Why NOT jump start your F430 and 360?

...you may wind up frying all of your electronics. A pain in the butt if it happens to your Honda...a very expensive pain in the butt if it happens in a Ferrari.

Maybe 1 chance in 10 something will go wrong - but why risk it?

 

A friend had an older 6 cylinder BMW that was dead. She called the tow guys (triple A, someone else, don't remember) and they jumped it. Fryed part of the electrical system.

Car would run but not charge.

Cost to repair was prohibitive relative to value of car. She sold it for next to nothing.
I was there and saw it happen.

 

When you jump start a Ferrari the battery is still way below its nominal charge level. So durring warmup, the alternator is pumping out lots and lots of ampeers to charge the battery, overheats and fails, maybe not on the first jump, but it won't last long.

Oh, and BTW, these, unlike american V8s, aren't cheap.

The more modern cars also have significant loads in the transmission department and all the other stuff (Ediff,...) so when the battery is not up to full charge, these things don't work as designed (slow) and may pul even more current from the already overtaxed alternator causing it and some of hte wiring to fry.

 

The instrument cluster is susceptible to voltage spikes, the ECUs HATE low voltage and can do very weird things, .... there is a long list of possible bad outcomes.

 

I've thought about the same thing. My plan is to follow the instructions on page 4-27 in my owner's manual where Ferrari has given simple instructions about how to jump start my 360.

Done correctly, as Ferrari recommends, this procedure is no more dangerous to the health of your car than changing a battery.

Of course, you must be able to tell + from - and red from green. It seems those two things are beyond the capability of some folks and that just might include that tow truck driver you reference.

 

The big thing to watch for is to not start the car being jumped while the other is running, you can charge your battery with the other car, then turn the jumping car off and then start yours. From what I've been told, it can fry the diodes in the alternator from a mis phase of both alternators running at the same time. I'm no electrical engineer but that sounds reasonable to me.

 

I wrote a little about this on my blog: Jump starting a flat battery | Aldous Voice

And on this page there is a quote from Ed Blasi regarding charging a flat battery with the alternator: Ferrari 360: Fitting a battery tender and improving the range of the remote control fob | Aldous Voice

 

Exactly right.
If you connect the jump leads (correctly!) and run the other car for 5 minutes on mid-throttle to charge the battery on the dead car, then disconnect before trying to start the car this is risk-free.

If the alternator on the dead car is not capable of charging the battery from near-empty after you have jump-started there is something wrong with it. Its not possible to damage a fully working alternator by drawing too much current from it as the regulator in the alternator should limit the current flow.

Most of the scare stories about jump starting are caused by connecting the leads in reverse.

 

When you disconnect the jumpcables the altenator of the "dead" car lowers its current dramatically. This because a weak battery is a bad conductor. So the massive current can't go anywhere. With the jumpcables still connected the current of the "dead" car can escape into the healthy battery on the other side.

Disconnecting the jumpcables to soon causes a drop in current and turns your altenator into a very big coil resulting in a enormous voltage rising event. Compare to a spark plug. This event burns wires and electronics.

This is why to wait for at least five minutes before disconnecting. To charge your battery and improve its conducting behavior.
What you also must do is to switch on most electric on your car to alow the massive charge current of your altenator to ascape into it. So turn on the lights, heater-fan and rearwindow heater before disconnecting the jumpcables.

 

Need to be careful about the difference between a "weak" battery and a healthy but discharged battery. If the battery is "weak" and a bad conductor it is faulty. A healthy but discharged battery is a very good conductor. Charge cannot flow from a discharged battery into the charged battery on the other car, it will flow the other way.

If the battery is faulty, jumping in the "correct" way wont work, because the car still will not start after the jump leads are removed.

To re-iterate:
Connect jump leads
Run other car for 5 mins mid throttle.
Disconnect leads
Try to start car
If it does not start, the battery is faulty, get a tow.
Do not try to start the car with the other car still running/connected to overcome a situation where the battery is open-circuit as this could cause major damage. The cars electrical system will be fed directly by the alternator without the smoothing effect of the battery.

 

Ummm. No. There have been properly connected + to +, - to - stories and the electronics still get fried.

Dash panel doesn't have the proper surge protection. A simple 200 ohm capacitor would have helped.

Anybody reading this can decide how they want to "jump" their car and what the safe manner is to do that. It's your wallet.

Bottom line is the car won't start for a reason. 1) Bad battery (replace it every 3-4 years) or 2) bad alternator. If 2, the jump won't get you far anyway and you're wasting your time. IMHO get a tow, get a new battery and put it in or disconnect the ground (-) on the battery and charge it overnight in the garage. In the end you're going to do one of two things ANYWAY... you're going to get a new battery or a new alternator. Safest way is to measure your voltage output periodically and put a new battery in every 3-4 years.

To whomever reads this.. its YOUR wallet. You're gonna pay sooner or later. Do it right the first time.

