MY battery on my 612 went dead and I can't seem to remember how to open trunk to get to it Any help would be appreciated - all my books are in the trunk - duh
If you are able to access the back seat arm rest, there is one emergency cable on the cavity (on the upper side covered by a leather piece hold by Velcro). Pull it and the trunk will open. Enviado do meu iPhone usando o Tapatalk
Pull down the center arm rest between the rear seats. You will see a strap you can pull to release the trunk. Hah! That is why when I had the chance I downloaded the complete manual from ferraridatabase.com. So now I have it on my computer, backup drive and my phone. Too bad that's not available any more.
Unfortunately, if your battery is completely dead and windows closed, they won't drop to clear the seal, and you will have to gentle forced the door open... For that reason, when I park in the garage I usually leave one window down 1/2".
Actually John, I think the larger question is, how did YOU allow this to happen?! I mean, NONE of us have ever had that happen.
Good point. I don't do that during the driving season because I'm regularly using the car. However, in winter storage I leave both the driver's and passenger's window down about 1 inch. Just in case, not that I would ever let the battery go dead!
I just use a battery tender and have the battery checked at annuals. Where I live, Black Widows just love garages and am sure they would love to check out a Ferrari when they're not eating their mates.
Funny, the only time I had to force door open was when hooked up to the battery tender, and it failed and drained the battery That is when I learned the lesson to leave window down just enough to clear seal when parked - and it is and has always been on tender when parked. I leave cover on to prevent dust and bugs easy access.
Thanks guys, the windows are open - I don't know what happened - guess I left it too long - its in the right rear of the garage and I get lazy - don't move the car in front. I might of not been totally truthful, I acutely didn't forget, I just never did it before - my son in law always takes care of the batteries but he has been in a job related school in Raleigh, NC. I'm spoiled - he is a total gear and wrench head and loves working on cars - my daughter said she married her track support Thanks again
I'm irrationally afraid of battery tenders. I told the story on Fchat a long time ago but here it is again. I owned a marina in Key Largo and in about 1988 we had a terrible fire in a storage shed where 36 boats were stacked and one of the owners put a charger on a boat on the bottom rack. It caught fire and destroyed every boat - most full of fuel from 17' to 28'. I have never witnessed such a sight including in combat - that's why I don't use tenders - I'll just have to drive the 612 more
Thanks for the story. My tender was recently fried by a nearby lightning strike; but, it did not catch fire, not harm the car or battery itself. However, it took over a week to clear the burning smell out of my garage. Driving your 612 more is a good thing. To be honest, I never used a battery tender on any of my previous Ferraris - 328 or 512 BBi - and never had a problem, as long as I drove them at least once every couple of weeks. However, modern Ferraris are a very different story. They are full of electronic gizmos that are continuously sucking power - especially the alarm systems. It is almost mandatory to have a tender on these cars, IMO.
Agree 100%; for some reason "modern" exotics inclusive of Ferraris (also Maserati / Aston Martin) do not last more than a week or two without a trickle charger. No idea why a "more modern" car like my 911 can hold a charge much longer despite having many more electronic gizmos. Go figure. Just got a new CTEK charger and it is very good and appears solidly built.
I hereby grant this thread the award for the most poignant thread ever on the Internet, to arise from a relatively mundane topic. The stories it could publish are manifold. It feels relatively banal to contribute the observation that every classic dealer of every marque I have dealt with over the past 36 months in the UK, plus every storage I know/use, uses CTEK chargers. (As do I.) I don't know of any other such voluntary monopoly of an accessory in a market not lacking in competition.
Actually, I do not use a CTek charger any more, after the one which came with the car died. My local Ferrari dealer suggested another brand (don't recall which one right now), and that's what I'm using now. Sadly, it won't plug into the factory port.
Just checked my 612 and it seems the charger had failed so battery completely dead. Windows are up so I guess it is possible to open the doors by being gentle with the seal? I've order a new charger so once that is connected do you think the battery can be brought back to life?
yes, it will open and you yon't break anything Are you sure it's your charger? If you are battery is so down the charger may not pick it up from zero I would open the door and first check that you did not blow the fuse for the charger, it's in the trunk over the battery in one of the fuse holder, it happened to me once.
Battery seemed to be good until it went into winter sleep. I always had my doubts about the charger as no lights came on but it seemed to work anyway. The car started no problems after 2 or 3 weeks but perhaps that was just the battery holding the charge. Thanks for the tip about the fuse which I will check before I plug in the new charger. I had the Ferrari Ctek adaptor already so the new standard charger is not such a big investment, they even had them on Galaxus!
Giani, there is a difference between a charger and a tender. If you are replacing the CTEK tender, then no, it will not bring a depleted battery back. You will need to actually attach a battery charger to do that.
I've ordered a MXS 5.0. The specs and reviews suggest that it will charge up a dead battery but we shall see.
I've always used my trusty Sears DieHard charger, which can also fast-start the car. Never let me down and always happy to start a Ferrari in no time.
Would it be a big deal to just remove the Negative terminal for storage? I know it means re programming the clock,radio,seat memory etc. but is there any other adverse reasons not to?