Unexpected 488 battery behaviour | FerrariChat

Unexpected 488 battery behaviour

Discussion in '458 Italia/488/F8' started by Broadoaker, Sep 8, 2020.

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  1. Broadoaker

    Broadoaker Rookie

    Aug 11, 2020
    16
    SW England or SW France
    Full Name:
    Christopher Eden
    I drove my new (to me) 488 to work for the first time yesterday. Having parked it and turned the engine off, I then decided to tweak some of the screen preferences so I pressed the Start button without my foot on the brake to power up the scar, tweaked the setting and then exited the car. Surprisingly, the car would not lock using the remote. After several attempts to lock/unlock the car using the remote, I got back in the car, fired up the engine, stopped it, exited the car and locked it successfully.

    The same thing happened at the end of the day when I got home after tweaking some screen settings with the engine off. When I couldn't lock the car, I just accepted it as it was in a locked garage, planning to research online the potential reasons during the evening.

    3 hours later the car tracking company phoned me to tell me that they had detected a low battery voltage and could I please check the car. I did and was surprised to find a car with a flat battery, warnings on the dashboard of multiple system failures and advice to take the car to my Ferrari workshop. I plugged the car back into its charger (it had been on it for 4 weeks straight since I bought the car: 2 weeks on holiday in France and 2 weeks of subsequent quarantine in the UK).

    My question is: is it normal for a 488 to dislike so much being powered on without the engine being started or do I have a problem with the car?
     
  2. Hopeful

    Hopeful Karting

    May 31, 2019
    143
    Vero Beach, FL
    Full Name:
    Tony M.
    Chances are your battery is on its last legs and you need a new one. Just because its on a charger doesn't mean its holding an adequate charge. I had intermittent electronic glitches in my 18 month old OEM battery a month after purchasing the car. Put in an Interstate and all problems disappeared.
     
    Napoli likes this.
  3. ntatfas

    ntatfas Karting

    Apr 27, 2011
    211
    UK
    Sadly this thread should be titled "Expected 488 battery behaviour" :(

    If you have no provenance to how the battery has been looked after, ie placed on the charger/tender when garaged/parked nearly 100% of the time, then your best guess is the battery is dying. Even when placed on the charger/tender many still seem to suffer early battery death due to the number of parasitic draws from alarms and the like.

    There are many threads on replacement batteries that are worth reading but if the car is new to you from a dealer they should have checked it out and replaced it beforehand if they are offering a warrantied car.
     
    Napoli and Ash Patel like this.
  4. Broadoaker

    Broadoaker Rookie

    Aug 11, 2020
    16
    SW England or SW France
    Full Name:
    Christopher Eden
    I've just spoken to the dealer, who tells me that the reason for the flat battery is that I didn't press the Stop/Start button at the end of fiddling with the settings, exiting the car and then trying (and failing) to lock it. This resulted in the car being powered on for 3 hours with no means of recharging the battery. I've learned something. In all other cars that I've owned I've got out of the car, locked it with a key or remote and that has turned off all the electricals.
     
  5. ntatfas

    ntatfas Karting

    Apr 27, 2011
    211
    UK
    I recommend reading the threads about replacement batteries. Lots of experience from many of the owners about Interstate, Antigravity and Braille batteries amongst others.

    On a related issue I keep an NOCO GB70 in the car in case this happens so I can self-help. Again other brands are available as well as different models in the NOCO range.
     
  6. Ruffinit

    Ruffinit Rookie

    Dec 15, 2013
    38
    Chicago
    Full Name:
    Shir
    This isn’t a battery issue..it’s about making sure the car is powered down completly after fiddeling..
     
    gmo28 likes this.

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