'99 Cobra threw a CEL and now won't start

soccerman002

99 SVT Cobra
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I was driving my '99 Cobra into the office this morning as I hadn't driven it in about a week or so. It's usually garage kept but has been outside for a few months while I use the garage for work space for a bathroom remodel - it's been cold the past few nights. I figured it would take a second to crank over, but she did, let her warm up for a few minutes, and went on my way. About halfway through the drive the CEL comes on.

I get to the office, turn it off and decide to just check it when I get home at lunch. I ended up having to leave about 10 minutes after getting into work b/c my Dad called and needed a ride from the dealership while his car got inspected, so I go to start it and it takes a few extra seconds to turn over. At that point I decide to just head straight home and drop the car off after picking up my Dad.

I swing by the house at lunch and plug my scanner in, and it won't connect with the car (it's a cheap scanner off Amazon.com, but would connect with my wife's car and my truck, so who knows). I try to fire the Cobra up and it almost immediately goes straight to the starter clicking.

What does this sounds like? Loose ground under the hood (have had this problem before)? Starter kicked the bucket? Also wondering what caused the CEL to come on. While the car was running, it ran and drove fine.

I plan on getting a new scanner and trying my luck at reading the code over the weekend. Just thankful the car is at least in the driveway and not in some random parking lot or up at work. Any input or thoughts are appreciated, thanks.
 
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286rocks

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Sounds to me like the battery is taking a dump on you... If you have a multimeter just measure the voltage across the battery terminals while the car is running. Anything over 13.5 Vdc should be good to go. If you see that, start searching for a weak ground. Simple voltage/current problems can cause all sorts of strange symptoms on EFI cars.
 

soccerman002

99 SVT Cobra
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Just got my son put down for bed and ran outside really quick to give it a try and she's even more dead than she was at lunch time. A buddy of mine is a manager at Advance Auto and he's gonna let me borrow their store OBDII scanner for a few minutes (I live right around the corner) on my lunch break tomorrow and get the code, then I'll go from there.
 

soccerman002

99 SVT Cobra
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Figured it was the battery and knock on wood that seems to have done the trick - picked up a Motorcraft battery from my local dealer and replaced the 7 year old Everstart that was in there when I bought the car, fired up like a champ. The battery tray and hold down were trashed, along with the battery wrap/insulation, so I'll replace all that before taking her back out.

Thanks for the replies everyone, much appreciated.
 

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