Battery maintenance F355

[Bosh 964]

Had my "new" F355 for 4 weeks and not used it in the last fortnight due to salt/xmas chaos and guess what....came to use it on xmas eve and the battery was flat :-( So got online and ordered another Optimate but no despatch until Friday. So decided to take the Optimate off the Porsche this morning, which is laid up in a Carcoon and fit it to the 355.

Problem is where to fit it. The battery is in the front wheel arch so it seems rather impractical to fit the Optimate permanent connection lead there as the wheel arch cover would need to be removed every time you connect it - or is there a way through into the luggage compartment?

I tried to fit it to the jump start connections in the engine bay requiring removal of the RH cover panel got the +ve connected but the -ve post does not "undo" requiring a croc clip which is obviously not suitable for a permanent connection under a cover panel

Anyone have any suggestions or alternative recommendations? What do you lot do?

Ta, D

[andy355]

never tried a trickle charger on mine but i think from previous threads i read you can charge through the cigarette lighter socket, assuming your charger has such an attachment

[Bosh 964]

Not thought of that. Is the Cig socket powered when the ignition is off?..........Off to check

[renmure]

Go into the wheel arch and fit the optimate wires to the battery terminals then take the optimate lead vertically upwards. You will then be able to reach it through the inspection panel in the front luggage compartment on the drivers side. Just use a clip to keep the connector handy then, when you want to connect the charger to the battery you only need to open the bonnet, connect the lead, then shut the bonnet again. Works perfectly on mine

[Bosh 964]

Thanks for the reply Renmure

Do I presume correctly by inspection compartment you mean the compartment with the battery isolator switch? If so space in mine looks very tight as it has the CD changer. How far up does the connector plug come, will I need an extension lead to enable connection

Thanks D

PS The Cig lighter is powered with the ignition off unlike the Porsche, so thats also an option with the correct lead

Edited by Bosh 964 on Wednesday 26th December 16:58

[renmure]

This link from Club Scuderia should help.
http://www.clubscuderia.com/forum/showthread.php?t...

You wont need an extension. The connector ends up fairly accessable and is simple to connect to.

Jim

Edited by renmure on Wednesday 26th December 17:07

[Bosh 964]

Thanks to all for the advice and links. Following the Scud chat link Ive decided to go the cigar lighter route and ordered the appropriate optimate lead