348 TS not driven for 3 weeks...battery dead

I also drive my car now very intermittently (due to extended travel away from home). I keep the car constantly plugged into a battery maintainer (battery charger). Have never had the battery go dead on me. Recommend you do the same.

 

Make sure the doors are closed tight. Those jamb-marker lights can sometimes stay illuminated if the door isn't securely shut.


My 348ts suffered a similar fate a few weeks ago. I normally use a battery tender all the time, but I was in a hurry back in early June getting ready for a beach trip, and neither shut the door tight nor plugged in the tender. Whoops!

.... but she's running great now.
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I keep reading about Ferrari owners who have their batteries go dead constantly unless they have tenders plugged in, and I can't understand why you put up with that. It shouldn't happen that way! On my own 348, the battery is now more than 8 years old (an "off the shelf" Costco battery), and the engine cranks over just fine even if I don't start it for a month. It seems obvious to me that a lot of you have current draws that are killing your batteries, and it ISN'T from the clock or from the memory circuit in your radios.

Joe, is it possible that you left the key in the ignition switch? The ONE time I had my battery go dead on me, I had left the key in the switch. Not sure which circuit was energized while the car was sitting, but that apparently was the cause.

 

That dog sure looks like it's enjoying the ride in the 348!! I have a great dane and she loves car rides...not too sure she'll be tooling around with me in the 348 though LOL. Even with the targa off not sure she'd fit much less what her nails could do to the leather. She'll have to be content riding in the subaru but she has riden in my Alfa...and had the same look of contentment as your dog ;-) She seems to like sports cars better than econo boxes as after the Alfa ride she goes to tha car first now. She bearly fit in the Alfa and people made comments that the dog was bigger than what we were driving. The Alfa had a back seat and she had her head out one side...and her tail hanging out the other...OK it did look funny...but I didn't get a pic unfortunately.

I know we have a babes in cars topic...but no dogs in cars...OK well...some were, but I mean the 4 legged kind. I'm sure there's lot's of Fcar dogs out there. I love seeing babes in cars but maybe there are some good pics of pets cruisin' too.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysrMtIZRmUk

Read the book.

 

+1
Occasionally, I let my 348 sit (when I was the owner) for as long as three months with a regular old battery and no tender, and it started up every time, no problems!
The problems you are having should not exist.
I think the aftermarket alarms and radios are the culprit here.

BT

 

great dane and mastiff mix.......all 200lbs of him....he ain't riding in my car.

 

+2...although i do have a trickle charger, which i use only in the winter when it is stored for 5 or 6 months, i have yet to experience a dead battery from lack of driving.

 

Eight years - wow, that's a great effort for battery life in any vehicle. I use a battery tender 24/7 on my 348's battery and it hasn't let me down thusfar over 4 years (touch wood).

 

What he said!!

 

What about turning the knob that turns off everything in the car, thats why i do when i let her sit

 

+1 I use to go through a battery every year or so until I started doing as you have suggested.

 

where is this knob located? this is the first i've heard of this knob.

 

I had the same problem until we figured out it was the stereo that was drawing the battery down....it was wired incorrectly and drawing current even when turned off.
Also check your alarm system.
As mentioned many times before a battery tender is the way to go.

 

Also make sure the passive belts are working properly, if one or both don't, the relay keeps energized waiting for the motor to move and that will help draining the battery.

 

I believe the battery shut-off switch comes only on 348's with the battery mounted in front. Of course, they can be installed on any car pretty easily.

If you disconnect the battery, you have to reprogram the clock and the radio every time you do it, and wouldn't you have to re-initialize the Motronic ECU's every time you did it?

 

I agree wholeheartedly with waht Miltonian has said. The battery is in the front of my 1993 tb and tghe cut-off switch is located above the battery in the wheel well ( I think it has a circular head).

 

- you can check for battery drain vide an ammeter wired in-line.

- should be in the mah range , and small at that.

.

 

Joe, the flashing clock and the flashing A/C readout mean that the power supply to them has been interrupted, by one of the following:

1) Battery being disconnected or totally discharged.
2) Gang plug on back of the control unit being unplugged.
3) Fuse being disconnected.

In your case, it's most likely #1, since the readout wouldn't be illuminated at all if the control unit or the fuse were still unplugged. If your battery is now fully charged, all you should need to do is unplug the connector on the back of the climate control ECU, then plug it back in again, then reset the clock according to the instructions in the owners handbook. It's very easy to gain access to the back of the ECU, we can walk you through it if you need help. Two minute job.

The same fuse and the same plug provide power to both the clock and the A/C circuit, it's the famous "hidden" fuse in the right rear corner of the front trunk, under the lining. I really doubt that it's the source of your power draw.