Jump Starting 348

Go for it.

I have jump started my 348 TOOOOOO many times.

 

Hmmm. It's always safer to trickle charge the battery up to full capacity, and then start the engine normally. Depending on the condition of your battery, it CAN pose a risk to your electrical system to jump start it. You don't want to throw a voltage spike through the system in either car. I would trust that Pap knows how to properly jump start his car, but you are admittedly a "Novice". Do you have access to a charger? Is the battery completely dead, or just too low to crank over the engine? Is your battery at the front of the car, or in the engine compartment in back?

 

I agree with the trickle-charger - they are about $60-$80, something that you will undoubtedly need anyways as a Ferrari owner since it likely is not a daily driver. As well, considering your location, you obviously store this in the winter.

 

I would partially charge the battery prior to jump start to avoid voltage peaks to the CEU's ...

 

My 348 dies every winter - usually when I forget the trickle charger. I have jumped it a couple of times. Have you found your battery yet? Mine was located behind the front drivers tire and very difficult to find and get to. I jumped it using the connection block by the engine.

 

What year 348...Which Generator. The early ones sucked. I would be very concerned about using the cars system to restore that battery if its not the Denso. Charge it using a offboard system. I'm not sure of the exact date of change but I think 1991 and later is Denso. Can someone confirm?

 

The batteries in these cars are pretty much designed to start the car and that's it. In fact, if you delete all your normal American fat accessories, they last pretty well without charging. For example, my Spider had the usual high tech gizmo sound system, Lojak and a fancy alarm system. At the end of 10 days the battery was toast. A new one didn't last much longer, so I just kept it on the charger or drove it every 7 days. My SS has the entire sound system deleted (70 lbs of crap), no Lojak, no alarm and no other electrical vampires. The battery now lasts well over 2 weeks without a charge, although I get nervous after 10 days due to force of habit.

 

That's where i would have put the battery also if I was a car designer. Its the most practical spot. All you have to do is remove the front left wheel AND wheel housing to get to it. It cant get much easier than THAT!

 

lol!!

 

Peace of cake, really, jack the car, remove the wheel, remove the inner wheel housing taking care not to drop any of the fasteners, and BAM! it is right there. Hopefully the PO didn't replace it with any crazy terminals that would require to you remove the battery to get to the posts.


In all seriousness, I also have the front battery configuration. I hook my tender up using the remote posts in the engine compartment. Is that not a good idea?

 

Guys,

There aren't any voltage spikes at 12 v that can really matter as automotive circuitry is rated for a good range from about 8v to 16v at least (this statement will make this thread at least 3x longer than it needs to be and will take it off topic I'm sure).

Start the donor car, and have the ferrari with the ignition in the "off" position. Connect the positive poles first (you'll find a connector in the engine compartment, where there are 3 large cables all bolted to a small cross bar (one it to the batt, one to the starter and one to the main power bus on the fuse box). Then connect to negative, first to the ferrari, then to the donor car, at a location where there is a good ground connection. I use any large bold that connects to the frame.

Start the Ferrari, disconnect ground jumper cable from donor, then Ferrari, then disconnect positive at ferrari, then donor car.

It takes my battery about 15 minutes to charge to where it can restart the engine, and about 45 minutes to 80% charge at idle.

Where you want to use a trickle charger is when you have the time. It is ALWAYS better to have lead-acid batteries fully charged, so if it is fully discharged AND you don't have time to run the car to fully charge it then it is best to connect the battery to a charger and charge it fully. It is possible to to this by disconnecting the battery cable at the afore mentioned connector in the engine bat and connecting the charger to the disconnected battery wire terminal and the car's frame. This is particularly useful if you can't move the car to get to the battery (mostly for front battery cars).

M

 

While mine is in storage over the winter, I plug in the trickle-charger every 3 or 4 days until it shows a full charge and then I disconnect, repeating this procedure over the winter - is this the correct method or should I be doing something different?

 

Trickle charge is OK, but no need to be obsessive. If you store it for longer, then just disconnect the battery with the breaker knob. Once fully charged, a disconnected battery will hold the near full charge for long enough time.

Better to disconnect the battery, then run the car until operating temp once a month, and literally take it around the block so all oils have a chance to fully circulate in the gearbox etc. Otherwise, put it on lifting pins for the winter, reduce the wheel pressure by 2/3rds and run the engine in gear once a month while on the lifting posts.

This is a good measure to ensure the oil film on all engine parts never gets to thin and loses its anti-corrosive protection, but it is important the car gets to operating temps to remove moisture all around.

M