| Author | Message | ||
| Jens Haller (Jh280774)
Junior Member Username: Jh280774 Post Number: 231 Registered: 9-2001 |
Justin, Just saw you are from UK! Perhaps you are also interested in attending our first european Ferrarichat track meeting at the Nürburgring next june? Lots of people from the UK are also attending, most of them are users of www.pistonheads.com as well like Manu, Eli, Amar etc. Just look at the european section of Ferrarichat and you can have a look at the scheduled programm, estimated costs, attendants etc. Would be nice if you join us for this small meeting! Con saluti cordialissimi, Jens Haller | ||
| Justin Randall Kenyon (Kenyon)
Junior Member Username: Kenyon Post Number: 81 Registered: 10-2002 |
Jens, You have taken me the wrong way. No hard feeling and none taken. I am always asked about the BHP, no problem like to share my thoughts and experiences. Craig, Whats this about pistonheads.com, I am user of the website. Must check it out. Are you in the UK FOC ? John & Craig, My car is a 1994 348 Spider LHD, purchased from Germany dealership via the BBC film services. The car has been used a BBC drama called 'IN DEEP' being shown this Feb starting Nick Berry. Anyway back to the ECU topic. The car was remapped in Germany,I bought the car this way. I have only had the car dyno checked. The work was done by Dimex and also www.hs-electronik.com They have remapping readings on this site. I changed the cambelt for peace of mind so I had the cam cover repainted and vlaves & seats polished given me the 365 bhp, approximately 15 bhp more. The heads were already gas-flowed. The remapping company hs-electronik and Dimex show 350 bhp by just chipping it. Looking at my performance figures they are close to the standard F355. Not able to compare, because I have never driven a F355. I hope this explains things. | ||
| John J Stecher (Jjstecher)
Member Username: Jjstecher Post Number: 352 Registered: 1-2002 |
Justin - Where did you get your chips from for you 348, and do they make them for the earlier model 1990-1992 cars. I have talked with superchips shop in Chicago and they will do the conversion but I have to send them both ECU's so they will can sodder in the new chips. Just curious as to where you got your chips done? I need a little more hp in the Ferrari now to keep up with my newly finished V8 Porsche 914 conversion on the track!! | ||
| John J Stecher (Jjstecher)
Member Username: Jjstecher Post Number: 351 Registered: 1-2002 |
Jens, Ya we talked a while back when you were thinking about getting a Tubi for the first time. The 30hp is really noticable as far as drivability is conserned. The car will no actually pull with some force from less than 2500RPMs in 5 gear. The biggest place I have noticed the extra hp is when accellerating after holding the car constant at something like 5000RPMs in 3rd gear. You just roll along at 5000RPMs for a little bit then nail the gas and she launches forward like nothing else. The accelleration here is the most noticeable change beside the driveability factor I listed above. Here are my G-tech stats before and after the changes as well: Stock - 0-60 5.6 seconds 1/4mi 13.8@104 Modified - 0-60 5.2 seconds 1/4mi 13.2@110 I want to install some superchips as well but am still thinking the deal through in my head after the problems that Chris Parr on here had. I dynoed a car with them in and the same exhaust/intake setup I currently have a got 342hp out of it, so well the extra 12hp may look nice on paper I dont know how much difference it will make in the car. | ||
| Jens Haller (Jh280774)
Junior Member Username: Jh280774 Post Number: 229 Registered: 9-2001 |
John, Yeah than it was you I was refering to! Glad to hear that the number is realistic. Did you actually notice the power difference while driving on a highway? 30hp should be noticeable in some way, aren�t they? Con saluti cordialissimi, Jens Haller | ||
| John J Stecher (Jjstecher)
Member Username: Jjstecher Post Number: 350 Registered: 1-2002 |
Jens, The Tubi, Cat bypass, and K&N will give you around 30 as you are predicting. One my 1990 348 I have dynoed the car with those exact mods in place versus the stock configuration and made approximately 28 more hp at the flywheel when factoring in 16% power loss in the tranny. The 16% was calculated by the rear wheel hp number generated on the first run with the stock configuration divided by the claimed 300bhp from Ferrari. Good luck with you mods man I am sure you will love them. | ||
| Craig Williams (Craigw)
Junior Member Username: Craigw Post Number: 56 Registered: 4-2002 |
Justin, was the ECU remapping expensive & would that alone make much difference ? ps. have you seen thread on pistonheads: low flying for uk porsche people ? You should come along. http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?p=1&f=48&t=26295&h=0 | ||
| Jens Haller (Jh280774)
Junior Member Username: Jh280774 Post Number: 228 Registered: 9-2001 |
Justin, I wasn�t questioning your hp stats in any way! Sorry for my bad english! Just wanted to know whether you think that a 30hp power gain can be reached by just installing K&N air filters, a Tubi sport exhaust and some Tubi test pipes like I am going to do. Do you think that the 30hp gain sounds realistic with these three components? Basically this was my only question since you seem to be very experienced with power mods on your 348. Con saluti cordialissimi, Jens Haller P.S. Know Dimex as well. Seem to be a good and upright company to me although not as well known as K�nig or Hamann | ||
| Justin Randall Kenyon (Kenyon)
Junior Member Username: Kenyon Post Number: 80 Registered: 10-2002 |
Please check out the following websites that supply the results and ECU remapping that was done on my car, as stated below. With the chipping of the ECU 350 BHP can be acheived. My car got more horsepower with having the valves & seats polished and head gas flowed. www.hs-elektronik.com (german based company) and Dimex Automotive Group - (Letter from Dimex to me) