Hey guys, so the stupid android auto head unit I installed drained my battery flat. So flat that I cant charge it.

I was finally able to get the trunk opeen to try and charge the battery - but it wont charge.

Anyhow, the issue I;m having is that the trunk is not opening ALL THE WAY.

I need to open it more, but I dont want to force it open and break the mechanism. When I open the trunk, i get a lot of resistance from the pistons. Is there anything I need to do to open it fully?

 

Hello @ttpopo ,
You should have no resistance, or very little, try lowering the lid by hand a bit, try a couple of up and down motions by hand, until you get it fully opened.

What are you using for a charger, I had the same issue last night, somebody unplugged my CTEK US 7002, therefore my house battery was stone dead, the CTEK, eventhough it appeared to be charging, could not do the job, even after an hour plus, the house battery would barely light the trunk and interior lights, I had to hit the ignition to the left a few times to engage the parallel solenoid, then my trunk latch locked on it's own, the alarm kept going off, I had to run up to the shop to grab my other charger, I gave the house battery a couple of 75 amp charges for 3 minutes at a time, then set it to 10 amp charge / maintain, then by pushing the boot close button, the lock mechanism went through it's cycles and reset itself, all good now as for as lid operation.

I am not sure, but i believe that I heard that your year and newer Flying Spur's received a second trunk lid lift motor, so that you have one on each side, whereas, i only have one on the passenger side, therefore, if true, the two motors mat explain the amount of resistance you are experiencing, as I said, I am not sure on this.

Did you turn your ignition key to the left to engage the emergency start procedure, this will engage the parallel solenoid switch to tie the house battery and the starter battery together in parallel, not series, therfore supplying power for the house battery circuits, your trunk lock mechanism and the lift mechanism may need re-adaption, which should happen automatically upon pressing the Boot Close button on the underside of the trunk lid, BUT, just be sure that your house battery is fully charged.

Johnny

 

Thanks for your rapid replay mate. I tried the accessory starting procedure - but no dice. The good news is that it looks liek the main battery is not dead. I hooked it up to my schumaker 6A/2A charger and got 50% reading. I let that go for a bit and did not hget the reset/relay from the charger that I was hgettong with the house battery. i took it off after 10 min - and put it on the CTEK charger.

the resistance certainly feels like a second motor resistance - so I wont be messing with that. You think that if can charge it up enough to start, the trunk release may work?

Lastly - i heard the house battery can be any H8 battery. That would be great - as the local oreilly/napa only show ONE battery in their log for the car.

 

@ttpopo ,
Yes, it is odd, even AutoZone only lists one battery for a 2015 Flying Spur, the H-5, yet it requires the H-5 and the H-8.
I used AGM batteries for both, as the house battery requires AGM, whereas the starter battery is a standard lead acid type.

Edit: Yes, if you get the engine started, and let it run for say 10 minutes, then by pushing the boot button, the latch mechanism and the lift motor/s should go through their reset operation, mine did last night.

Johnny
.

 

Well, the CTEK is still charging the main/starter battery - so I guess thats a good sign. I had the ctek (maserati branded) hooked up to the magnetic charger overnight. I came out this AM to see a RED led indicating no charging.

I'm hoping that the starter will get teh car running, but if the main battery is DEAD - wont that throw all sorts of codes? as the the car needs the main battery to run?

I dont want to worsen the predicament. I have a regular old school schumaker charger. I heard that AGM batetries need a special charger for them to not fry a battery. Truth or fiction?

@Johnny Hotspur GT Thanks for all of you help on this - and other issues. I owe you some Maitais and an inter-

island flight tour. Please let me know if you ever get out this way.

 

What is your first name?

 

@ttpopo ,
Just to clarify, as you just stated that your CTEK is still charging the "main/starter battery", not batteries, or the house battery, versus the starter battery, I just want to be clear that you are charging the battery on the left facing the trunk, that is the house battery, the right side battery is strictly the starter battery, or it becomes the emergency backup by way of parallel solenoid switch, just as, if the starter battery was dead, then by turning the ignition key to the left the same would happen for the starter battery, the house battery in parallel then sends power to the starter battery to start the engine, I hope I didn't make that confusing 😳.

