Hi guys This is a strange one, while I was out on my weekly drive today, towards the end of the drive. I noticed a couple of strange lights randomly (unlike the permanently bright yellow one at the bottom!), turning on in the dash the seatbelt light, and then suspension light, but would turn off after a second or so. I was pulling up to the stop sign near my house and about 10 feet from the stop sign, the whole dash just went dark and the engine cut out. Absolutely nothing functioned. Luckily, the car was in neutral, so I thought I could push if necessary (F1) but I just stood there by the side of the road with a puzzled look on my face. Then I got back in the car and slammed the door shut, and everything came alive again! The car was totally fine, everything was normal, and I rolled up my driveway, and it happened again! So I open the door, and shut it again, and a couple of lights came up and then went out again, so I got out of the car and then shut the door again and the warning by the went off as the key was in the ignition. Eventually got the car back in the garage. Is there a wire main loom that goes through the drivers side to the engine compartment? I also can’t check the main battery terminal as my jack will not get under the car so I can remove it from the wheel. Anyone else had this issue? Any help or advice much appreciated! Rob Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat.com mobile app
I did try to take the wheel off and check the battery terminals first but my jack here is not low enough to get under the car. Argh!!! Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat.com mobile app
Not sure if it's related, but I had an electrical problem ages ago where the ignition would suddenly die. We did a lot of trouble shooting, in the end we replaced the entire fusebox and that solved the problem.
My guess is the battery connections are the problem. Don't drive it until you pull the connections clean them and put them back on the battery. Make sure to turn off the battery switch before you start working on the battery and back on when you are done. How old is the battery in the car? Battery voltage surges can fry a number of components in the 355.
Do you have a dc voltmeter? Can you check your battery voltage? e.g. using the engine compartment battery bus bar on the right hand side (with an "+" on the cover) and a suitable chassis earth. Or perhaps use a cigarette lighter plug in voltmeter (note that some cigarette lighters need the ignition to be turned on). If you can get the car to run, check the output of the alternator. No. The harnesses go through the centre console. There is a harness under the dash which runs from the passenger footwell relay panel to the relay panel in the frunk on the left hand side, but it's unlikely that you're disturbing this by slamming the driver's door. I would make sure all the relays are properly seated (in the passenger footwell and the frunk) and check for signs of melting fuses and fuseholders. Give the relays a tap with the blunt end of a screwdriver to see if the situation improves.
Thanks so much guys. This is so helpful and gives me a start. I hope it’s just the battery terminals. Battery is less than 1 year old and I keep it on a tender and the car is driven at least once or twice a week. Now I just need to find a low profile jack! Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat.com mobile app
You can try with driving the wheel onto a plank which may give you just enough extra height for the jack.
Just wanted to say thanks for all of the input. Life got in the way for a week or so, but I got to the car today and sure enough, it was a loose connection on the positive terminal. All fixed and ready to go. I love this forum. Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat.com mobile app
What am I missing Mitchell? << I was pulling up to the stop sign near my house and about 10 feet from the stop sign, the whole dash just went dark and the engine cut out. Absolutely nothing functioned.>> Car should not stall with dead or disconnected battery. Car should run off working alternator if bat disconnected. Something not right in sequence of events.
Perhaps there are protection circuits in the engine ECUs which shut down the engine if serious voltage anomalies are sensed? There are a number of wires on the alternator, including a small-ish battery voltage "sense" wire (which is directly connected the battery positive terminal). I'm not sure what would happen to the alternator regulator circuits if it suddenly saw zero volts coming from the battery because of a loose battery terminal. Would the alternator go into overdrive, trying to recharge the battery or would it just pick a sensible output value? Some random unconfirmed comments from the internet: It might be wise to keep an eye on the electrical system in the future after this event.
If I disconnect my battery from my running 550 maranello, my 2012 ram diesel, my 2003 vette racecar the engine still runs. That's why our required race battery cutoffs also have to kill power from the alternator.
Ah... ok.. So new theory required... Perhaps a latent alternator issue exacerbated by loose battery connections? From another message thread: https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/posts/139864821/
Interesting stuff and I will certainly keep any eye on anomalies that may crop up. FYI battery was new a few months ago. I checked all fuses and relays too just to make sure, but the connection was right at the top of the terminal when I opened the compartment Image Unavailable, Please Login Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat.com mobile app
Voltage out should be 13.8 at idle or replace rebuild alternator. That's what it takes to bring battery to 12.7v full charge.
