I have a 348 Spider, with battery in front left wheel arch. It sits in the garage on a trickle charger, and I had a new high quality battery installed about 3 months ago. I had not driven it much over Winter, just a little to keep things moving and lubricated. I tried to start the car today after about 4 weeks and there was no life at all in the battery. Absolutely zero. The trickle charger does not show it as charging the car. It is connected to the cigar lighter socket btw. I tried a different trickle charge with the same result. Can anyone suggest any ideas why a new battery would die like this? Could the connection be faulty at the cigar lighter or elsewhere? Is it possible to charge the battery more directly in the engine bay, without accessing the battery in the front? I would buy a proper charger to do it if I needed to.
The ecu for the automatic seat belts (if you have them (a.k.a the mad mouse belts)). Here is some reading for you. http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/348-355-sponsored-bradan/408777-if-you-have-mouse-seat-belts-your-battery-draining-read.html
Thanks Ernie, but I don't have auto seat belts. Mine are completely normal/manual. And the car was fine until now, if that helps diagnose it.
If you have an aftermarket stereo system or an alarm system that could possibly be drawing extra current.
I don't believe in cigarette lighter chargers myself. Why not just hardwire a proper charger like c-tek directly to battery as it should be? The Ferrari charger (at least mine) was a c-tek with Ferrari label stuck over it. I have 4 of them on multiple vehicles fir several years now, never had an issue yet. You can also hook one up in the engine bay off the jump start posts, just make sure your battery terminals were clean when you put the new one in.
Also, if your battery is now fully down your trickle charger probably wont get it back up anytime soon, so you will need a normal battery charger to retrieve the situation (as well as the work to assess what has been pulling it down).
my 348s cigarette lighter is not a standard shape, so a lot of "modern" adapters don't actually make a good connection and don't work. i am willing to bet that adapter is not making a good connection and is not working.
Is there a red LED on the cig plug or on the charger proving power when plugged in? I find the cig socket on my vehicle does not have good contact and seems to pop up and disconnect periodically. I would always charge the vehicle with trickle charger direct on the battery. Typically I will connect it up 1-2 times a week and it fully charged in 5 hours. Not a fan of leaving it hooked up for days but just my method.
Did you just check the simple thing like making sure the terminals are tight on the battery you might be surprised
I replaced my battery for a new one today, and the car immediately fired up into life (But the old battery was just 6 months old, and a good quality one.) Ernie, yes it probably has an aftermarket sound system. Rice-racer, you are probably correct that this was the cause of the problem. You suggest wiring into the battery. Given the battery's awkward location (front wheel arch), what is the easiest way to achieve that? Can it be done in the engine bay? Dapper, yes the battery was 100% dead flat I replaced it. zc911, agreed and I consider this the most likely cause. blue90, there was no light/power at the time. The trickle charger is on again now though, and it does show it is connected - but not charging. Probably only because the battery is 100%. btw these trickle chargers are designed to be left on months at a time. They don't charge unless they detect the need to.
Hi Jas, I also have a 348 with battery in the front and I did exactly as Rice Racer suggested by connecting the charger cables to the +ve and -ve posts in the engine bay. These are also used to jump start the car if necessary. It worked perfectly with no need to remove the front wheel or any panels. It's also written in the user manual. Cheers.
Yes I don't think the cigarette lighter is very good either. I have tried to use it to charge my phone while playing music from it over the aux port and it would thump and buzz and do weird things because of the auto music sensor and whatnot. The adapter didn't fit very well either. USB is much better on the head unit. I am happy to say that my one emergency jump start from the terminals in the engine bay worked fine. It just blew the 10amp fuse in the head unit but it was easy to replace. I always use the battery cutoff switch if I am not using the car the next day. Works great. My red top Optima battery had a lousy connection with the front plug style ports from the dealer. The fuse twisted and disconnected, even the screw in fuse cover! It failed going around a corner near the end of my maiden voyage two years ago. Once I got it home and removed the wheel I saw the crazyness inside. Did a traditional mount to the terminals, turned the battery the right direction, bent the fuse back, and screwed the cover down tight. Been great ever since. Battery was fine at the time!
Peter, thanks, I had a look in the manual and can see I can connect to points there, but it is not exactly clear. I will take a close look in the car itself tomorrow. John, you mention a cut off switch. Is there a switch in the 348 somewhere easy to get to please?
I can't recall what the old one was that I replaced 6 months ago. It was very old, predating my purchase of the car. The new one (6 months old) was a Varta, as is the replacement today.
Not sure on your model, but on the 355, open the hatch under the hood where the battery shut off switch is located. Can feed wires from charger through there to battery. The charger has a disconnect clip, so you can either take it right out if not needed, or just leave coiled up in a pouch in the cubby hole there out of sight. Basically it's a pigtail wired to battery that connects to charger cord itself, or separated from it. When in use, leave tender in trunk and feed cord out through the hood and plug in and problem solved.
Thanks Rice-Racer, I will take a look under there in the morning. Not opened that flap/hatch in over a year so can't remember what is under there LOL
From personal experience, some vehicles will simply not allow a trickle charger to work through the cigarette lighter socket. It just doesn't work, perhaps because that particular circuit requires the key in the ignition turned to (an) "accessories" position to close the cigarette lighter circuit. Perhaps you can test for this by trying the lighter without the key in the ignition. BTW, the dead (almost new) battery may still be good. A car battery shop can easily test it for you. If it's still good their chargers can recharge it in less than an hour. OTOH, your trickle charger cannot recharge a dead battery (any battery with 50% or less charge).
Michael, thanks but the car did trickle charge perfectly through the socket for the last 8 or so years, so it ought to work. But I do accept that it is probably a poor/intermittent connection sometimes, and this is what caused the flat battery over Winter. I checked it earlier today, and it was now charging. btw, my battery was replaced under warranty, so it was not a problem It was really at 0% charge, so I guess that explains (as you say) why my trickle chargers would no longer charge it. Thanks for the info
There are comments above about a battery isolator/ shut off switch on the 355. I had a look today under the flap/hatch above the wheel arch with the battery. All I saw under there was the fuse box. Mine is 348 Spider, so is that switch only on the 355 perhaps?
No idea on that Jas, I'm not fluent on the other models other then 355. If think there's a switch somewhere, but at least you might be able to wire in a charger through same location as 355.My friends 328 has a switch, so would think yours should as well.
Hi Jas, the cut off switch is in the front. Open the trunk and there is a small square panel above the left wheel. When you open it you will a fuse box and the cut off switch is right next to it. It's a round switch with the words on off embossed on it.
You're welcome Jas. Cigarette lighter socket charging worked well for my BMWs but not with my pickup trucks where I now use a Deltran charger with their battery quick connect ring terminal cable. It's not quite as convenient as the lighter socket but is less tricky than alligator clips. No-nonsense battery warranties, aren't they just wonderful?! Good luck with your 348, it's a beaut.