Once the engine is running, the alternator is putting out the power to run all accessories, the vehicle is not just running off of the house battery, the alternator and the battery work together.

As to a special charger, the CTEK US 7002 says that it does "Wet, MF, AGM, GEL, and Ca", so I am not so sure on a specific charger needed, I have used my standard 2/6/10/75 AMP charger with maintenance cycle on both the standard and AGM batteries, I have seen no issues.

Johnny
.

 

@Johnny Hotspur GT I'm charging the RIGHT/starter battery. The main/house battery would not take a charge.

 

Ok, understood.
Does your dash light up at all, do you hear the parallel solenoid switch in the trunk when you turn the key to the left, it should be a thud kind of sound, you definitely want to replace the house battery before even attempting to do anything with trunk lid.

Johnny

 

I got NOTHING for the dash. Replacing the battery will be a challenge with the trunk not opening up all the way...but I'll have to figure something out. Do you think the car will start and run with a dead main, and charger starter?

Lastly - any recommendation on an H8? I was thinking to go with this one.

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/platinum/super-start-platinum-agm-battery-group-size-49-h8/ssbu/49pltj?q=h8+battery&pos=2

 

Ok, since you have nothing at the dash, do you have a set of jumper cables, if so, since your parallel solenoid seems to not be working, I would run my jumpers from
the starter battery to the house battery, PLEASE, be mindful of the polarity of each connection, as I can not 100 % comment of the 2015 FS layout, but, as I have always seen in GT'S and Spur's, the house battery has the negative post towards the rear of the vehicle, whereas the starter battery has the negative post towards the front of the vehicle, by hooking the jumpers in place, you are making your own parallel connection, if the house battery is so dead, you may want to remove the negative cable from the house battery, and connect the negative jumper to the vehicle cable itself, not the negative post of the dead battery, this way, the dead battery is out of the picture, eventhough the positive side is still connected to the house battery, the negative isn't, I have done this myself during my rebuild without issue.

I would though, give a little pressure up and down on the trunk lid to gain easier access.

Your link says "page not found"..

Johnny

 

Edited the Link - its working now.

Whats the reason for the jumper cable trial - to see if we can charge that battery? I was thinking that maybe my schumaker charger was not compatible with the AGM type battery - and thats why it would click off?

or is the jumper - so that the car can run - so I can open the trunk to complete the battery swap?

 

Two things, being that your charger is kicking off, as in, it cant supply the demand required, then remove both negative cables from their batteries, then try your charger on the house battery, your may have an issue with a large draw from the vehicle, therefore kicking out your charger, or the house battery may have internally shorted, therefore kicking your charger off, so let's test that.

EDIT:
BE SURE TO PUT THE NEGATIVE CABLE BACK ON THE STARTER BATTERY AFTER TESTING YOUR CHARGER ON THE HOUSE BATTERY.

As to my jumper suggestion, yes, it is to start the vehicle, and to get the trunk fully open, just make sure your connections are firmly connected.

I will check the link now.

Johnny

 

Ok, so I got home and the starter battery got fully charged with the CTEK. I picked up a new H8 and a new style AGM compatible charger. I hooked that one up to the main battery and saw it had 6.8V. The slow charge got it to 7.6V in a few minutes. There was none of the weird relay sounds or anything. This was a huge plus.

Then I understood what @Johnny Hotspur GT was talking about re: the alarm going off. that started. Then I saw light on in the car, and the ignition released my KEY!

I Think im making progress. I'll let this new charger run its 30A boost mode, then it will drop into trickle mode. I'm hoping that the H8 battery can be saved. Hopefully...it can. At any rate. I've learned a LOT of lessons through this all!

UPDATE: Battery is not holding a charge, its back to 6.5. i think its toast....kwaaa kwaaaaaaa

 

Good morning @ttpopo ,
You are probably still sleeping 😴 💤...

I would say that it is time to install the new H8 battery, the link you posted shows the correct battery.

What is the age and brand of the existing H8 in the vehicle ?

Johnny