F355 Alarm Question

Hello All, I have been a proud owner of my first Ferrari for about a month, and am trying to workout the last of the bugs with the car. The alarm and keyless entry seem to work just fine, but the alarm light stays on all of the time while driving. It is a real distraction at night. I have the manual for the alarm, but I can not figure out if it is normal for it to stay on while driving. When I lock the car the light flash as expected.

Thank you all for making this a great board, I enjoy very much reading all the threads. Wish I would have known about this board before I purchased my car
--tony

 

tony,
If the alarm light stays lit, that means that there is an error with the alarm system.
Only way to diagnose is through use of the SD2 tester, unfortunatly only available at the dealer.


Best regards, Jim

 

Thanks for the reply Jim. I was afraid of that :-(.

I tried disconnecting the battery over night, but that did not make a difference. I will wait to find more problems with the car before scheduling a trip to the San Francisco dealership.
thanks again!
--tony

 

tony - your problem is likely that the battery housed in the alarm unit at the front wheel well is dead or dying. which is to say that it is no longer recharging properly and/or holding charge. this is a common problem - these things were not engineered properly. my 355 went through two of these units in less than five years. my 550 is on its second or third in the same time period.

purportedly, the part was updated at some point and it now has a separate lead back to somewhere to keep it properly charged - but don't quote me on that.

doody.

 

Its over $500 for the siren unit, which, as far as I can determine, has no other function than to sound a chirp.
Everything else works as it should with the unit out of the car.

 

my understanding was that if the battery in the siren unit flat-out dies, that the alarm system will cease functioning altogether. you can lock the car, but the alarm will never activate.

but again, don't go trading stock on that data - i could be wrong.

i dug up the paperwork from the replacement i did on my 355, and it was $500 including diagnosis, labor, the part, and sales tax.

doody.

 

doody,
I looked in the right wheel well and all I saw was the cd changer and the battery on-off switch on the right. On the left side I saw the windshield wiper refill and the fuse box (i think). I was hoping it was
some simple watch battery that I can replace. Still love the car and smile everytime I see it in my garage let alone the stupid grin on my face when drive it

--tony

 

oh tony tony tony.

NOTHING is ever that easy ;-)

it's buried in there. it's about 6" high by 3" square the top third of it is siren and the bottom third is some POS rechargeable battery.

doody.

 

I have gone through three of these units. The alarm LED will light continuously although everything will still work.

The problem is that the NICAD cells suffer from memery effects of the recharge cycle and asa result do not last at all well.

2 years seems to be it. It seems to make matters worse if the main battery has been allowed to go flat previously, then the siren battery is relucatant to take up the charge.

I understand that ferrari did do an update on this, ite very easy to remove and its a small unit about 4in x5 that just plugs in

 

Its easy to get to from under the left fender. take off the left plastic undertray. Two bolts and a plug.

pic here http://www.boschusa.com/images/business/vehiclesecurity_image.jpg
its the black piece in upper left corner

 

I heard that if you turn off the battery switch that it will eventually drain your alarm battery. I never turn off my battery switch, and always leave my battery hooked up to a battery tender when stored. There is a corrrelation between the main battery and the alrm battery ( as someone alluded to in a previous post). I have yet to experince the alarm battery problem.

 

Wow thanks! Now please tell me how you found that picture. I thought I was good at finding stuff on the Internet, but I did not even get close to finding information about the 355 alarm, let alone a picture of the part I may need to replace .

 

Easy,
Boschusa.com,
automotive origional equipment,
electronic systems,
vehicle security systems,
VOILA
If you get a new one, and don't want the old one can I try fixing it. you have to saw it in half to get inside. If the circuit board is OK, it might be fixable, Mine was burnt, NG

 

I really meant how did you know to look at Bosh. Is there FAQ that says if you are looking for Ferrari electronics look at Bosh,etc...

You may freely have anything I replace as long as you pay for shipping . I do not know much about fixing cars, I spent 8 years in school learning aerodynamics and never picked up a tool. I do not know when I will get that fixed. I just started hearing a ticking sound from the engine which really has me concerned so the annoying light suddenly does not seem like a big deal :-( Thanks again!
--tony

 

That's easy too, when I took it out it had the Bosch name, logo, and part number on it.
I've tried without any success to get one. Seems you have to go through Ferrari as the coding on the PC board is proprietary. This is typical for OEM suppliers.
When you get it out you will see that its a $20 part at best. That's why I am put out that Ferrari gets over $500 for it.
A TV remote is an order of magnitude more complex.
I will happily pay shipping, after all I live all of an hour away

 

I am having an alarm issue as well and in the process of diagnoising the problem I think I stumbled upon a confirmation of your problem. after unplugging the alarm siren and battery I experienced the same condition you speak of - i feel it is definatly your alarm siren module

 

So you unplugged the alarm siren and battery and the led stayed on?

My alarm seems to work fine,when armed the led flashes, it chirps when I leave the bonnet open and try to lock the car with the remote, etc...

If you get a chance, please detail how you got to the alarm siren and battery. Thanks!

--tony

 

When i removed the siren/battery module the dash LED stayed on continously when the car was running. all other funtions (other than the siren chip of course) opperated normally. when the engine is turned off the LED flashed as normal.

to get to the module on my 1998 355 F1 and have room to work I did the following:

remove driver front wheel
remove front underbody panel ahead of wheel - 6 screws
remove panel inside wheel well - 4 screws
module is located just ahead and above of the windshield washer bottle
remove alarm/battery module - 2 bolts
unplug electrical connector - difficult to get to until the module was unbolted and hanging

there was previous discussion about the part being sealed. there are two screws under rubber plugs but there does not seem to be a way to separate the two sides of the part. appears to be sealed, but the connecting screws would indicate differently. used a volt meter on the 4 contacts of the connector but did not get a voltage reading from any of them. perhaps someone else knows a way to check the battery voltage.