Reading the past threads have put a big fear of jumping my 430. It seems some say it's okay, some say it's not. I bought one of those smaller Type S brand lithium batteries that can recharge your usb devices and also jump your car. Are these ok or always recharge the battery or swap out a fully charged one. I'd hate to get stranded somewhere.
There are mixed reports about jumping. The ‘surge’ to a flat battery can transfer to the cars electronics and nuke them. Sometimes this happens... sometimes it doesn’t. I wouldn’t take the chance... just keep the battery fresh with a tender...some folk replace every 3 years even if the battery shows no signs of failure.
There's a difference in charging your battery and jump starting your car. There's a difference in jump starting your car with a battery and doing so with another car. The worst scenario is jump starting your car with cables from another running vehicle. Charging your battery first, then starting the car normally is the safest way to go. Second would be to start your car using a jumper battery. The voltage would be stable and spikes avoided. Using another car as a jumper can cause large swings in the voltage as the alternator tries to compensate for the large draw. Obviously, the best bet is to keep a good battery in the car and when it gets weak, toss it and get another.
Thanks guys. I keep my car on a tender all the time. I was just wondering in case I went on a drive and then accidentally left something on that drained the battery down. So as long as the battery isn’t completely dead, just not charged enough to crank a jump starter should be okay and much more preferable than taking a jump from a running vehicle.
It's best to avoid jumping it. I had a friend with a F430 that kept dying. He kept jumping it. I kept telling him it would fry some stuff but oddly enough, to my amazement it never did. Meanwhile my 360 kept dying at the dealership (before I bought it) and they kept jumping it. I later found out my dashboard doesn't light up. Will it mess things up? Probably not. Is it worth the risk? I would say no.
You shouldn’t have to. If your battery is discharging that quickly, either it’s buggered, your alternator isn’t charging or you leave the ignition on with the headlights and fan running when you stop. I’m guessing it’s the first. It isn’t rocket science. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
While some folks seem to have gotten away with jump starting, others have had expensive damage as reported on this forum. To me it seems like a huge unnecessary risk. $1000 to fix an instrument cluster plus a new battery. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
i have a question: if I 1. put battery charger to the batter without disconnecting the battery connection to the car. 2 will disconnect the charger before I start the car 3. am not starting the car until I charge the battery in full. Is that ok?
If you have a multi meter then connect it to the system and see what volts it drops to when you hit the starter, a good battery will hold about 10.5 volts if the battery is any good. A poor one will drop lower as it cannot deliver enough to maintain the volts when the start load goes on.
So far no, but if it happens I’m trying to prepare for it. I will ask again, do you carry an extra battery with you?
By asking about an issue that others have brought up and seems to be one discussed quite a bit? I have never had issues with jumping any car I’ve owned and now as a new owner of a F430 I see lots of discussion about the dangers of jumping this particular car. I’ve had a few occasions of coming out and finding a car that I had to jump and never fried any electronics doing so. This is the first car that I’ve seen that might be sensitive to it so I’m trying to get an idea of what I can and can’t do. Just because you don’t find it a concern based on threads on this forum as well as a few responses here maybe it’s not as fractional as you think.
There is a big jump between trying to understand and carrying around a spare battery 'just in case'. Sensitivity of the instrument panel and a few other parts to jump starting is well documented. Generally, don't do it. If you must, use a battery boost system not jumping from another vehicle and be sure to attach the points in the correct order. You are much more likely to get a flat tire than a flat battery so I wouldn't worry about this very much. After 12 years of ownership and DD driving my 360 for about 6 years I have more experience than most so I can tell you that it is definitely a fractional issue when out and about. You do see threads on here (quite often) where they let the car sit for long periods, not on a tender, and the battery is flat. Or, they battery has gone flat multiple times and is now marginal. But those happen in your garage/storage and not out and about driving so no need to jump the car from a running vehicle. Be sure to have the cable to your alternator checked regularly when you get service. They get a lot of heat and can fail. THAT could cause an apparent battery issue when out and about. This to is not an issue if you have a knowledgeable mechanic helping to maintain your car because they will check it as matter of course.
I'm not that familiar with the 360s and the 430s but on my 599 there is a plug between the pigtail and the battery. After learning the hard way, I discovered the plastic plug was intermittent. So we took the plug out and wired the pigtail directly to the battery. No more problems.
I just researched this myself today for my newly aquired 430. Here is the owners manual procedure for a “flat battery”. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
If your battery is over two years old toss it and get a new Interstate. In two years, lather, rinse, repeat. It is a friggin' cheap battery in a 15-year-old car. Jump it with the buzz box at your own risk. A flatbed tow is a lot cheaper than a few ECUs in case your buzz box wasn't the way to go.
Thanks that was very helpful. I do keep the car on a tender when parked and now carry one of those lithium jump starter packs just. In case. If for some reason the battery is low I will try it but if the battery is really low I won’t.
+1. My tech does that and some time ago found a weak connection and fixed it. Sent from my iPad using FerrariChat
I always have my battery connected to a tender unless on a trip. I use a Granite "Save-a-Battery". My Interstate battery is now over six years in the car and still performs as new. Probably will replace it next spring at the six and a half year point. The alternator wiring harness in the 360 appears to have insufficient ampacity, whether due to mass or heat. Probably a combination. This to my mind is the most important reason to keep the battery connected to a tender as often as possible. Battery longevity is a related benefit.
question: why would connect to another batter (one of those jumper box, basically just a battery) would destroy anything? how is that different from you having a parallel 2 battery setup?
There is a fairly long thread where we discuss it in detail but the answer is technical (not simple). In short, the two batteries don't have exactly the same potential when you connect them together. The spark creates a high frequency pulse and there is a surge current that is trying to equalize the batteries. Either one can damage electronics. In a two battery system the two are already connected and at exactly the same potential.