Newbie question. Got back from a trip battery is dead. 2 questions: 1-Where is the battery? 2- What is the best way to charge it without causing any damage?
Right front fender, you access it by removing the wheel, then remove the forward part of the fender liner (4 each #2 phillips screws). The only reason you want to get into the front to check the battery is either to replace it, or top up the cells with distilled water and perhaps clean the terminals. Best way to charge is to use the jump start terminals under the right side engine cover (remove the 3 or 4 each 6mm allen screws. Best way to trickle charge with a battery tender (at 1.5 amps or so) is through the cigarette lighter, which saves you having to do all the above. But fastest to run a 10 or 15 amp charger off the terminals in the engine compartment.
The battery is forward of the passenger side front wheel. You will need to remove the wheel and undo the screws that holds the splashguard to reveal the battery. You can either attach your charging leads to the battery in-situ, or remove the battery to be charged on your bench. There are many battery-related threads in the Technical Discussions subforum which could help you diagnose the root cause of its failure. If it were me, however, I'd try to charge it once and if it happened again I'd get a replacement and vow to drive the car more often to keep it charged (edited to add: the post above is sound advice!)
Buy a new battery, gel cell preferred and hook up battery tender leads to the terminals so you can keep the battery fully charged when parked.F355 ECU,s draw a small amount of power when the car is parked.Check Griot's Garage,they sell a great battery tender.I use them on my cars and atv.
Actually, better than a gel cell is a Absorbed Glass Mat, battery. The top rated one is from Sears, the Die Hard Platinum. #1 in Consumer Reports latest tests. Not cheap at $189, but also comes with a four year free replacement warranty. Completely sealed, never needs water. It only comes in a Group 34, (a 355 requires a Group 34R which has the terminals reversed, hence the "R") but the cables are long enough that a Group 34 will fit.
I am relatively new to the Ferrari scene (355 for 3 years) so I do not have the knowledge of many. However, for those as inexperienced as I am (having been through the battery route with their "new" car) I would like to point out that the removal of the RH wheel is only necessary when the battery has to be removed. If it is only to connect a charger to the battery, check/clean the terminals etc, one only has to park the car with the steering wheel on full lock (for a right-hand turn) and there is plenty of room to remove the screws and the cover to access the terminals. I readily admit that removing a wheel is "no big deal" but, unless the battery has to be removed completely, this obviously saves on jacking up the car, which is a slightly worrying prospect for some. I would add that I finally opted for the battery tender solution, prepared to "take the risk" of connecting through the cigar lighter to compensate for the small, constant, drain on the battery while the car is parked for many days at a time due to feeding the alarm, ECU etc; I read somewhere that it was not a good idea to disconnect the battery and go through the data aquisition sequence on restart too often.
I thought it might be fun to convert my rear battery to the front mount. Anyone have a photo of the support structure or know how the cable is routed to a terminal block inthe engine compartment? Thanks abunch. Jeff Pintler 89 348tb, 86tr
The 1992 and beyond 348s have the battery located in the front left wheel well. If you can find a similarly equiped 348, you can check out the wiring. Or alternatively you can d/l the 348 spider service manual which should have the wiring info.