Flat Battery on California

[Rock Studly]

I have left her too long. The battery is flat. Should I try and jump her, get the RAC round or source a battery conditioner/charger? Your thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks

[johnnyreggae]

Do not try to jump - you could fry the electronics - especially if its the original battery just buy a new one

[F355GTS]

The car should have come with a trickle charger/ conditioner but it's a bit late for that. Charge the battery or replace, check the boot opening/ roof operation , it can become unresponsive if the battery has discharged

[Rock Studly]

Thanks - I have a CTEK X5 3600 charger but not with the right connection. Assumed I could use the cigarette lighter attachment but it doesnt seem to fit. From the manual I can see there is a point in the boot. Are the right connectors easy to obtain?

[johnnyreggae]

Only the Ferrari CTEK will mate to their preinstalled plug so you'd need a new lead to mate to your CTEK

Edited by johnnyreggae on Sunday 29th March 22:16

[andy355]

Ctek won't recover a really flat battery. I would get a new battery then make sure you use ctek in it. As said before it should have come with a ferrari badged one that has a different connector. Also the car recognises when it's plugged in so that may also be part of the ferrari one

[fulham911club]

johnnyreggae said:

Do not try to jump - you could fry the electronics - especially if its the original battery just buy a new one

Are you serious? You can't jump start a California without frying the electrics?

If this is correct I am astounded...

[voicey]

fulham911club said:

Are you serious? You can't jump start a California without frying the electrics?

If this is correct I am astounded...

Deadly serious - I wouldn't even jump start my wife's Honda. The danger point is when the external power source (ie: the healthly battery) is disconnected which can cause the alternator to suddenly deliver up to 120V – not a nice place to be if you are an IC. It's called Load Dump: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Load_dump

Isolate the battery and charge or replace. Also, track down the source of the current drain that caused the battery to go flat in the first place....

[fulham911club]

voicey said:

fulham911club said:

Are you serious? You can't jump start a California without frying the electrics?

If this is correct I am astounded...

Deadly serious - I wouldn't even jump start my wife's Honda. The danger point is when the external power source (ie: the healthly battery) is disconnected which can cause the alternator to suddenly deliver up to 120V – not a nice place to be if you are an IC. It's called Load Dump: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Load_dump

Isolate the battery and charge or replace. Also, track down the source of the current drain that caused the battery to go flat in the first place....

blimey - I (well actually the breakdown people) jump started my QP the other week and it didn't burst into flames and I've done the same on my 911 many times

[tr7v8]

voicey said:

fulham911club said:

Are you serious? You can't jump start a California without frying the electrics?

If this is correct I am astounded...

Deadly serious - I wouldn't even jump start my wife's Honda. The danger point is when the external power source (ie: the healthly battery) is disconnected which can cause the alternator to suddenly deliver up to 120V – not a nice place to be if you are an IC. It's called Load Dump: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Load_dump

Isolate the battery and charge or replace. Also, track down the source of the current drain that caused the battery to go flat in the first place....

That is if you disconnect the battery, jump starting doesn't disconnect the battery & the battery (the flat one) is more than a low enough resistance to suppress the spike.

[fulham911club]

tr7v8 said:

voicey said:

fulham911club said:

Are you serious? You can't jump start a California without frying the electrics?

If this is correct I am astounded...

Deadly serious - I wouldn't even jump start my wife's Honda. The danger point is when the external power source (ie: the healthly battery) is disconnected which can cause the alternator to suddenly deliver up to 120V – not a nice place to be if you are an IC. It's called Load Dump: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Load_dump

Isolate the battery and charge or replace. Also, track down the source of the current drain that caused the battery to go flat in the first place....

That is if you disconnect the battery, jump starting doesn't disconnect the battery & the battery (the flat one) is more than a low enough resistance to suppress the spike.

So in that case there seems to be nothing to worry about and it seems to be a way for Ferrari to sell you a new battery....

[Johnnyforeigner]

fulham911club said:

So in that case there seems to be nothing to worry about and it seems to be a way for Ferrari to sell you a new battery....

Ferrari make batteries?

[tr7v8]

fulham911club said:

tr7v8 said:

voicey said:

fulham911club said:

Are you serious? You can't jump start a California without frying the electrics?

If this is correct I am astounded...

Deadly serious - I wouldn't even jump start my wife's Honda. The danger point is when the external power source (ie: the healthly battery) is disconnected which can cause the alternator to suddenly deliver up to 120V – not a nice place to be if you are an IC. It's called Load Dump: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Load_dump

Isolate the battery and charge or replace. Also, track down the source of the current drain that caused the battery to go flat in the first place....

That is if you disconnect the battery, jump starting doesn't disconnect the battery & the battery (the flat one) is more than a low enough resistance to suppress the spike.

So in that case there seems to be nothing to worry about and it seems to be a way for Ferrari to sell you a new battery....

Probably even if you don't jump it you could charge it up. With the car disconnected if concerned. Personally I'd try jumping it.

[fulham911club]

Johnnyforeigner said:

fulham911club said:

So in that case there seems to be nothing to worry about and it seems to be a way for Ferrari to sell you a new battery....

Ferrari make batteries?

Well of course they don't Mr. Pedant - you know I meant a Ferrari dealership such as HROwen who would happily sell you a replacement...

[Johnnyforeigner]

fulham911club said:

Well of course they don't Mr. Pedant - you know I meant a Ferrari dealership such as HROwen who would happily sell you a replacement...

I got the same thing from Porsche a few years ago when my turbo died, telling me about a customer who fried his 964 trying to jump it.
I don't think Ferrari or anyone else gives a flying fk about selling a few extra batteries.
They'll always err on the side of caution if there's a risk - not everything is a conspiracy to rip you off.

[MCG1]

Have jump started my Cali quite a few times- no issues at all. Ferrari even make the terminals readily accessible under the bonnet.

[MCG1]

Have jump started my Cali quite a few times- no issues at all. Ferrari even make the terminals readily accessible under the bonnet.

[fulham911club]

MCG1 said:

Have jump started my Cali quite a few times- no issues at all. Ferrari even make the terminals readily accessible under the bonnet.

The voice of reason. And I assume the electrics haven't fried?

I do wonder about the number of urban myths generated by the internet world we live in

[Nmj]

fulham911club said:

The voice of reason. And I assume the electrics haven't fried?

I do wonder about the number of urban myths generated by the internet world we live in

there is always a risk jump starting , however connect the cables to the jump points, leave it for say 30 seconds or so , start the cali and leave the cables connected for another minute before disconnecting, will be fine am sure