what is Italian tune up?

 

An Italian tune up is driving it like you stole it !!!

 

Back in the old days when performance cars were not very good at driving slow, as you know the plugs would foul up, carb jets and needles could get gummed up from fuel sitting too long.

An Italian tune up is basically taking it out for a good hoon, getting it good & hot and cleaning up the combustion chambers & fuel system!

 

I thought Italian tune was taking it down the end of the street, parking and having a nice Italian meatball sub and cappuccino and then driving back to the workshop and handing a bill to the customer...wait aren't we talking about Ferrari's here?? lol

 

I guess a British tune up would be having a cup of tea and a bacon sandwich, banging on all the Lucas components with a hammer until the electrics function again and handing a bill to the customer.

 

^^^ hahaha yup pretty much ... here ya go mate! (Burp)!

 

What this dealer said is very true! It is best not to start a car up that is in storage and let it "idle" this is actually doing more harm than good. When storing a car its best to properly store it than start it when you are actually ready to use it (spring). Not only that, if you live in a cold climate the oil viscosity might not be ideal to start a car in these cold conditions which causes even more damage. More than likely from the long idle times, its possible you could have fouled out some plugs. In order to get to the spark plugs I'm pretty sure the intake manifold has to come off so its not a "easy" job by any means.

 

I have an 07 DB9 Sport with 27k on it. I have the typical AM battery issues. In fact it just happened to me last week. Battery went dead and "Emission Service" light went on. It has done it before.

IGNORE IT. Make sure your gas cap seal is clean and cap is tight. Drive it for a few hundred miles and it will go out on its own.

WORSE CASE is go into AM and have them reset the code. If it immediately comes back on you may have an issue but I'll bet you 3 beers it doesn't.

There's not a SNOWBALLS CHANCE I would go spend $5k. Your wasting your time & money.

With respect to battery tenders, you can buy a fully electronic 2A smart charger for $40 at Canadian Tire... if your patient they go on sale every once in a while for $25. It has a cigarette lighter adapter and I plug it right into the cigarette lighter interface thing in the trunk... works like a jet!!!

http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/mo...l#.U1hBFF6_fVk

 

I don't have any battery issues with my 2005. If I know the car won't be used with 2 weeks I hit the battery cut off switch located in the trunk. Our cars have a lot of electronics so its best to use the battery cut off switch to save the battery. However, I have gone over month without using the switch and have had no issues. Maybe your battery is in need of replacing?

 

Just went over to AM today and bought one

 

Cool! Out of curiosity what was the damage? There are plenty of aftermarket alternatives for around $200.

 

Retail was $290 in Canada... probably ~$250 in the US. I had a couple of new HID bulbs I traded back to them so I ended up only shelling out $200

 

Oh wow, definitely not as bad as I thought it would be. Considering an oil filter it $60-70 bucks I figured a battery would be north of $500 easy..

Now you should be in business! Did they test your old one (load test)?

 

No but Im sure its toast. Ive replaced a lot of batteries in my day and I can tell there are dead or weak cells in it.

If I leave the charger on its ok... if it sits for 24-48 hours its nearly dead.

Its an original battery... 7 years is its lifespan... Im good with it.

For $200 Im not getting stranded

 

I think the AM batter tender is just a Ctek with the AML branded logo on it, oh and of course that demands a premium markup! lol