550 wont start with a jump-any ideas?

The car's battery is probably dead as a door nail. Another possibility might be the connections need cleaning. The starter could be jammed. Put the car in fifth or sixth if you have and rock the car forward and back. If it is stuck, rocking it may free. it..

good luck,

mike

 

Please don't jump start your car. These newer cars are VERY sensitive to voltage spikes which can cause expensive problems. There is also the risk of reverseing the bat terminals if your not careful(not to say that you would do that..but I have seen the result of such an error..Porsches seem to be the most common for this mistake for some reason).

Best thing is to either replace the battery with a new unit, or remove it from the car and chage correctly with a good quality battery charger. Once the battery has a charge, take it to a pep boys and have them load test it to make sure it is good.

 

Check the fluid of the battery if its ok charge it overnight with at least 10amp charger.

 

This piece of advice may have worked about 30 years ago, when inertia starters were common. Nowadays, pre-engaged starters will not be effected.

Rocking it in gear will turn the flywheel a bit. The starter is just sitting there out the way, you'll do nothing (except turn the engine backwards which is potentially catastrophic).

You can safely jump start your 550 provided you observe polarity of course, but don't BOOST start it... ie, DONT use a powerful battery charger to apply high voltage.

Jump start using a std car/battery in parallel.

If the starter just clicks, you probably have a bad solenoid. This can be fixed by any good auto electrician after removal of course, which is not totally straight forward, but quite do-able with semi skilled apporach.

 

If your battery is dead as a doornail which ferraris are quite good at killing then even a jump will not start you. The new starting battery may be fine but the teeth on the jumper cables are the small contacts to the ferrari and you get poor current flow like having too small a diameter wire. You gotta have voltage and current like a large beer and a wide mouth pitcher to drink from...get it? So just pull the old battery out and put in a known good one from another car and see if that helps with not only good battery but good battery connections. Clicking solonoids are often symptoms of proper voltage but no current.

 

I guess cheap/inferior jump cables might do that.

Besides, this is God punishing you for not using the car.

Leave it standing around again, and you'll get a check engine light or slow down light on..... God has a sense of humour.......

 

The 550 is prone to frying your ECU if you jump it. Instead make sure you have a good battery with full charge but as stated don't boost jump. Last time I heard the new ECU was around $900.

 

Once again I would be reminded of a lady with a MB 400E who lost over $4000 in computers from a jump start. Tom's and everyone else who direct replacing the battery with a known good battery and advising no jump starts are giving the best advice. But there is a simple test. Turn on headlights, and if good and bright, engage wipers, and flashers, ignition on. If lights do not dim significantly within 10-20 seconds, attempt to start. If only the click, and lights stay bright and wipers and flashers continue to operate with key in start position, disconnect battery and check connections at starter motor and suspect starter/solenoid.

 

Your welcome carl glad it all work out and only a minor issue.