Battery drain on 348...

depends on what brand of batt.or prolly you got a defective one. if you have alarm it's best to remove the negative battery if your not planning to start the motor in 2 weeks or so

 

Just out of curiosity, was your key in the ignition switch when your battery went dead?

 

Cold weather in itself can kill a battery. It could not just be a Ferrari problem, but a problem for all batteries left to sit in the cold.

It is best to leave a battery tender on the battery until warmer weather starts to set in.

 

Husker -

I have a Red Top in my car and have never had any problems with it. Just to be on the safe side, I got a Deltran Battery Tender last week, and the car has remained "plugged in" ever since. For my uninsulated/unheated garage, seems like a decent investment.

(Our nighttime temps get down to the 20's, daytime temps in the 40's) during the bulk of wintertime)


-Daniel

 

You likely have a drain problem somewhere.
Check by re-charging the batterie and then unplug the wires from it. Best both and see if it continues to decline. A little volt meter will help.
If it declines, your batterie is shot, if it stays you have a drain problem.
Then connect the possitive again but keep the neg off and check again if it drains. If it does you have a positive wire getting ground somewhere else. (Cable rubbing). That should usually result in a short unless it is minimal, which makes it hard to detect. This however is rather unlikely.
I have a car just in where the fuel pump did not shut off and you can hear it still humming when the engine is off and the key pulled.

 

The reason I asked about leaving the key in the ignition is that I have had my battery go dead a couple of times when I did this, but never had it happen when I removed the key (as of course I should). I can hear a relay cycling when I remove the key, and I've never checked to see what that is, but it's apparently a timer - possibly to do with the switch light, or maybe the hot wire in the air flow sensor? Don't know.

 

Do you keep a Battery Tender plugged into the car when you're not using it?

If not, then shame on you. The 348 alternators are puny, overtaxed units that should not be... overtaxed. Ferraris in general should always be left to trickle charge. There are those who will jump right down my throat and boast about how long they leave their cars without charging them, but to them I say "it doesn't hurt to keep a Ferrari trickle-charging." In fact, I would say that keeping the car plugged in all the time is a better way of treating the car, and it requires very little effort.

I keep my car plugged in every single night, and so the battery is always at optimum charge. I've never had a battery problem.