My Mustang had been periodically stalling at corners and stops but always started back up. I read that this is probably a dirty throttle plate and so I figured I'd clean it. Since I had 69,000 miles, I thought it would be a good time to change my plugs while I was at it. I looked online for some recommended plugs to buy and noticed that there were a lot of problems associated with changing these plugs.

This is not my complaint, though I will describe it in a later complaint. No, this just caused me to change my plans of doing the work myself to bringing it to a mechanic. Now, to begin with, I keep my Mustang in the garage and seldom drive it in rain or snow. The reason is that it's not the best handling vehicle in those conditions and I have an F150 I can drive instead. I left the Mustang at the shop and they called me that day to tell me It would be a couple of days because they broke all of the spark plugs getting them out. (again, different complaint). The car stayed there three days and was left outside. It poured those three days.

When I got it back, they asked me if I had been having trouble with the shifter. I hadn't but now it wouldn't shift out of park, The release button wouldn't push in. There is a little plastic cover next to the shifter that you can pop off and then push in a lever which then lets the button on the shifter push in and lets you shift out of park. I was in a hurry so I took it like that and said I'd be back later if I couldn't figure it out. The inside of the car stunk pretty bad so I bought an air freshener later that day.

Had to bring it back the next day because of a misfire in #2 cylinder. On the way to the shop, my ride for the way back drove behind me and said one of my brake lights was off. The shifter release button and brake lights are tied to the same fuse so when I brought it home again I checked the fuse. But it was good. That night I drove into my garage and since it was dark then, I turned on my headlights and now find that the driver's side headlamp is out. It is all getting serious now so I need to do an assessment. Both high beams and fog lamps work. The left low beam is out. The 3 x 3 tail light array is as follows: the left three lamps light for all operations. The inside right tail lamp works. The outer two do not work as tail lights, brake lights or turn signal. The shifter release button does not push in. I went to the store and bought new headlamps, (2) and tail lights, (2) and replaced them. Everything remained the same. The fuses are all good but there is no fuse for the low beam head light.

Looking at the online forums I now see that there is a water leak problem with my car that our good friends at Ford have known about for almost a decade. Water leaks in at several locations, especially under the cowling and runs down into the smart junction box which is located under the passenger kick panel. I paid $23 for some online information from a certified Ford mechanic who basically told me there may be a problem with the smart junction box. Thanks, guy. (oh, he didn't mention what would have caused such a problem) Now, as I see it so far. I probably need to replace the SJB. They are running at about $400 plus. Either put it in myself or pay someone to do it. Then, I need to take it to Ford for them to flash it, (program it), which according to forums, doesn't always turn out great.

I have seen so many complaints about this problem, I can't believe there has been no recall from Ford yet. I did notice that when they built the car, they taped a little piece of foam rubber over the SJB, supposedly, from the forums, to water proof the box. Swell.

The original Smart Junction Box installed in these Mustangs had 2 major problems.

Problem 1: The windshield leak problem. These cars had a bad seal from the factory that allowed rain to drip down on the bottom of the windshield. The water leaks directly into the SJB box, and ruins it.

Problem 2: Poorly engineered part when the car was new. These circuit boards were poorly made, and after a few years of heat and cold, they fail to function any more. There are no repairable parts in a SJB; the whole module must be replaced.