Hey everyone, I just purchased a 2005 F430 about 2 months ago and I’m having a bit of difficulty starting it today. Just some background, I’ve been driving it daily even if it’s just for 20 minutes. I live in the north east where it’s been getting colder. It had a PPI done and had no issues starting the car. I bought a ctek trickle charger even before I got the car because I know this is an issue with the f430 when it gets colder. The car when serviced came with an installed port behind the driver side seat but when I hook up the ctek charger it does not detect anything. This was the case when I first got the car and when I had no issues starting the car so I’m guessing it’s not connected properly. When I hook up the ctek to the cigarette lighter it says it’s 3/4 charged. The lights come on when I use the key and the check ok comes on but it’s not turning over. I plan on removing the panel behind the driver seat to check the ctek connection and I’ll see if I can find an image to see what that looks like but any other suggestions? Is it the battery likely or something else? I have it hooked up to the cigarette lighter for now but I know that is not the best option. Thanks again Here is the start up Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
My guess is low battery voltage. You might try hooking the charger directly to the battery in the passenger footwell. Good luck!!
How old is the battery? What kind is it? I would check the battery terminal behind the driver's seat to make sure the nuts on the terminal are tight. Maybe this is the problem with your CTEK pigtail. This is where your CTEK pigtail should be attached. Image Unavailable, Please Login Also make sure the CTEK pigtail black wire is firmly attached to an earth. Don't overtighten the connections, of course, or you may break the studs. Usually there are spring washers to prevent the terminals coming loose. If I'm reading the wiring diagrams correctly, your starter also uses that battery terminal behind driver seat. Maybe someone did undertighten or overtighten those nuts. Be careful with your tools when tightening up the nuts as the terminal will be live (unless you use the battery cutout switch or disconnect the battery).
thanks for the advice I’ll disconnect the battery in the front trunk then I’ll check behind the drivers seat door first and make sure nothing is loose since there already seems to be a connection I found this picture from another thread, it doesn’t seem to be a ctek but the wiring may be the same Image Unavailable, Please Login
Sorry, I posted an F360 diagram, but the setup looks similar to that photo. I see that charger installation has an inline fuse. Perhaps that has blown?
https://www.autogenius.info/ferrari-f430-2004-2009-fuse-box-diagram/ I’ll check that too Seems a few fuses here could contribute I’m not too handy so I have to see what the easiest route here is, I’m hoping I just open the panel behind the driver side and it’s just disconnected or loose lol. I may just end up installing a new ctek passenger side but let’s see what happens thanks again
This is how I check the condition of my battery. Charge up the battery the best you can. Hook up a multimeter with a high/low voltage function to the battery terminal and set it to read low voltage. Crank the starter as usual, then turn off. Read the measured voltage value on the multimeter. If it register lower than 10.5 volt, your battery is shot.
I actually prefer the pigtail behind the drivers seat as for me it is easier access as my passenger door is against a wall in the garage. I built a stand to which the charger is mounted, connect the pigtail and flip a switch mounted on the stand to turn it all on. I use a brand called Battery Minder for the Ferrari because I had such good luck with it on an aircraft battery. Battery minder 2012.
Last time I worked on an aircraft battery, it was a 28V NiCad? What kind of Ferrari battery do you have?
Standard Standard 12 V Sealed unit on F430. Aircraft was a private Piper 28-161 with a 12V Concorde AGM battery. No experience with Military aircraft. Was stateside during Viet Nam era.
update so it seems the fuse on the ctek pigtail blew so I replaced that and the battery tender now works from behind the driver side. It seems like everything was connected where it should be. Hopefully I can just leave the ctek on snowflake mode and let it charge, I tried the cigarette lighter overnight as a last ditch effort but that didn’t work and I didn’t expect it to because I believe the power is cut off to it. I also looked at the passenger footwell to see if I needed to connect a charger there but I saw something else hooked up with a flashing green light which I don’t remember seeing in the diagrams or videos so I didn’t go that avenue. I don’t have a multimeter on me right now but let’s see if the ctek can get it back, it says it’s about 50% right now. I’ll leave it in for 12 hours. It’s about -2c / 28F here so let’s see. thanks everyone for your help, I appreciate it Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I have no idea what the black box is in your battery compartment but as far as I know there is nothing like this that is standard. It looks like it may be an older battery charger monitor etc, but it may also be a parasitic draw on your battery. The pigtail behind the drivers seat is connected directly to the battery and chassis ground at all times. IT will charge your battery from that point and nothing needs to be hooked directly to the battery. Besides, a wire in the passenger foot compartment is a nuisance, hazard, pia, and possibly a source for a short circuit etc. I would remove it completely from the battery compartment and bolt the footplate closed. Good luck.
If you put a pigtail behind the seat like mine,the dealer may remove it and place it in front of the passenger The factory charger plug is located there in many 430s.
Ok so good news The pigtail behind the driver side works and the ctek battery tender brought it back to life, took about 7 hours to fully charge. Car started fine Thanks for your help everyone Ya you’re right that extra box may be drawing power away only issue now is that the front hood won’t fully close down, it remains latched but just ajar and won’t fully close. Sign on the dash also indicating this. Not sure when I disconnected the battery from the front hood if that did something to it. I know when the car was hard to start at times it would open the front latch so I’m assuming it’s possibly battery related? The front hood button still makes a sound when I push it. It may be unrelated as well I think I saw a few threads on windows and trunks being shut closed after disconnecting batteries but not left open like in my case
Glad you got the battery problem solved. Push on the emblem after the first latch to fully close the trunk lid. Maybe there is a failsafe that opens the trunk solenoid with low voltage. IDK.
That’s the issue, pushing down doesn’t fully close the front hood, just pops back up, stays latched still but it’s ajar
Check to see if the emergency hood release cable under the drivers side dash is not bound up and keeping the latch from fully closing. Might need to pull on it a few times to loosen things up.
Strange. If you can get a battery reading from it, then the circuit to the battery for charging should be ok. Something like a blown cigar lighter fuse would stop charging. You don't have a lighter which only works when the ignition is turned on, do you? To check the fuse, just turn on the interior lights (same fuse). Just make sure that your battery cutoff switch isn't in cutoff (otherwise you lose the chassis ground path)
Wonder if the solenoid is continually energized? wouldn't think so if you get the pop with the dash button. Maybe it is out of adjustment. Turn off battery at trunk switch and listen for a solenoid release or deenergizing. If you hear that it it is a source of continual draw and must be corrected. The final push closes the solenoid around the latch. The first catch is the safety catch lever that must be released to open the trunk. As suggested, it could also be the emergency release cable holding it open.
Perfect! I jangled the under steering wheel manual release and also the one inside the front hood and it closes properly now! Thanks!
I believe the previous owner had an upgraded stereo, left it stock when he sold it but that black box and wiring may be amp wiring that remained possibly
I'd remove it. It probably has some parasitic draw. You could use a vom and see if there is any current draw, but Unless there is something else that is connected to it, it is constantly connected to both pos and neg BAtt terminals so it is constantly energized. More stuff to go wrong.