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Dead as a dodo help please.

Wilpert

Wilpert

Member
I’m guessing this one has been done to death but hopefully somebody can assist.

I use my Cali at least once a week, usually at the weekend but then I do reasonably long ish trips.
I.e. minimum 12 miles each way and often more.
so, after a week on the drive, today it wouldn’t turn over, I got a clock but that was all. It wouldn’t open with using the button and after a few attempts it opened using the key.
I’ve plugged in the c tek trickle charger but I’m thinking this might not be enough.
It’s been in around 3 hours and the green light is there but the lights above aren’t glowing so I’m wondering if anything is happening.
Battery was replaced in august 2021 with new Ferrari battery. This was only around 3k miles ago.

So any ideas on what to do.
I’m tempted to pop to Halfords and get a charger that I can plug in and connect to the terminals on the battery.
I’m trying to avoid removing the battery as it means taking stuff apart.
Should I wait longer and see what happens with the trickle charger or would I be doing anything wrong if I charge the battery whilst still on the car in the old fashioned way with a conventional charger?

Thanks I’m advance.
 
I’m not sure about the new cars but I once charged my 348 on a ctek with no issues, took ages though, maybe a couple of days. I normally keep my car permanently on a ctek but had forgotten to plug it in and a few weeks later it was dead. No issues with the battery after doing that but as I say, newer cars may be different.

If you use your Cali at least once a week and it’s only been on the drive a week I’d think you might have either a battery or alternator snag though. Even with the annoying battery drain many of these cars seem to have I’d expect it to last longer than that before dying.
 
I e taken the plunge and bought a charger.
It seems to be charging at least I have lights glowing on the charger but I’ll have to be patient and see where this goes.
 
Update:
I bought a noco genius charger, that also charges agm batreries, mine has an odyssey agm battery, which i understand does not respond so well to the c tek chargers that Ferrari supply.
I charged it whilst on the car and after about 4 hours it was flashing green, the boot responded to the Leo and button and the roof opened and closed fully, neither of these worked before.

Not sure if I should just keep an eye on the car and put this. Down to a glitch and lack of knowledge re trickle charging or if I should get it tested.
if testing is free at kwik fit or Halfords with a testing gizmo meter thingy then I’ll do it but I’m not sure I want to do an 80 round trip to a dealers just to have my battery checked.

Any pontes in this please, or is this welcome to the world of temperamental ferrari ownership 😀
 
I still think a week is an awfully short time for the battery of a fairly frequently used car to totally die so I'd want to get to the bottom of it. As a starter I'd just get the battery condition checked locally - I've noticed that when I go to a dealer to ask if something needs changing it almost always does......... ;)
 
As Pete says. If you need a new battery just get one from Halfords etc and fit it yourself! Im sure Ferrari charge a premium for something you can get from anywhere else.
 
Fwiw, I use a (Ferrari oem) ctek on our 2010 California if it's not going to be used regularly. If I'm using it weekly I generally don't bother and it's been fine over the two years we've owned it.
I agree with Pete that if you can't leave a car for a week then there's an issue, although not necessarily serious, just a drain of some kind or a weak battery. I hear the same thing in the old Boxster groups. People think they die after a few days if not kept on a battery tender but in all honesty they really don't (mine is proof of that). I think a lot of those people have cars with issues! Sorry, I know this doesn't really help you buddy but my point is... your car should start instantly after a week or two without the ctek if everything's in good health.
 
Kyodo said:
Fwiw, I use a (Ferrari oem) ctek on our 2010 California if it's not going to be used regularly. If I'm using it weekly I generally don't bother and it's been fine over the two years we've owned it.
I agree with Pete that if you can't leave a car for a week then there's an issue, although not necessarily serious, just a drain of some kind or a weak battery. I hear the same thing in the old Boxster groups. People think they die after a few days if not kept on a battery tender but in all honesty they really don't (mine is proof of that). I think a lot of those people have cars with issues! Sorry, I know this doesn't really help you buddy but my point is... your car should start instantly after a week or two without the ctek if everything's in good health.
Click to expand...
I’m struggling with this one.
I charged it on Saturday and it’s been fine since.
Today I rigged up an outdoor plug socket on my driveway, which will come in handy anyway for jet washing the drive when it’s needed.
I’ve plugged in the the c tek and made it so convenient to use that I’d be silly not to just plug it in after any journey if I don’t plan to use the car for a few days.

As soon as I get the chance I’ll go along to Halfords and get the battery tested.

I’m still a bit miffed how it went down so suddenly fist time it’s happened in 3 months of my ownership.
 
sounds like your battery is just a bit weak... replacement probably better, to get rid of potential headaches!
these cars do not need to be on charge, so that they will start a week later... they can easily hold for a few weeks, as one would hope/expect.
HOWEVER - i think the point of keeping it on the Ctek, is to keep it optimally charged all the time. The problem really lies in that with a weak battery, a lot of the sensors tend to be quite unhappy, and throw up spurious errors. So I would say it is just good practice to keep them on the trickle chargers.
 
The reason I don't leave my car on the ctek full-time unless it's likely to be stood a while, is that I don't want the false sense of security of it always starting at home then failing many miles from home during a trip away. That's a hard lesson I received from my Porsche when it suffered an intermittent alternator fault. Of course it always started after being plugged in but then left me stranded further afield!

I do agree with the points above though.
 
I've always kept infrequent use cars on a trickle charger. Optimate mostly. Italian cars in my experience (six in total over time) do leak electricity.
 
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