An error on a fairly new Mustang "Charging System Service now"

[Ghostrealm]

Hi Guys,

I will try to make this fast and to not ramble on but I need your help and adivce as its urgent.

I havent driven my 2017 3.7 litre v6 convertible Mustang much in the last two years. I stayed parked in my garage and the battery died.
I went out and I bought an anti gravity battery model Atx-20HD for the car thinking it would be easier to charge a lithium battery than keep buying lead acids that die after a year of not being driven.

I took the dead lead acid battery out and I put the Anti Gravity in. It seems like it looke backwards so I by mistake" idioticly" put the negative terminal on the postivie and the positive on the negative for a brief second. The horn started honking as a warning. I quicky removed it and put it correct;ly.

The anti Gravity battery has a tester on it and it said half charged so it was good. As soon as the car started up I notced the steering wheel was getting firm then loose firm then lose almost pulsating and you could feel this while turning mostly, its as if the power sterring was going. I immediately parked the car and as soon as I parked it the car died.

I ended up putting in a new lead acid battery that I bought while my car was parked. The car starts up but now I have a message saying Charging System service now.

A few things-

As I took the battery end terminals off the battery I lost the wedge flat peices that are part of the screws in the fender so I pretty much secured the terminals with tape. Could thats be whats caussing this error? If I change the end terminal conenctors with tighter newerd ends will it clear this error? It does seem firm to the touch without screws but it can be easily pulled up.

Or could it be that I damaged the computer when I put the positive on the negative and vice versa?

The car only has 4500 Miles on it as I dont drive it much.

Did I mess up really bad and cause severe damage tp the car? Or should I just buy new battery terminal ends tighten the new battery in and see if the error clears?

Anyone else ever see this message?

I appreciate any and all advice. Thanks!

 

[Ghostrealm]

I might add I didnt charge the Antigravity battery when I put it in. The shop said it should be enough power that the alternator will charge it. It seems as though it just stopped running.
as I was driving it for the first few minuties. It was quite scary feeling the steering wheel get very hard and then soft. If the car stopped in motion it would of locked the steering wheel. It was a very dangrous feeling. Thank G-d I got was able to park it safely. Any advice will be much appreciated.

 

[Ghostrealm]

As I was trying it out both the negative and the positive terminals were not screwed in. They were just sitting tight on them without screws. I lost both wedges due to me not realizing those sandwhich screw wedges fall off. I should of just loesened it and not unscrewed it. could the error message be from not having them tightened on the battery properly? I bought a new Battery terminal end kit for both the negative and positive.

 

[Torinate]

Um.

Yes, loose terminals will cause this. Need to replace both of them. Not sure how you were able to tape them on though...

Did you start the car with the battery hooked up backwards or just put the terminals on and then the horn beeped and you corrected them?

Whichever battery you decide to put in, make sure it’s fully charged and the terminals are tight. May want to use a battery “brush” and give both the battery terminals and the battery posts a nice new shiny surface before tightening them on the correct spot!

Good luck!

 

[Ghostrealm]

Thank you very much for getting back to me!


Did you start the car with the battery hooked up backwards or just put the terminals on and then the horn beeped and you corrected them?-

I just put the positive on the negative by mistake since the anti Gravity Batteries are really strange with how they are positioned. It tricked my mind when it was actually in opposite places to my oem battery the way the battery was sittng. I did not start that car with it opposite. As a matter of fact the negative could slide on the positive whoch might be a safey feature. But yes the car's horn started honking. I smelled a bit of smoke and I Immedicately discconected.

I put the cables on the posts and I taped it in place with tape but you could easily slide it off on the battery post so it wasnt too snug on the post.

You sure this might be what was causing the error?

I ordered new conencted on Amazon. I will be more careful with the wedge between the screws next time.

Could I of really damaged something if I reversed the battery even for a second?

Thanks again,

 

[ay1820]

Start by getting a good secure connection to the battery. This is a must to begin any sort of diagnosis and a must to reliably operate your car. If your troubles go away, then consider it a close call and move on.

I wouldn’t even try to guess at what could go wrong in all the various electronics systems and subsystems if the battery was connected with polarity reversed. Hopefully, sensitive circuits are protected, but if not, then it doesn’t matter how quickly you disconnected it, damage will be near instantaneous.

The fact that you were able to start and run your car at least once is a good sign though.

 

[cerbomark]

I ll bet it s the loose connection causing the service light.