Traveling for 3 weeks, kill switch or not?

I think three weeks is just too long to take a chance

 

I was away for 6 weeks, i didnt use the kill switch and the car was just fine.

 

All cars are different depending on what has been added or not. A car with a good battery and no parasytic current should be more then ok for 3 weeks.

 

I wouldn't leave the car sitting for 3 weeks without a tender.
If you have a garage then I would just leave the trunk open.
Make sure you have your radio code.


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I would kill it.

 

The amount of time you can leave your car off and not have the battery drain so low that you cannot start the car depends on two things:

1. What is the parasitic current draw of your car's various electronics on the battery?

2. What is the capacity and charge state of your battery?

Most modern cars will have a parasitic current draw of between 10mA to 20mA. If it is much more than that, it is likely something is wrong. The more devices requiring constant power, the higher the draw. Luxury cars typically have higher draw than econo boxes. It is possible that a car could be as much as 30mA. But that would be the exception, IMO.

I do not know what the typical F-Car draws ... probably toward higher end. Might be as much as 25mA. Maybe a bit more. One can measure this with an ammeter. The procedure is bit fiddly. Maybe someone has this data and can share with us.

A simple calculation to determine how long a battery will last is to divide the battery capacity (in amp-hours) by the parasitic current draw (in amps). This will give you the total time your battery will last. For example, a 35 mA parasitic current draw will drain a 60 amp-hour battery in about 1700 hours (71days). If the parasitic draw was only 15 mA, the battery will last 166 days. Now this is misleading because once the battery drains to about 40% of its capacity, it will not likely power the starter motor.

Using an example ... Interstate Battery MT7-34R for Ferrari 360. Has reserve capacity of 125 minutes @ 25 amps. Multiplying the Reserve Capacity by 0.417 will give approximate Amp Hour rating. So this battery has approximately 52 amp hours. And 40% of that is 21 amp hours. So if your car's parasitic current draw is say ... 17mA, then you could leave your car for about 50 days before draining the battery to the point of no start.

In summary ... there isn't a pat answer. You need to know the two variables stated above. The safe solution, keep your car on a battery tender. If you don't want to do that and intend to leave your car for an extended period, disconnect the battery. Of course you will then have to go through the reset procedure when you reconnect it.

Regards,

Steve

 

All good points Steve + my dealer told me that Trackers use a lot of current as well - I always use the Tender

cheers
ian

 

Open door, connect tender, close door, arm alarm, travel safe. I leave the switch on.

 

If you close the hood, then how will you open it again to turn the battery back on?

 

I am not sure that the concern people have with opening the doors without first retracting the window from the rubber seal is completely warranted. Obviously, many auto companies believe that this is a good idea. I expect it helps preserve the sealing surface. I also believe it helps relieve the pressure on the inside of the car when closing the door ... as the window then goes up after the door closes.

Some have expressed that with the battery disconnected, you may not be able to properly lock or open the car. I can assure you that there are two ways to open everything. You can lock/unlock doors using remote fob or ignition key. You can open the luggage lid using electrical switch or manual release. You can open rear deck using handle on driver door jamb or cable release inside fuel filler door. You can open the fuel filler door using electrical switch or cable release on left side of engine bay, near tail light assembly.

I do not believe there is any big danger of carefully opening the door with the window fully closed. Check the sealing surface as you do so.

So, IMO, the answer to your question is thus:

1. Open the luggage compartment lid. Both doors closed and locked. Use your key or fob.

2. Turn off the battery disconnect switch and close the luggage compartment lid. If you have some concern about the window being fully up, then open the driver door before turning off switch. This will keep the window slightly open so when you return your window will not be fully up into the rubber weatherstripping. Lock driver door with key if you use this technique.

3. When you return, unlock the door with your car key and carefully open driver door and observe when opening that the window is not stuck in the rubber weatherstripping.

4. Open the luggage compartment lid using the manual release. All cars have this. On the 360, there is handle on the left side of the driver foot well.

5. Turn on battery disconnect switch. Now follow the procedure for resetting all electrical components (including the ECUs). This procedure, when properly followed, takes about 30 minutes.

Steve

 

Hmmm, interesting. I have not confirmed this, but I would have thought that the key should mechanically operate the locking mechanism on the door. Obviously, if the battery is disconnected or dead, the central locking system will be inoperative.

If the key only operates the central locking system and does not mechanically operate the locking mechanism on that door, then you have a problem. It would raise the question, is this normal for the car? Did Ferrari seriously screw up when they made it that way?

The next time I disconnect the battery, I will test to see if the key will mechanically lock/unlock the door. I would be disappointed if it only operates the electrical central locking system.

Regards,

Steve

 

Steve, what is the procedure for this? I always turn off the battery when I park my car up. I cannot connect a tender in my shared garage.

I never go through any reset procedure when switching it on again. Didn't know there was one!

 

Thanks. I can't say I've ever witnessed any "weird" behaviour when driving the car after switching the battery on again.

Unfortunately I don't have any option. There is no electricity connection in the garage and can't connect to a tender. My batter dies after a week if I don't use it so I have to switch the battery off.

Unless there is another way around this that I'm not aware of?

 

It's a new battery! I will start taking a look and seeing what may be causing the drain.

Thanks.

 

The most obvious answer is to give the keys to a trusted FCHAT person nearby to exercise the stallion while you're gone. It ensures the battery stays charged and the engine is lubed.


Sent via itty bitty electrons

 

The owner's manual gives you some info. Here is a link to the official Ferrari North America Service Bulletin.
http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/141861007-post1.html

Also, you may want to review this write-up by Aldous Voicey in the UK ...Ferrari 360 ECU Reset | Aldous Voice

If you disconnect the battery and after reconnecting just drive off normally, the ECUs will not likely re-learn the appropriate engine management parameters for "normal" behavior and then they will not operate at optimum efficiency when the ECU is called upon to make real-time adjustments in fuel mixture, valve timing, etc.

Best regards,

Steve