My FF eats more than one battery per 6 months

I know that Ferraris generally consume more battery than other cars, but my FF drains the battery at an unsustainable level. I put in a new battery at the beginning of the season (around April). Then it works great for some time. If I let it sit for about a week to ten days, it becomes really “slow started” (noticeable already after half the time), but no big problem. After a bit of driving/charging, it’s fine. But as the season progresses, this week to ten days becomes shorter and shorter, and by early summer, it’s slow started after 3-4 days. “Electrical System Failure” starts popping up more and more frequently. And now, at the end of August, it’s barely able to start, even after being connected to a charger. So now the battery needs to be replaced again, 6 months later. I bought the car about 3 years ago, with a new battery. Since then, I’ve replaced the battery at least four times.

The dealership has thought they fixed the problem at least three times now. First, they thought it just needed a new battery, even though it was only 4-5 months (the one that was in when I bought the car was apparently not original). Then they replaced the alternator (which was apparently defective in some way). Then there was something about some “connections” that needed to be “cleaned up” (sorry if that’s a poor description, I’m not great with engines), and most recently, they had the car all winter to make extensive measureing and thought they fixed the problem again, but apparently not (I’m not really sure what they did, he had a hard time explaining).

Has anyone experienced similar problems or has any theories? Replacing the battery every year isn’t the biggest issue in the world, but it’s annoying when it feels slow started the second half of the season and barely drivable in the end of the season (this season, it won’t make it all the way through).

 

F cars, but really all exotics ever, have a tendency to draw from the battery much quicker than "normal" cars given the many computers and systems needed onboard.

That said, do you normally use a trickle charger / battery tender? If not, then you absolutely should, even if you plan to drive the car often. This will "condition" the battery and it ensures it's always charged whether you drive the car or not.

If you keep replacing the battery and you end up with the same issue, it's not the batteries.. something is drawing amps at rest. Could be as simple as a loose connection or some system that doesn't turn off like it should. Either way, if you're not planning to test every system (by pulling fuses and then measuring the voltage over a few days), then keeping it on a charger should do the trick..

 

Thanks. I normally don't use it since I drive it at least every second or third day. If I leave it longer I use a charger.

 

My battery just gave up today and needed jumping. It had been slightly hesitant to start a couple of times and started giving electrical system errors and glitching out some of the electrics, but I put it down to not regular enough usage although I do about 650 miles a month sporadically.

I only installed it in November 2023 so it lasted about 9 months. These are the specs so it should be more than suitable:

• Startup Power: 900Amps (CCA)
• Capacity: 100Ah
• Bench Charge: 6Amps

It's absurd that a modern car needs to be on a trickle charger or used every day in order to not completely destroy a battery internally in less than a year. Ferrari get away with a lot, no one would find this acceptable for most other marques.

 

Sounds like you may have a similar problem as me, but I'm not sure. My dealership has confirmed that my FF is not acting anywhere close to how other FFs do. I guess they'll have to search even more...

 

Both my 360 and my ff do this. I put them on a tender all the time when not being driven.

Yes it is annoying but I’ve seen people do clever things with placement so it’s no big deal.

I think you may be able to fix it but you could spend so much time and money it might not be worth it.

 

I hear you. Problem is I think it kills the battery even when it's on a tender. But I will give it at shot and put the tender in every time. The dealership have already installed some cables to the battery that makes it very easy for me to but it on charge.

 

yeh if you arent driving the car for more than 2 days you have to keep it on a tender. if more than a couple weeks i just turn the battery off all together. these cars are very sensitive to batteries with bad cells.

 

One other thing, Ferrari includes the bottom of the line CTEK battery tender. I would suggest you invest in a CTEK 7002.

 

I have a CTEK CS Free, should be more than enough, right?

 

Okok, I'm going to use the tender all the time from now on. Turning off the battery – is that easy (how?) and it doesn't mess up settings, gives error messages etc?

