599 - I am sick of getting flat batteries!!

I am going to assume that the charging system is working properly and the batter is charging, or you would be getting a charge light and code if it wasn't.

1. Check and clean the grounds, if you aren't grounding properly it could effect charging.

2. Get a new battery. The one you have is shot, it's not holding a charge.

3. Drive the car more often.

 

I have read the stock tender is a drop too weak for the car. I would look into a replacement.

 

I've heard people and techs say that because of all of the electronics, computers, etc..
A friend of mine has had battery problems with his Ferrari's; 430, 599, and Cali after only 8-9 days of not driving. I'm sorry, that's not exceptable. A neighbor of mine has a 2006 911 Turbo that sits for a week and a half sometimes with no battery tender and starts right up, why?

 

The fact that we get excited over not having to charge a cars battery in a week and a half is pathetic. I keep all of my cars on tenders, except for my 2013 Camaro that sits in a parking garage in a different state. There's no access to power in the underground garage so it just sits completely unattended. last week I had a chance to drive the car after it had been sitting for just over FOUR MONTHS. I put the key in and without any hesitation it starts right up...couldn't believe it! If GM can get this right, why can't Ferrari??

 

If its showing green then the battery is keeping the voltage limit in the tender. Is it possible the tender's set voltage limit is too low? Or maybe the tender is just bad in some way. How new is the battery? If its 5+ years and has been discharged a few times its probably a good idea to get a new battery. You would hate to be let down by a dead battery when you are out.

 

My SWAG is you have a voltage drain somewhere. Something that shouldn't be drawing juice while the car is sitting is in fact sapping the battery.

 

FWIW, I do not use a tender on my 2010 599 and recently returned from a 3 week trip. The car started up without hesitation as normal.

 

Did you ever completely lose the charge in the battery? If so the battery may be bad...if it has been dead a few times given your description, I'd buy a new battery and use the tender to get up to a full green light charge (assuming that means the battery is fully charged on your tender, as the green light means that on my battery tender plus). After that, you should be good, unless there is a draw somewhere else or something wrong with your car's alternator. Start with the simple first- even if it's something else, your battery has probably been damaged if it's been very low several times now so you may as well replace it to "start with a clean slate". If there's an issue again where the charge is lost, charge the new battery fully before taking the car in to be checked out so you don't damage the new battery.

 

Actually, the ability of the battery to start your car in jack rabbit fashion is NOT a reliable indicator of its capacity or condition. Your battery can start your car very nicely and then promptly strand you at the first place you park your car at. Been there, done that with my BMWs.

To really know what state your battery is in you need to test it for voltage and load capacity. If you haven't done this before it's best to have a garage do it for you. The battery tender that comes with your car is NOT capable of fully recharging a discharged battery. Garages have very fast chargers that can do it safely in 30-40 minutes.

 

Yup, I second that. One winter my 300ZX started right up and the temp was -3F. I drove about 3 miles and the electronics went suddenly haywire and then the engine died. It was a dead battery. How it could have started the car that easily in that severe cold and then die is beyond me.

I've told this story many times and I've always finished it saying if it didn't happen to me I wouldn't have believed it.

 

I have a 2010 599 HGTE. Still the factory battery, rarely (if ever) on a tender and the car has sat for weeks at a time in between starts and I've never had a problem, it starts every time. I agree with Paul, you have something else going on.

 

I think the later cars are better in this regard. What model year is the car?

 

So where does it hook up? It's pretty annoying to hook it up in the trunk and if there's an alternative I'd be curious!

 

Keep us posted, I am curious about this one.

 

I had an issue with a drained battery once till now.
It was diagnosed later by a local Ferrari shop to be caused by the buttons on the driver side floor for the trunk and the fuel lid. One of them was leaking electricity. Was easy to repair.
However and while I was trying to find the reason I stumbled on an interesting article about the issue being caused by the radio. Here is the link. Quite interesting...
https://aldousvoice.com/2015/02/15/ferrari-becker-radio-current-leak/

 

Try disconnecting the battery then reconnecting and charging. Every time I have mine connected to a state inspection machine I have to do this or the battery goes flat.

 

Do you use the battery tender?

My car is always on the battery tender. I learned the hard way that these Ferrari CTek battery tenders have continuous voltage drainage if connected to the car but not to the wall power outlet. I lost one battery (bosch S5) like that already.