 

What about the use of those new self-contained charging units that have an internal power source rather than that of another car? (My experience using one on my 550 Maranello was pretty negative -- instrument panel went crazy until I did an ECU reset.) Thanks. Frank

 

I wouldn't use it personally. To each their own... wallet...

 

After a bit of research and logic, I've used a portable jumper for my car on multiple occasions without issues.
Upon starting, " I do not disconnect the portable jumper " ... choosing a portable jumper with longer leads will allow for you to drive with the jumper attached to the (+) and ground lead behind the driver's seat.

The load on the alternator is minimal, as the portable jumper is typically fully charged, and will not " shock " the charging system, normal in a car with a dead battery.

In my experience, after a 5 - 10 minute drive I will shut down, disconnect the portable jumper and either put it on a trickle charger or drive which charges the battery.

I purchased the QuickCable Rescue Jump 1800

( QuickCable Rescue Jump Pack 1800 - 12 Volt Dual Battery: BatteryMart.com )

 

Enrique, that should be pretty safe. You are basically adding a battery to the system and waiting for the system to normalize. Then the disconnect should be pretty transparent.

I am with Curt on this one. The electrical system in these cars is very sensitive. We see it in a lot of areas and blown panels is just one. You guys do what you want; I will error on the side of caution.

 

When all is said and done better/safer to switch out batteries every year !

Last battery I purchased was from NAPA with " 0 " starting / draining issues for over a year after prolonged non-use ( 6 weeks ).

I will follow -up with model number for those interested.

Happy Holidays to all ...look forward to batteries in your stockings ;0)

 

I went through this kind of thing on Saturday night. Car had given me a couple slow down lights over the past month on the few times I had to drive it. I was planning to put it in storage on Friday but battery was "dead." Car died almost at home Saturday. Rescue jumper didn't work on engine terminals. My new battery did. Got home and almost in garage. Died again. Pushed in and removed wheel. What I saw was unbelievable! Optima red top, in sideways with MAYBE a front terminal in use but otherwise FUBAR. Fuse on pos cable was bent, plastic jacket was completely unscrewed and AFAIK cable as disconnected. Also a black bullet conector in there. Not sure what that's for. So I straightened the the fuse and reconnected the cable, attached using top terminals AND bolted it in with the bracket! (New Bosch 27F battery on garage floor) Before this, battery did not fully charge after 24 hours on tender. Still yellow light. After reconnect to red top car started great ran well till 2AM on cruise with a friend (who helped put snows on my Miata thanks!) But Alpine Stereo seems to be fried. Reset knob in boot several times but no effect. All fuses are good and instrument panel is fine. Car ran best ever and heard fans going and heat working best yet. Yesterday night tender was green light and I may turn it over tonight. No clue on that extra cable. Head unit should get power from harness right? No other cables I can see.

 

The highest potential to fry the ECUs comes from the voltage spike when the jumper cables are disconnected after the dead car has been started. While I personally wouldn't jump a modern car unless I had to - stuck in a parking lot, etc. - the best way to avoid potentially cooking the electronics is to turn on the heater or another high-draw device before disconnecting.

 

Okay, so..... What about connecting both cars with jumper leads (or the Emergency Battety Pack), and leave them connected while the 'dead car' idles for about 5 minutes... Then turn BOTH cars OFF and disconnect. The 'dead' car should be able to start upon its own steam!
No spikes.....
Is this a good procedure?
I use it on my 360 with no issues.

 

Dubya:
this sounds like the best compromise to everyone. i am surprised how well a good battery pack works. I have always removed the jumper cables as soon as the dead car was running in excess of 100 times over 40+ years, even on my 360 (connect behind the driver seat has better access to large teriminals). Even reversed the cable connectons one time and couldn't understand why the clamps were glowing, with only a radio fuse blown. Maybe God really does protect children and idiots.......

Jeff Pintler
89 348tb, 86tr, 99 360 3-pedal

 

Here is what is behind the panel ahind the driver seat. There is a plastic flap with a large stud and there is a stud for the ground connection. (I had to renew my subscription to post another pic). Jeff
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I totally concur with this, however there are times you might have too! I don't own a 360 or 430 but my alternator went out on me and my battery died quickly after in my 348. When it died, I was on the expressway in Miami with Sat afternoon traffic in a corner with construction barriers on both sides (no shoulders). I took the 1st thing I could get (after like 30 min) and it got me to a safer place where I called a tow truck and purchased a new battery and got home.

But for sure, no more than 5 years on a battery. Had my wife with me and everyone was just barely squeezing by and of course being rude in big city fashion, very nerve racking! I was glad to get back to the Keys, little slower down here..

 

Thats a good procedure because it will eliminate the risk of the battery being open circuit which, as I mentioned above, is very bad because it wont smooth the voltage from the alternator and the cars electrics would be fed from a raw pulsating DC voltage from the alternator.
In the case of an open battery, the dead car would not restart after you remove the leads thus eliminating this situation.

 

I have never heard of a 200 ohm capacitor???? Electrical theory must have changed a great deal since I went to trade school!!!

There is so much mis-information in this thread - readers tread warily in my opinion.

Cheers