volume when the "shaker" is turned on. When the Shaker is turned off, the volume works properly. CD's, MP3's, or AM/FM - it doesn't matter what your listening to, the volume drops about 10 volume clicks as soon as the "shaker" is turned on. However, at the beginning and end of each song, the volume goes back to normal for about 2 seconds.

Personal note: it seems to me that the Shaker System has a faulty wiring/circuit issue.

  1. Something is draining the battery. If the car sits two days, the battery is pretty much dead. It doesn't matter if the stereo is turned off or not. The battery will be dead if unused for 2 days. The battery has been replaced.

Personal thought: Wouldn't a faulty stereo system/wiring harness drain the battery if it were not turning itself off when the car was shut down?

The Shaker 1000 upgrade is a $1,200 factory upgrade, and when it does work properly, it's awesome!

Here's some history (I'm venting now) on this car and some of the "processes/procedures" that we've encountered over the past 7 months dealing with Ford and the dealer (Atchley Ford in Omaha).

We've had the service tech's at Atchley Ford tell us that it takes

45 minutes to diagnose each amp in this vehicle (there are six amps total in this vehicle) and the diagnostic tests must run consecutively, in a specific pattern. Each issue with this stereo requires the mechanic to re-start the diagnostic test, which means about 6 hours in the shop for the car owner. Normally the diagnostic tests don't finish, which requires the technician to restart the entire process.

Ford has required our Ford dealership (Atchley Ford in Omaha) to send in the defective part(s) because their process is to fix and return defective parts. It took three weeks to get the first two amps repaired (actually Ford said they would repair them, but ended up just sending back new amps).

There were 3 other Mustangs with the Shaker System on the dealers' lot. Ford would not allow Atchley Force Service Department to swap out the stereo system with another car to help trouble-shoot the problem. Guys and gals, It's a plastic box in the trunk with maybe three bolts and only two power connectors keeping this thing in the trunk.

So far to date, we've had the stereo system replaced, the amps in each door replaced, portions of the Shaker 1000 system in the trunk replaced, the battery replaced, and a relay/time-out switch replaced.

Ford brought in an engineer several months ago to help diagnose the problem. He ended up replacing one of the amps in the trunk and the problem was resolved for about 30 days.

Here's another interesting tidbit of information: Ford will not allow us to take this vehicle to another dealer for trouble-shooting. We are required to drive over 40 miles each way and utilize Atchley Ford of Omaha when there's a Ford Dealership only 10 miles away from our house. (Yes we tried the dealer-swap prior to purchasing, but Atchley wouldn't let the car go since it was a dealership in the local area).

I spoke with Chris Rodgers, the Sales General Manager at Atchley Ford yesterday about swapping out this car and he seemed eager to help make this right.

I've never gone down the road of arbitration /lemon law, advice would be appreciated.

Reply to
Rick
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Who at Ford won't let you try another dealer? Maybe you should refer him (or her) to the warranty guide that was supplied with your vehicle. The following statemetn comes directly from the warranty guide:

"When you need warranty repairs, your selling dealer would like you to return to it for that service, but you may also take your vehicle to another Ford Motor Company dealership authorized for warranty repairs. Certain warranty repairs require special training though, so not all dealers are authorized to perform all warranty repairs. That means that, depending on the warranty repair needed, the vehicle may need to be taken to another dealer. If a particular dealership cannot assist you, then contact the Customer Relationship Center at 1-800-392-3673."

I suppose it is possible that the dealer closest to you is not qualified to fix audio systems, but I doubt it.

Ed

Reply to
C. E. White

Reply to
Rick

The Ford Customer Service center told the local dealership that they were not allowed to touch our GT. They were to inform us to only use Atchley Ford since Atchley was the ones that originally submitted the trouble-ticket to the engineers at Ford.

Tried it, we got transfered several times, and ended up with the same information as above.

Reply to
Rick

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