Hi all I have a 2009 Cali and a few weeks ago I had lots of faults being thrown up i.e Manatino failure/AVH failure etc. I had t driven the car for a few weeks so I charged the battery when I got home and it got rid of the faults. I took it out again the other day and now it's come up with EPB failure. I can hear the brake trying to go on but it's as if it locks then instantly unlock. Does it sound like battery change time? Thanks in advance
I forgot to mention that earlier on the roof wouldn't go down, it was coming up with a fault then the petrol cap wouldn't open, after a while the roof went down and the petrol cap opened.... then after that the manatino fault etc came back again (went off when I restarted the car) but the epb failure remained.
The battery voltage dropped too low causing all of these faults. The top and gas cap will not work until after you have initialized the systems by locking and unlocking the doors with the alarm fob. I would replace the battery and then clear all the faults in the various systems using a Ferrari specific diagnostic computer. Reinitialize everything, drive the car and see if any of the faults return.
I hate modern cars. I changed the pads and rotors on a bmw in minutes. Took 2 hours of dinking around and messing with new brake sensors to shut the brake light off!!!
Unless your battery is already several years old I would test it before throwing it away. Only a dealer can accurately test the battery while it is connected to the car because modern Ferraris have extra circuitry that fools normal testers. Ferrari dealers use a proprietary battery tester. To use non-Ferrari testers, you have to detatch the cables before attaching your tester to get an accurate reading. Testing batteries is a complicated affair that most people do not realize. Even a brand new, perfectly good battery will behave exactly as what you have experienced if it was put in your car without being fully charged and then never fully charged because the car is used for short trips, slow urban driving and never fully charged with a suitable battery tender. Not all models of battery tenders supplied by Ferrari are suitable for recharging dead batteries... battery tenders are TENDERS, NOT CHARGERS. So they are only supplied to keep a properly charged battery topped up. Only some tender models are able to recharge dead batteries. Finally, just because a battery starts your car doesn't mean it is not actually fully discharged and will not restart your car if you stop the engine and try to start it again. Always use the tender when not driving the car. Make sure the tender is plugged into the power outlet or it can actually drain your battery. Good luck.
Thank you for the advice and information I've been to the ferrari specialists today who have fitted a new battery and used the leonardo system to erase all faults. So far so good I don't have a battery conditioner but will buy one. This is the first time I've had an issue with an f-car in 10 years of f-car ownership. I think I've been quite lucky lol.
Yes, you have indeed been very lucky! However, all the newer cars "eat" batteries because they have a lot more circuits and software running on them than on older cars, even just one generation apart. The cars have to continue to draw power even with the ignition off. The Cali uses a Ferrari proprietary charging socket in the boot. The connector plug for it is not sold separately by Ferrari, CTEK or regular 3rd parties and normally you only get it if you buy a Ferrari-branded CTEK charger. The current Ferrari CTEk chargers are pretty good but can be a bit pricey. However, there's an FChat member, Warren Kumari, who makes this connector plug. If you have the connector plug you can then use any off-the-shelf properly-spec'd CTEK charger. Here's the link to his webpage where you can contact him to buy the connector. A very good battery tender/charger for your car would be the CTEK MSX 5.0. I believe that's the upgrade from the CTEK MUS 4.3 which I keep in my car (I have 2 chargers - one is permanently installed in my garage). The MSX 5.0 is most likely more capable than regular Ferrari-branded chargers. The MSX 5.0 is also only about $92 in the US so there's no reason to get anything cheaper. It's also more capable than my MUS 4.3 which is already fantastic. These chargers should be able to recharge a fully discharged standard car battery (100Ah) within 24-30 hours. Standard battery capacity for the Cali is 100Ah. These CTEK chargers are fast, safe and very sophisticated. All the top car makers re-brand CTEK chargers to use on their cars.
