Electical Help and Battery Warranty for 458?

Which dealer told you that? (I am not refuting it, I am just curious)

 

I've never head that one before...that's nuts. An why such an arbitrary number of miles??

Last time I tried to start mine I had the same issue...but kept trying and it eventually started.

 

Couple weeks ago my car almost didn't turn over, and ever since then I put on trickle charger and drive the car once a week and now it's seem to be doing ok. You should ask the dealer to show you written document as to where does it state that owner has to drive 167 miles/month or warranty on battery is invalid. Sounds a bit odd. But then again, it's Ferrari.....

 

Ferrari probably has not way of telling if the owner trickle charged the battery.

This raises the question: Does a trickle charger do a good job of keeping the battery in good operation condition?

Maybe the best solution is to drive the car more often. (I know sometimes owners have several cars in several locations which make life very difficult)

 

On the 458 the car must be driven every week or the battery goes dead. To avoid this problem Ferrari recomendds you plug in the charger when the car will not be used within the week.

I have done that with my 458 and have not had a problem. I suspect that is ehat caused yours.

I have not had to try and jump start my 458 or 430 but I did on the 360 Modena. Jump starting the car as a normal car did not work at all. The dealer came to my storage area and they used a parelel battery to start it.

Not sure about the 458 but if the battery is dead on a 360 the car has to relearn how to run well. it took a few miles to do that. The 458 may have been upgraded over flash chip technology. Not sure.

Good luck

Lee

 

Yes the trickal charger keeps it up as needed. With the cars I have it maybe two months or so before I swing back to the ferrari and it has been perfect.

Yes drive the car at least once a week or trickle charge.

Lee

 

My battery went dead overnight after a 200 mile drive. Dealer said it was a bad cell. Replaced it with a non OEM. Hinted the OEM's had a problem

 

its not the battery, its the fuse on the circuit board on top of the battery that is fried. its a warranty fix, tell ur dealer to pull their head out of their a$$.
its actually a common issue, because i got it too. they need to tow it back and replace the whole fuse circuit board.

 

I know there are many members here residing in colder climates. I've noticed in those areas, members tend to store away their vehicles for months without starting. But since Ferrari recommends starting car every week or battery will go dead, what have members done to prevent battery going south? Do you just start the car in garage and let it idle without moving the car ? Is that sufficient enough to juice the battery? I've noticed 458 battery seems to be very sensitive and despite being on trickle charger, battery will go dead regardless in 1.5 weeks or so. Anyone here using other aftermarket charger with success? I drive my car every week so I don't have to worry but I was just curious what other members are doing to prevent battery from draining. thanks!

 

A few years ago I had my Ferrari in service for a dead battery. The car was at Ferrari of Scottsdale. I was told the same thing about mileage. It was somewhere between 150 and 200 miles a month. Apparently Ferrari got tired of replacing so many batteries because owners were not driving the cars. Ferrari wan't going to continue replacing batteries on cars not driven enough.

 

Regardless of how many miles and using the battery charger..if you bought that 458 at that dealer, they should give you a new battery as a gesture...

 

A couple of months ago I didn't drive my 458 for a week and it didn't start. Ferrari said the ground wasn't tight on the battery. I haven't any problem since. I did go on a 3 week vacation where I used the charger and the car stated right up. I'm not sure if it was the charger or the battery just held up. My other cars X5M and M3cab started up with no problem and no charger.

 

On my summer car, boat, motorhome, jetski, I use a battery tender.
Its specifically designed for just this thing.
Much of my summer toys sits for 6 months a year.
http://batterytender.com/?gclid=CIryuPG14qcCFQgHbAodhVK89g

 

I miss the battery disconnect on my 328, 360, 430, and 575. Why none on the 458 or did I miss it?

 

I got something interesting to report... I was on a 15 day business trip and put my 458 on Trickle charger. When I returned and after two days or so I cranked up the car and the car showed electrical failure but started with some hesitation.

I have not been so confident of my trickle charger any way so I told my dealer about this and after checking the 458's electrical system etc they told me everything is OK...

The next business trip I made again 20 days trip this time I had the same issue...

I spoke to the dealer and they told me there is a known issue with the factory trickle charger and ordered me a new one which I received this Tuesday and hooked up the same night.

My 458 is on a lift and today when I lowered the car I noticed on the charger that the charger is lit GREEN (showing full battery charged) whereas before the indicator was on the orange and half battery sign...

I guess my trickle charger is at fault..

 

You know, depending on when you check the status of your trickle charger, it could be showing green or oragne with half sign. I noticed that the charger alternates between green (fully charged) and orange (half charge) throughout the day. Same thing happened to me twice. "Electrical Failure". I guess 458 battery just plain sucks....

 

The Ferrari battery charger is actually a battery conditioner/maintainer. It cycles back and forth between 1/2 and full up charge indicator, keeping the battery at full charge.

It does not do a good job of charging the battery from a dead battery state.

If you do replace your battery, two alternatives are the Odyssey PC925 AGM battery which weighs 26 pounds which is about 15 pounds lighter than the stock battery or you can go for the Bull Ant Lithium Ion starter battery which weighs in at less than 7 pounds.
http://www.ossom.com/Images/Bull_Ant_Lightweight_Car_Battery.pdf

 

Too good to be true. Called BullAnt. No product yet. Price $360. But I will believe that when I can buy one.

One question regarding the 458 owners who leave the car parked for extended periods. Do you lock the car?

I've hear the security systems drain power? If your garage is secure you might want to try leaving it unlocked for a week and compare if the battery is just as drained.

 

I was at my dealer the other day speaking with the tech and they have replaced several of the batteries with the Odyssey. He said if you do not plan to drive the car for 3 days you should keep it on the charger (with the standard battery in the 458) The electronics seem to drain the battery faster than pervious Ferrari's.

 

Odyssey battery is smaller, significantly lighter, more powerful and last 10 to 12 years.

I put a PC925 in my 430 and never had a problem. The only issue I had was making a smaller holding bracket, luckily my brother is a welder by trade

I put them in all my bikes (12) and have never had a problem with them either. The smaller, lighter, more powerful battery makes a huge difference in a motorcycle.

However, I did just order two lithium ion starter batteries for two of the bikes. These batteries weigh 1.5 pounds and are ridiculously small, yet have 350 cold cranking amps and they only cost 150 bucks and are suppose to last 10 years or more.

 

What kind of Li IOn and where did you find them?

 

There are a couple of places, off the top of my head, BatteryStuff.com sells Shorai Lithium Ion Phosphate starter batteries. And the prices are very reasonable.

http://www.batterystuff.com/search.php?q=lithium

At just about 1.6 pounds, these are cabon fiber cases that are true drop in replacements for your stock battery.

I just checked and they are out of stock until later this month.

 

Do you mean Lithium "Iron" Phosphate Batteries?

There's an interesting caveat at the bottom of this page for the Shiori LFX batteries:
http://www.batterystuff.com/knowledge-base/index.php?action=article&id=185

"They do not require a special charger, with one important note. You cannot use a charger that has a voltage of over 14.5 volts in any of its stages. So any chargers with automatic desulfation or equalization would not be appropriate. Also, there is no need to trickle charge this battery, so when it reaches full charge, you can remove it from the charger."

How much voltage does the Ferrari's alternator send to the battery?

Not Ferrari specific, but I've read about alternators overcharging batteries above the 14.5 volts quoted above.