After looking at Hollywood Mechanic's last video about the FF maintenance I think that the problem (in combination to the tender) is the heat. I do drive the car pretty hard. Not like I'm out racing every time, but I do floor it at least one time every drive, often a few times. So I guess that would create a lot of heat to the battery. He mentioned they have a battery relocator kit for sale, but I can't find it on the website. Does anyone know what it costs and then how much labor? Since I'm in Europe, I can't take it to them.

 

F cars discharge the battery faster than other cars, but according to what you said, your situation is not normal. Have you added anything such as a GPS tracking system, music system or remote exhaust system to your vehicle? These systems draw extra electricity. Or maybe there is a leak in your vehicle's electrical installation?

 

Is there a cutoff switch? The 360 has one but I have not been able to find one in the FF. Apologies as I have not rtfm

 

Yes, that is a good one.

 

Yes, here are the instructions from the manual. I can't copy the illustration, but the "quick release C" is a gray lever attached to one of the terminals.

"To cut off the power supply from the battery to the electrical system, use the quick release C on the left side of the battery. Use the locking lever to loosen the terminal. Detach the terminal from the battery: the power supply from the battery to the electrical system is cut off.

Warning The battery quick release must only be used if the battery conditioner cannot be connected.

Warning Place the terminal so that it does not come into contact with the battery terminal or other metal parts of the vehicle. Reconnecting the battery Place the clamp on the battery and fasten it by closing the locking lever. Each time the battery is reconnected, do the following before starting the engine: - close both doors and close the luggage compartment lid; unlock and lock the doors using the remote control; open the luggage compartment lid using the remote control; - adjust the clock (date and time on instrument panel); - close both doors and fully raise the driver side and passenger side windows to their upper limit; check that the windows move down to the “target position” when the doors are opened."

 

Do what I did (and what members on here suggested) get an Antigravity Li-Ion battery.

https://antigravitybatteries.com/products/starter-batteries/automotive/ag-h8-rs/

It likes to flash some electrical warnings on first start as it warms up but within 5 minutes it's all good, every time. As a city guy that can't battery tend and had frequent discharges when I first got my car, this is a godsend. I've never had a failed start since. Even has a little jumpstart keyfob in case you leave the lights on or something and has a built in jumper battery. just push that button and turn the car on (my 911 discharges if not used for a while and you have to jump it with the fob)

 

Nope, everything is stock

 

I also high recommend the antigravity battery - 80ah. My FF was eating batteries as well even with the tender and after changing to the antigravity with the ctek lion tender it’s been great. I also used a Rubbermaid Brilliance container to protect it and keep it clean. Just drilled a hole in each side. Image Unavailable, Please Login


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Thanks David! What's an antigravity battery? Is that a lithium battery? I saw that Hollywood Mechanics said that lithium batteries in FF could be dangerous, since it gets so hot.

 

While I don’t have an FF, the stories I am reading here sure sound similar to my experience with my 458. I second the Antigravity battery idea. I had an independent garage do the installation a few months ago and my car has been almost completely error free since.

 

I don’t think it’s a tender problem as much as a car component problem: my F12 went through 4 batteries in a little after two years before they upgraded the pulley (there was a mid cycle upgrade), belt and I think they did a new alternator. There was also a bad ground or negative side cable that they replaced. With that I got two years out of this one, but it’s now not holding charge.

 

Ditto. Interstate AGM battery plus C-tek tender with AGM setting is the first thing I did when I got my FF. I did so based on advice and research via F chat.

 

When connecting the 7002, do you just splice in the factor connector? I’ve got a Lusso with the little magnet connector by the license plate.

 

I use the alligator clips and attach directly to the battery.

 

I bought a little pigtail from EBay that plugs into the cTEK and has the same round magnetic coupler as the OEM one. Arrived yesterday but my Lusso is at the dealer so I haven’t been able to test yet. Looks the same though.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/156035866531?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=OjwHGMubSDO&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=pXmR_zIyQqe&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

BTW , instead of buying the 7002 from Amazon , buy the SEMA builder kit #2 from CTEK website directly. Gives you a bunch of accessories some of which are relevant and others not as much.



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