Cali T battery light

Well my 2015 Cali T has a red battery cel - also says Alternator failure . Check w obd and no faults ! Checked out battery ( new 4 mos old ) , alternator , starter - everything checks fine. Car runs fine battery stays charged . Not sure what could be problem - instrument cluster? Help - thanks , james in San Antonio Texas

 

No one has responded- can anyone help me w this problem CEL ? Thanks

 

First off, have you posted in the California section? I have a 360 so I'm not sure if this is a common thing.
Second, the battery light is not a CEL (Check Engine Light), so you probably won't see any codes related to it.
Third, do you keep your car on a battery tender? Ferraris are famous for eating their battery due to their constant standby current...immobilizers, computers, etc. and the alternators are not always well equipped to handle the demands of all of it.
Fourth, what kind of battery did you put in?

 

Maybe some useful info here. More questions than answers though, I fear...

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/alternator-failure.445278/

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/alternator-failure.505456/

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/california-engine-shut-down.452763/

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/ferrari-california-battery-life.562438/

I'd also ask a moderator to move to the Cali section.

T

 

Thanks , new interstate same as OEM , charging is good

 

Wahhh , still have CeL - alternator failure but car runs great ! Alternator putting out voltage properly, new oem battery tests fine . Dealer just says alternator needs to be pulled- 8 hrs . Alternator is charging FINE !! Driving putting out 13-14 volts . Must have to do w dash sensor that shows fault ?? Don’t know what to do .

 

While that's not too bad for the DC voltage, have you also measured the AC voltage at the battery (with the engine at say ~2K RPM and the low beam headlights "on")? Should be quite low, near 0V.

 

Huh ? Doesn’t the alternator have a diode rectifier circuit that filters out ac , Steve ? Maybe you’re saying if there is ac voltage that means problem with diodes? I will try it . Thanks

 

Correct. Your DC result is good enough that the alternator warning light on an older car would not show anything bad going on, but maybe they added some smarts into your modern car's system, and it is detecting an amount of AC that it doesn't like (or the smarts themselves have failed). If you measure that a large AC component is present, that would justify the Dealer's recommendation to replace or rebuild it. If not, I suspect the smarts have gone stupid

 

Hi Steve , you are a genius!! Nobody, including AD could tell me what the problem is . Yep am seeing 30 Volts Ac at battery. Rebuilder here says they can’t get diode pac :-(( . Also this thing requires pulling suspension parts just to get it out . Any way I might put an external diode or rectifier in line where battery is?? Or if the ac doesn’t hurt anything - how could I turn off dumb light ?? Thanks so much, Steve , james

 

Yes, that's a clue that things aren't OK

No, no way to do it externally -- you'll have to rebuild/replace the alternator. On an old car, with just a point ignition and no ECUs, you could probably just live with it, but your modern car is filled with ECUs and big over-voltage spikes are not good for them -- some risk that they can get blown up.

Complexity is great -- until it doesn't work!

 

Wow , yep I figured that Steve. I have been driving it til now and me thinks I have been fortunate I didn’t burn something up.I have to drive her to the guy who will r&r alternator . Do you happen to know on the 4 leads to the hot side of battery, which one could I dis connect to dis connect the naughty alternator and run for a short time on battery? Thanks so much , james

 

No, I don't have any Cali t wiring information.

 

Wahhh , just had Ferrari dealer install brand new alternator 1500 bucks and guess what - still have alternator light !! Can’t be reset !! Now what ?? :-((
Ps charging fine :-(

 

Hi Steve - you won’t believe this :Wahhh , just had Ferrari dealer install brand new alternator 1500 bucks and guess what - still have alternator light !! Can’t be reset !! Now what ?? :-((
Ps charging fine :-(

 

Can't help you with that (but I find "can't be reset" to really mean "we don't have the capability, or knowledge, to reset" ).

By "charging fine" do you mean both the DC and AC voltages are now as expected for a properly working alternator?

 

Yep

 

Well, at least, that's a good thing.

Have you tried an internet search like "How to reset battery warning light on Ferrari California"? Maybe having a chat with someone like this:

http://www.diagnostic-world.com/pages/ferrari_california_car_warning_lightscar_warning_lights_262426.cfm

might be useful -- just a thought...

 

well I have in another shop that has computer that should reset but it won’t. BTW I checked ac voltage on my new GMC Denali truck idling w lights on - guess what? 30 volts ac ! Wow ! Now put in new alternator and Stll have same cel - don’t know what to do -they are suggesting new ignition ECU :-(

 

Are you sure the multimeter isn't autoscaling and reporting 30 mV AC (not 30 V AC)? Otherwise, I'd suspect that your multimeter is wacko if you get the same very bad AC results on multiple vehicles.

 

Hmm ok

 

So now what ?? I have a shop now telling me they Think it is the main ECU ? Don’t know what to do .