How long should one expect to get out of the original battery with the factory charger intact all the time when the car is not used? Can other owners share their experiences? My car is now 3 years and 3 months (7,400kms driven) and still on the original battery. How much life should I have left in it? Rob.
Our mate Aircon (Aussie section) replaces the batteries every 3 years he said Rob. Just to ensure he never gets stranded. I get around 2-3 yrs from the battery in my 348 and all my other cars. I read some guys on here with 6-7 yrs life from their batteries. It seems the norm in Australia is a 3-4 yr life. Must be to do with our climate. I would replace sometime soon so you are not stuck on the side of the road with a battery that has dropped a cell.
Just changed it with an Optima. I wouldn't leave that stock wet cell much longer if I were you. The group 34R is the correct application, and MUCH more powerful (and cheaper) than stock. Didn't have to change anything. I also installed the charger pigtail just under the right wiper; that way I don't have to open anything to charge the battery. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thank you Pap and the other poster. I'll ring the F dealer in the morning and check what they advise. Hate to get stranded for the price of a cheap battery. Regards, Rob.
I average about 5+ years out of most of my cars that have a tender on them (only one is a Ferrari but I've not owned that car long enough to estimate battery life). I try not to drive the car in the rain so am not wild about putting my charging pigtail out into the wiper area (mine runs out into the boot/trunk; the prior owner put it there). But I prefer to use the lighter plug adapter on the tender, so it's just a matter of leaving a window open a bit and running the cord out from the lighter plug.
The stock battery is a cheap battery that you have to pay a lot of money for, plus you have the risk of a leak. Your call. It won't get touched by rain under there, but it's designed to get hit by rain in the front of the car (has a cap); nothing will happen to it or the battery . Had one in my DD for 4 years behind the front grille, and still looked like new when sold the car, and never an issue. You can put it wherever you want. I'd be more worried about the job on the extension . Have a good one folks.
My factory fitted plug is located just under the glove box area and when it is connected, it is designed to run out the bottom of the closed door. How it doesn't crimp over time has got me puzzled. It also comes up with a light on the dash that indicates that you can't fire the engine up if the plug attendant is still connected....safety I guess. Rob.
I don't know if my case is an exception but my stock battery is 6 years old and still rock solid. Never had an issue starting the engine. My car is always on a charger with battery 100% charged. Even after a long weekend trip (nights without charger at hotels), my battery remains 100% charged. Touch wood but until now, I never had to worry about battery issues. BTW, JC, nice setup! I'll keep this battery reference for the day I'll have to change mine.
Same here, and with all my vehicles. But still change stock batteries every 4 years as a precaution, and every 5 when I buy them. You don't want to get stranded (having to jump a modern car) for skimping on a $200 battery . Plus you get all kinds of issues when voltage starts running low. By the way, I'd have replaced the battery anyway once I found out it was a wet cell inside the car, without even a freaking plastic tray. Geez. Hope you realize your battery is on life support right now . They degrade over time. But at least the way we take care of them, we can reliably keep them for 5 years. My brothers go thru batteries every 2 years; that's just crazy. Take care.
I got 30 months out of my original battery. Battery and factory supplied charger both died. Replaced under warranty by dealer, including 200 mile round trip tow, no charge. Mike
Thanks for all the heads up guys. I have seen one 430 for sale prior to me finding the car I have that had a weeping battery and all around the outside of the battery was a horrible corroded mess and nothing looked liked it was able to contain the acid mess. Rob.
My F430 was manufactured Apr. of 2005 and delivered in June of 2005. My battery (Dec of 2004 Manufacture date) finally went dead "As in you charged up and drive one night, next day dead again", it happened in June of 2010 which lasted 5 years with 28K miles (Roughly 40K Kms)... Now, I have the Optima in it. Do watch out when battery went dead. Mine happened one strange problem that when battery was dead, after charge up and fire up the engine, all warning lights came out, check engine light came out... Finally, at the dealer, we found out that the Main ECU lost my car's data base info, instead it was running at a blank safe mode which basically only allows to move the car around. So we had to re-load all data files back into the ECU to refresh all data up to date... And it could cost a fortune!!! Alex Lin
Rang Ferrari and they suggest a life of between 3 to 4 years out of it depending on the amount of driving use and more if the charger is left in on a regular basis. Verdict then .....open ended I guess. Rob.
