Four beeps after engine starts

i seem to remember my 355 doing something weird like this as the alarm unit was failing (the battery was failing).

doody.

 

Did you get the battery charger for your 360? If so, I would hook up the charger whenever you are not driving the car. If you don't have the charger go get the battery checked. The good thing is that you are still able to drive your car.

 

Larry, What year is your 360?

 

I think that the beeps mean that you should get a Ferrari without a computer!

 

You are lucky the car starts after the 4 beeps. I had this happen once when the F1 did not have enough pressure to put the car into N to start the engine. Took a lot of effort to get it started. Did you car sit for a long time, or is your battery weak ? I think the extra beeps are just to tell you the alarm synch is screwed up. Never happens when I lock the car and then unlock before starting.

 

Does the red LED on the lower left panel (where you set the sport mode etc) remain lit after the 4 beeps? Mine has been doing that, and the dealer says that means the auxiliary back up battery for the alarm is dead and needs to be replaced. If this is the cause of your beeps, there should be no effect on your normal driving. You may want to ask your dealer to be on the safe side.

 

geez louise.

the alarm siren is a 5" by 5" box that contains a siren AND a battery. that is the battery for the siren.

speedball just posted some posts as to how he fixed his.

doody.

 

My Mondial wuold "beep" a few times after starting. I traced the problem to a bird with his head stuck in the alternator belt. Removed bird and now all is well. Is this what is meant by "fowling" a sparkplug ?

 

That's hilarious, Tom!

 

Thank you. I have my moments.

 

Doody, where did Speedball post his answer?

 

Larry, I might be wrong, but it normally relates to F1 gearbox errors that are stored in the TCU (transmission control unit) They might be cleared if you disconnect the battery, then reconnect and let the systems re-initialise, otherwise it's a trip to you dealer and connection to their SD2 so the errors can be read and deleted.


MW

 

Get the alarm checked out - it is not in the owners manual but I thought it was mentioned in the manual/brochure regarding the security system.

 

it seems we have alot of input here but what is the answer? I am guessing that the alarm needs to be reset with the SD2. can anyone confirm this?

 

And if you do get a F-car with a computer, you should hit "CTRL-ALT-DELETE" when all else fails.

 

Good grief. Just give Ferrari of San Francisco a call at 415-380-9700 and ask Brad or their service dept.

 

Save Time....

Open up your Alarm System Owners Manual, turn to page 13 and read C.

The answer is there.

AS well, if the light DOES stay on, then that is a sign that the battery (alarm siren) is going bad. Starting from Assy. # 41814(360 only) , F-SpA started fitting a battery jump wire on the negative side so there would be constant juice flowing from the battery to the alarm siren. From Assy #43089 they started fitting a later style siren that has a new style battery.

 

Thought I'd add my recent experience to this thread.......

The problem with your alarm IMO is 100% related to the NiCad batteries in the siren. I also got the four beeps you mentioned. As Doody stated ... I recently resolved this issue on my 550 ..... I think the 360 and 550 have the identical alarm setups and issues.

I removed my siren, located below the right front headlight on a 550. It was hard to reach .... tried to get to it without pulling the headlight assy ... "lost" three 10mm wrenches (later recovered) before deciding to pull the four bolts holding the headlight assy and getting this out of the way. Simple to do and made for very easy access at that point. I removed the siren (two bolts), but since this is a sealed unit it's not intended to be opened or serviced ... I carefully cut along the original seam where it was glued together at the factory (made by Bosch) ..... there's not much inside so you don't need to be too careful when opening ....just two batteries and a small circuit board. I intended to replace the batteries which just pop in to two molded holders ... but found in my case some petty heavy corrosion on the bateries and contacts between them and the ciruit board, which just presses against the batteries (batteries in one half.... circuit board in the other) when the unit is put together. Checked the batteries and they were low ..... but after cleaning everything I taped the unit together and plugged it back into the wiring harness ... waited a day .... removed it and found the batteries were now fully charged (4 Volts each) ..... I also noted that the alarm problem was resolved. Since I bought the car (w/8k miles) the alarm light always cycled correctly at start up and when turned off ... but then goes into an always on mode when running ... which indicated a "fault" in the system ..... that's also what the four beeps is telling you. Once I was convinced the alarm was working OK .... I siliconed the two halves of the siren unit together and bolted it back in "for good" ...... I thought......

Now here's the sad part ..... this worked great for a few days...... and definately made me aware that I found the problem .... but just today the alarm issue has returned as before ..... I'm positive it's the batteries ..... they probably had just enough life left in them to last only a few days, having been discharged for months .. maybe years. I would've replaced these last time around (intended to) ... but couldn't find replacements easily .... checked the internet ..... found a few places that listed these but only in Europe...... checked Radio Shack, and some large US based battery suppliers.... no luck. (however... someone did post a message after I was done .... with a name where I might find these ... check my original posting (titled: 550 alarm light always on).

Now that the problem has returned .... I'm going to find new batteries before r & r again. I had considering just buying a 7.2 volt NiCad battery pack at Radio Shack .... and hard wiring this in ... There appears to be ample space inside the siren housing. If I can't find the proper replacements ... this is what I'll end up doing.

The updated siren changed to a better battery that lasts longer ...... but the dealer gets around $ 350 for a new siren unit .... there's basically nothing inside this unit and no reason the throw it away .... it's only two batteries and a siren horn.... YES they could've put four screws in it to make it eaily serviceable ...... but regardless ..... hardly worth spending this amount when you only need two new $10 batteries. Something else I might consider this time around is to drill a small hole in the side and run the battery wires outside of the unit ..... this way I can buy a battery pack with a connector that just plugs in and attach the battery pack to the bracket holding the unit .... next time the batteries fail ... it'll take 2 minutes and $ 14 dollars to fix.

There's a factory update regarding adding a ground wire from the connector to the actual battery ground (already mentioned in this thread) ... bypassing the car batteries kill switch..... thus allowing constant power to the NiCads so they don't drain. This only helps ... and I;d say is necessary if you let your main car battery drain to a low state or switch it off at times.... This doesn't appear to of been the issue with my car .....

The batteries inside the unit are # Z3A120 ... B49 .... 3.6 volt ... approx. 1 inch round by 1/2 inch tall. Looks like a very large watch battery. If you find a source for these... let me know.........

Thanks,

 

I'm glad the problem has been identified. The first time I heard the beeps I got really concerned. Fortunately FoSF was able to diagnose the problem and reassure me of the benign nature of the issue.

As an aside, we'd love to have you join us for one of our sunday breakfasts in Half Moon Bay!

Norm