360 ECU and odometer dead battery question

I am buying a 2002 360 spider F1 with 5442 miles that is being shipped to me shortly. The private party owner who I bought it from had the battery switch "off" in the front trunk area for a long time, so the car still needed to be connected to a charger to get it started (after turning the swtich to on, the battery did not turn over the starter). After charging the battery for a bit, the car started and the engine ran fine but the odometer read 555555 (6 fives, as in 555K miles), instead of 5442 actual miles. As the car appeared to be operating otherwise just fine, the owner then drove the car 12 miles, and as these miles were driven, the 555555 odometer value went to 555567. During the drive, all guages, RPM guage and the speedometer, etc. worked correctly on this 12 mile drive, and the car otherwise ran flawlessly. Note that 5442 miles were verified by an independent inspection done when the car was photographed for sale a few months ago (I have spoken with this person) and match with carfax registration miles from when the owner bought it.

Fortunately for me, the owner is a very good person and told me about this whole episode, apologized and volunteered to rectify it in any way. He said he thought the computer had to be reset by a dealer. He suggested that instead of shipping the car to me, that instead we have it shipped to ferrari of new england (about 30 minutes away) and have them diagnose and repair whatever is necessary at his cost (I am able to withhold a significant part of the payment for this, I have not yet sent payment). This may be the best course of action as I planned to have it sent in for an oil change and belt service before spring driving arrives, but I wanted to post here first to see if there is something simple that can be done (he still has the car, it is awaiting pickup in the middle of next week, and I planned to send payment to his bank Monday or Tuesday) on his end to have the miles revert to the 5442 + 12 miles value??

I searched threads on dead batterys, but did not see this symptom (others were about AC not working.) Any suggestions?

 

Rifledriver is right on again - the car was delivered straight from prior owner to Ferrari of New England this week, I was there to check it out on arrival, they connected the SDII, and to make a long story short, the boost provided by the battery charger (the charger had a "start" position on its charge knob to provide increased amperage) to get the car started (done during purchase inspection at prior owners site) spiked and cooked the "dash cluster" to the tune of $3200 for the part, plus labor to install (about an hour or two). The damage causes a red X to be displayed in the multifunction display, and the odometer set mileage to 555555, and then any miles driven after this incident incremented the odometer further. Interstingly, all guages otherwise worked correctly. The reset signal sent to the dash cluster from the SDII computer was unable to clear the problem. Yesterday they installed a new battery and the car otherwise appears to operate normally and there is no apparent damage to other electronics, the fuse box or wiring harness or F1 system. This has to be the highest mileage ferrari 360 in existence with over half a million miles (but it sure looks great for such high miles !!!.

The dash cluster part has to now be sent to Ferrari in New Jersey to be replaced by a new one that Ferrari NA reprograms with the mileage data that they may be able to extract from the old dash cluster (dealers are unable to do this with the SDII and apparently only Ferrari NA has the ability to do this for obvious reasons of milage tampering). If it is not possible to get the actual mileage data from the damaged cluster (about 5500 miles), the part is being shipped to them along with all recent service records and other documents (and SD II data) and inspection photograhs (taken prior to boost being applied) substantiating the mileage claim.

So as a warning to all those who have a dead battery - never never use a charger with a boost option and don't mess with the battery turn off knob, just use a tender and you will be ok.

 

Fortunetly I did not have to pay (prior owner covered all costs).

Regarding conneting to a computer - this would require intimate knowledge of the interface, signalling, etc to talk to the ECU. Additionally, it might not clear the red X in the multi-function display.