Ok, last night the car, a 2002 Mercury Cougar, just shut off while in front of my house. It turns out the entire electrical system has been "shot" as the mechanics say. They're also claiming that something is "draining" the electrical system. I know this can't be true, as the amp light always turns off, and it properly grounded and such. Just a few months ago the car was in for something similar, and the mechanics said in no way was my system at fault. Anyone have any idea as to what may have caused this? I don't even run my system hard. I set the amp no higher than just below 1/2 gain, and that's only for VERY short periods of time, when showing my friends my system. Other than that, the amp normally stays at 1/4 gain. Ford is saying nothing can be done to fix the electrical system as of now. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. And what is the possiblity of a properly installed system frying an entire car's electrical system?
it's not the amplifier. if it was, you'd have had serious problems with the headlamps dimming badly, and the car acting up before the failure, when voltages went below 12VDC. Welcome to Ford though. I had a similar problem with a Taurus once.. all stock stereo.. but the car just sucked. entire electrical system friend. alt, regulator, battery, all of it. melted and fused itself all tegether at that.. last time I even considered owning a ford product. Take it back and tell them to either fix the problem or buy back the car. This is why there are lemon laws.
Thats awful. Unfortunately, to me it sounds like the the problem is similar (if not exactly) to what GW just described and not in any way caused by your system. I don't know what kind of warranty you have, but I don't think (depends on your state's laws, though) lemon laws will cover it after 3 years :/ I think your best bet is to talk-tough with the dealership and not hesitate to contact Ford Corporate about it if they're not helpful.
"This is why there are lemon laws." Glass, it's ironic you mention that, because the car is still my Mom's and she was going to give it to me this summer before I went to college, so she thought about doing the lemon law thing.
Worm, the warranty ran out last year. I had a feeling though that it wasn't the system.
Also, one of the local gas stations gave the battery a charge, turns out the batt. isn't holding a charge or something. Barely made it to the local Ford garage in the car (only 2 blocks away). To be blatantly honest, I've never had much of a dimming problem, the headlights have never dimmed, the most dimming I've gotten was from the Odometer section of the car. How unfortunate though, I mean, I've seen Cougars fixed up like I'm attempting to do without a problem, GRRRRRRRRR!
not unless you upgraded the alternator to a high output model.
the battery sounds like the problem. if a cell is damaged, it'll pull the voltage down for the entire car. replace that battery ASAP.. it may clear up the problems. if the ford dealership didn't check that, I'd walk in and demand every penny back for the last service visit.. they're frigging idiots. on the bright side, a new battery is a cheap fix.
Who knows, it may be the battery, but Ford ir retarded. Last time it was in a few months, and it was for something fuel related. Well...First they replaced the fuel sensor and made me pay for it. The car stalled out again. Turns out, there was a recall on the fuel PUMP, now, why wouldn't they check the recal parts first? What idiots, and we still didn't NEED a new fuel sensor...But still had to pay for it, ARGHHHHHH!
That is why i will never own a Ford Product again......had a trannie go out on me 3 times in a lincoln continental....after ford fixed it the 3rd time i told em to piss on it and went and bought my FireBird...that was 5 years ago....only thing i have done to this car to fix it is replace the clutch and spark plugs. even after 5 years of abuse on the alternator it still works for when i need it again. some people have good luck with them and bad luck with other companies but i have always had good luck with dodge and GM products.