Dead Battery What To Do

This is for all modern Ferrari's.

Lets say you leave something on and your battery goes completely flat.

Shut off battery switch.

Put charger on battery.

Keep in mind completely flat gel batteries can take up to 8 hours to begin to charge.

Read special gel battery instructions on your charger. Some have to be shaken and hard charged at first for a few minutes to get them started.

Charge battery fully.

Push car out of your garage as you're going to have to let it idle for 10 minutes after you start it and CO can kill you.

Turn on battery switch.

Wait at least 1 minute.

Insert key and turn key to ignition NOT start.

Wait at least one minute.

Start car.

If car doesn't start remove key, turn off battery switch wait at least one minute and repeat.

Once car starts let idle for 10 minutes which is how long all ECU's need to reset.

Make sure that paddle shift can select N and all gears before starting off.

If it can't shut off car wait one minute and restart.

This should work.

Drive to dealer calmly and hook your car up to an SD3.

Clear faults and adjust clutch

Enjoy

 

You sound like you speak from experience!

 

Why the wait one minute parts of this tutorial? What's the car doing while you wait?

 

There are easier and quicker ways to reset.

 

Happy 6000th post Sparky - nice to see you back.



Jedi

 

The Computer needs the time to reboot the immobiliser to recognise the key.

These procedures are the one recommended by Ferrari as the ones to use if you don't want to damage your ECU's and I recently found that they work.

 

Good to know that there are people on Fchat who know more than Ferrari's Engineers and the service bulletins they issue.

 

Thanks, I did not know that.

 

Thanks, glad to be back!

 

Jim,

No disrespect intended but a good tech can usually find a cheat(work around) from the procedure recommended by the manufacturer.

Many times my Service Technician has done so. Just the other day he had a BMW with a problem; the TSB said the fix would take about 4 hours(to reset the computer). He corrected the problem in less than 1 minute.

Remember, Ferrari 'Engineers', or those of any other manufacturer, don't actually service the cars when a problem arises, they merely come up with an 'In theory' recommendation.

A good tech will usually look for another way around a situation, rather than just accepting what the manufacturer says. No, it doesn't always work but many times it does!

I'm just sayin',

Sparky

 

I think you just increased the market value of carb'd and CIS Ferraris.

 

Bear in mind that a battery that has gone completely flat in the manner described, even if only for a relatively short time, is likely to be compromised in terms of its remaining "life expectancy".

 

+1.

 

Nope.

Firstly there is no way around the immobiliser. If you don't give the ECU time to reboot it will not recognise the key and if you try again too soon you can lose the immobiliser key code completely.

If you touch the throttle before allowing the ECU's to reboot fully and undergo many self checks which takes 10 minutes you can wash down the cylinders with raw fuel which can cause massive damage.

What you're saying is total BS.

Hopefully if the cheat your BMW tech did washed down your cylinders he'll personally pay for your engine rebuild because BMW may not as the ECU stores the information as to how long he waited before the throttle was applied.

 

With Gel Cells less so.

 

Not a contradiction but just a question.

Does what you say come from personal experience or just from what you've been told. I'm not looking for a confrontation or an argument but I'm just being inquisitive. I've seen many work-arounds that manufacturers (and even dealers) won't disclose. Ultimately, it works to their advantage financially to take the long trip around the block.

Again, I'm not looking for an argument or protestation of what you say but, if what you say can be collaborated, I'll gladly refrain.

With all due respect and not wanting another inflammatory reply I remain, respectively yours,

Sparky

 

Your a better man than me to take his inflammatory and rude response (the BS quote was quite uncalled for IMO).
And yes you are quite right, in many cases there are work arounds even if this particular battery subject is not one.

 

Hello Jim,

Could you elaborate on this? I'm a complete noob when it comes to engine internals.

Thanks, Peter

 

I was going to say the same - they're never really "right" again after they've gone dead once. At least that's been my experience. Gel cel or otherwise, I'd replace the battery but only after finding out what caused it to go flat in the first place. Can never be too safe.

RMX

 

Engine running way too rich, be it carbed or injected, will actually wash the lubricating oil off the cylinder walls and the piston rings, causing lots of scoring and damage to these surfaces that make the power and compression in the engine. I have seen cars literally pump raw fuel into the headers and out the tailpipes when there is a big problem. Many computer injected cars will fault to a full rich condition if there is a problem, as the engine will still run. Full lean tends to burn pistons and valves faster than washing the rings out of a motor. Lesser of two evils.

why do we love cars again?????

 

The immobiliser is part of the alarm circuit. The unlocking code is in a chip in the key. When the key is inserted if the alarm circuit in the ECU recognises the code it allows the car to start. If it doesn't it won't. When car's batteries go flat the ECU shuts down to protect it's self from low voltage, which can destroy it and if it does shut down, it needs to be rebooted. This ECU is specifically designed with an anti theft component so if you try to start your car before allowing the "at least one minute" initial reboot it won't allow the car to start. It, like other software programs, also has additional anti theft programing that senses when some one is trying to circumvent/ "cheat" this program and if you try again to start the car before the computer has been has been given "at least one minute" reboot time it can lock out and then requires a very laborious procedure (outlined in the owners manual) to convince the ECU that your key is valid. This emergency procedure takes a long time and you have to know the key code which originally came on the key tag attached to the key which most people long time removed.

Once the car starts an "at least 10 minute" additional rebooting begins. If you press the gas pedal at all before the ECU's air/fuel part of the FI has had time to properly reboot the FI will dump too much raw fuel into the system which will do two things. It will wash down the engine which can destroy it and it will also send unburnt fuel into the exhaust which can cause the Cat to ignite, destroy itself and catch on fire which can make you eligible to win a Darwin Award.

Cheers

 

I've had more trouble with the gel cells after they've gone flat.

A conventional lead-acid, I can bring back.

I did some research back in the '70s, and cobbled up a half wave pulse charger. With that, I kept a Die Hard going for almost 14 years, including reviving from the "dead" a half dozen times.

But my red top lost a lot of it's charge holding abilities after going flat once, and lost a cel completely after dropping the second time. (Which happened after it wouldn't hold a charge as long.)

I've replaced the Optima with an Interstate and have much better results.

 

Dead Battery? What not to do.

No sense in anyone else repeating my mistakes.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

Funny how Japanese computers seem to boot right up without a lot of drama.

Of course, they don't have quite the same level of anti-theft.

And yet, they're more likely to be boosted, because it's easier to unload the parts.

I mean, anybody trys to sell a P4/5 wheel, and pretty much everybody is going to know where it came from.

 

So if a cilinder gets no spark, does the same thing occur with the same possible damage?