Battery Tender Status

My 458 went dead after driving it for about 4 days but then I finally got the battery tender which eventually charged up the battery. My tender went to green status. Every since then I have been plugging in the tender when I'm not driving. I have seen the status lately not going to green anymore but stays at red? Is this normal? Is the tender just "cycling"?

 

That could be the battery is starting to go dead and not holding a full charge or a charger issue. How old is the battery ? These batteries should last 4-5 years if on a maintainer.

 

If the battery gets drained pretty low, the Tender will stay red for a few days. From my own experience. Its a low amp trickle charger.

 

Drive it alot. If the maintainer still stays red you probably need a new battery.

What does your instrument voltmeter read?

What is alot? I would drive an hour or two on the open road...not in city traffic.

 

Mine had the same problem and finally went green after 48 hrs on the tender.

 

Bro don't laugh but where would one find the instrument voltmeter and what should it read ?

 

On the left hand screen, go to the status section, Menu --> Press the down arrow. Then click the left or right arrow, which will cycle through different screens. One of those screens will have the voltmeter.

 

Thanks bro.

 

Exactly what did the salesperson/seller do when they sold you the car?

 

The car is a 2013, so battery maybe 3 yrs old?? Voltage meter is around 13.5-14. I drive for 20-30 min clips at low speeds, I know lots of traffic.

Oddly enough, I disconnected the tender from the car and then connected it right back, the light went from red to green when I did that?? Is this strange?


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Your car could have been made in 2012. My car's born date for the first owner was 10/2013 and it is MY'14
As others have said it may be a day or two at the longest to charge....if longer, something is wrong...battery or charger.

 

This might sound silly but as soon as you open the door or do anything to activate your interior lighting WHILE the battery tender is plugged in will cause it to go from green to red. I suspect your tender is doing its job as your voltage readout shows on your dash. I keep my tender on the outside of the car and can see the green lights before opening the door. That is probably why when you plug it back in it goes green immediately

 

You are correct, it never really goes green anymore on a normal charging, the voltage seems good and it starts but should I be concerned??? Maybe the charger is dead?

 

Took my money and showed me the door. LOL
There was a tutorial but I was so excited it went in one ear and out the other. You're gonna love this. So I'm driving down the highway in 6th gear and I felt like it didn't engage so I hit the lever and found out it had 7 gears. My 430 had 6 so I was a little surprised. Actually the people at Ferrari Palm Beach where I purchased the car were very nice and helpful it's my fault for not paying better attention.

 

I'm a tad bit confused. How often do you drive your car? I notice my engine start gets weak if I don't drive my car every 2 weeks. I'm using my tender now weekly as I'm not going to drive my car much at all in the winter here.

 

Does your car have the HELE (start/stop) system?
Factory tender is a borderline enough to really charge the battery so as you've discovered it will charge it but very slowly. I had my shop take the connector off the factory tender and attach it to a more powerful CTEK model 7002. Works like a charm. My car starts up strong whether it sits for a few weeks or a few hours.

 

I tend to drive it almost everyday and I put it on tender whenever not driving.

 

Thank heavens for Fchat. Been a tremendous source for me.

Best

 

If it is never going green anymore, that is probably no bueno. Maybe your battery is starting it's slow decline. I would take it to the dealer and have them test it out. If you live in a warm climate, heat kills batteries and the Ferrari batteries are not the strongest around. Once the battery starts to go, you will have all kinds of electronic gremlins like false positive check engine light he and other dashboard lights.


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+ 1. Bro ! Fchat made owning my rig a lot more fun as well as a plethora of information.

 

The stock OEM $400 Ferrari battery maintainer is a CTEK model with 0.8Amp max charging ability so can take along time to cycle.

The desuplhation and maintenance modes can extend the life of your battery.
A better option is the CTEK MUS 4.3Amp 56-864 battery mnaintainer with 8 stages of charging for under $95
and use this dongle to connect to the Ferrari Port
Freeus Ferrari 430 458 Ctek Dongle Battery Maintainer Cable from 2CTEK | eBay