2000 Ford Mustang died at stoplight and wouldn't start on its own

Maintenance/Repairs
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1

Had a 2000 ford mustang v6 die at a stoplight. I came to a stop and was in neutral, and then the engine died and everything electrical on the car, such as the dash, power windows, locks, radio, etc. stopped working. the car wouldn’t turn over and turning the key did nothing.

I had a tow truck come and move it to a nearby shop and it showed the battery was at 50 percent, but then after jumping the car, the car turned on with the key and ran like normal. the alternator and the battery was reportedly running fine, and the mechanic said they couldn’t really do anything since the car seems like it’s running fine and its not dying for no reason again. there were also no dash lights about the battery or maintenance or check engine or anything before and after the incident.

any idea what happened?

2

the guy who introduced me to electronics in my childhood liked to say that “electronics is a science about contacts”

this car is 20 years old

how good are connections on battery, ECU, grounding straps, etc… etc… ?

1 Like
3

the mechanic checked the battery and alternator, and told me the connections he could see without taking anything apart seemed like they were good

4

the key here is

sometimes (and more often on old connections) you may have a visually tight connection, yet your volt-meter shows it has a substantial voltage drop under load

this is only my guess, don’t take it for the 100% accurate diagnostics

5

Plus 1. These are Ford cables which have been called lousy here before. Connection problems, internal connections, etc.