Ferrari Mailing List: Re: 308 Door Problems

[Charles Perry (charles]

My Diablo did the same thing. The scissor doors have a switch mounted in them, and when they close, the switch touches the door jamb and should turn the door courtesy lights off. Only mine didn’t, and I killed the battery many times in the course of tracing that issue. Once found it was a super-simple fix – A little piece of metal 1/16” thick, attached to the door jamb with double sided tape. That stood just proud enough to make sure the switch touched and broke the contact. A tiny, if critical, adjustment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

From: Ferrari <ferrari-bounces+charles=carolinasound.com [at] ferrarilist.com> On Behalf Of Peter Rychel
Sent: Sunday, June 17, 2018 12:09 AM
To: Charles Perry <charles [at] carolinasound.com>
Cc: 'The FerrariList' <ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com>
Subject: Re: [Ferrari] 308 Door Problems

 

I might add, that when I experienced the door light problem, I had the interior lights turned off (or at least one of them, the others in the cabin were not functioning), so there was no apparent sign that the door jam switch wasn’t turned off.

 

Now that I’ve fixed the interior lights, I have them set to the “on when doors open” phase, so that if there is ever a problem like this again, it will be very obvious.

 

Another improvement was switching to Philips LED bulbs as I’ve found that when the old tungsten lights were on for a prolonged period of time, they got considerably warm. The new LEDs? Stone cold...

 

Peter

 

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

 

 

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From: Ferrari <ferrari-bounces+dino308gt4=hotmail.com [at] ferrarilist.com> on behalf of Doug & Terri <dnt [at] dock.net>
Sent: Saturday, June 16, 2018 7:29:35 AM
To: PeterGT4
Cc: 'The FerrariList'
Subject: [Ferrari] 308 Door Problems

 

Those 308’s – tsk tsk.  Their doors seem to be the root cause of several problems:

• Rust in doors because dirt clogs the weep holes
• Those pesky door lights running down our battery
• And the hinges - - zerk fittings.  Don’t forget them at lube time.

Onward

DOUG

 

From: Grahame Reinthal [mailto:grahame [at] reinthal.com.au]
Sent: Saturday, June 16, 2018 12:54 AM
To: Doug & Terri <dnt [at] dock.net>
Cc: The FerrariList <ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com>
Subject: RE: [Ferrari] Out of state purchase

 

Had the exact same problem some years ago with my 308gt4, battery going flat and having to jump start it.  The little red light on the door not turning off when the door was shut because the switch was loose.  I discovered this cause when I parked the car in a dark garage and as I walked away I noticed a red glow coming from the gap in the door jamb.  A mini Eureka moment!

Cheers,

Grahame

 

From: Ferrari <ferrari-bounces+grahame=reinthal.com.au [at] ferrarilist.com> On Behalf Of Doug & Terri
Sent: Saturday, 16 June 2018 4:45 PM
To: Grahame <grahame [at] reinthal.com.au>
Cc: 'The FerrariList' <ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com>
Subject: Re: [Ferrari] Out of state purchase

 

Good Job Peter

DOUG

 

From: Peter Rychel [mailto:dino308gt4 [at] hotmail.com]
Sent: Friday, June 15, 2018 10:58 PM
To: Doug & Terri <dnt [at] dock.net>
Cc: 'The FerrariList' <ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com>
Subject: RE: [Ferrari] Out of state purchase

 

I had a similar issue a few years after I had purchased my GT4. A dead battery not long after a previous drive. Checked this, checked that, I couldn’t find it. I can’t remember why I checked this, but I thought, maybe the switch isn’t turning off for the courtesy lights in the door. So, grabbing a flashlight, turning the lights off in the garage, I could see the faint glow of the red lights through the door jam. Bingo. I took the door switches out, cleaned them thoroughly and made sure they were truly disconnecting when the doors shut tight.

 

Peter

 

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

 

 

From: Doug & Terri
Sent: June 15, 2018 11:37 AM
To: PeterGT4
Cc: 'The FerrariList'
Subject: Re: [Ferrari] Out of state purchase

 

Martin notes "Hard to believe that the clock and radio alone can drain the battery so quickly."

Its not just the clock and the radio anymore.  While the following may not be a participant to your battery drain a Ford tech friend (working out of a SoCal dealership) of mine was faced with a Bronco, a brand new one, that ate a battery in three days.  Whaaa?  Ayep.  Traced this, traced that, replaced batteries - to no avail.  He finally got an answer from their US wide data base out of Minnesota.  The problem?  It was the anti-lock braking system (ABS).  Huh?  Ayep yet again.  Bad ground.  Whaaa yet again?  Seems that when the vehicle was parked and shut off the computer picked up a "locked" RF wheel.  It continually tried to unlock it and allow it to roll before sensing another phony "lock up" problem.  That gobbled electrons like crazy - poooof no battery in three days.

SO - while your TR may not have an electronic ABS there may be a creepy parasitic drain that is nearly untraceable.  Thing to do is disconnect the battery ground at the post, disconnect the. Clock and radio (via fuses if possible) and at night - to insure it's real dark just touch the ground terminal with battery clamp.  Even a tiny tiny spark suggests a parasitic drain somewhere.  If that occurs find someone to trace components using the "voltage drop" test.  DON'T just use an ohm meter.  An ohm meter will give you bad "good results" if just one tiny strand of wire is still in the circuit.  That is it would report that a starter main wire is "good" if only one strand of wire remains between the battery and starter in an otherwise bad current conducting wire.  This most likely isn’t your problem as your starter seems to jump to life with a well charged battery.

The other trick to do is just do as you have - use the switch.  Whatever is eating your battery may make no never mind as you enjoy your car.  Be glad your TR isn’t OBDII - that system has more computers than a Saturn V and no car sold in the USofA from model year 1996 forward is without it.  It pertains to emissions.

Onward and good luck
DOUG

-----Original Message-----
From: Ferrari [mailto:ferrari-bounces+dnt=dock.net [at] ferrarilist.com] On Behalf Of Martin Stark
Sent: Friday, June 15, 2018 10:11 AM
To: DOUG <dnt [at] dock.net>
Cc: The FerrariList <ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com>
Subject: Re: [Ferrari] Out of state purchase

I should add that's there's no Ferrari content in my question. So to include a little I can report that upon my return from points south my
'87 TR fired right up after sitting all winter. That's been the case since I began turning off the battery switch whenever the car going to be sitting idle for more than a couple of weeks.  Hard to believe that the clock and radio alone can drain the battery so quickly.

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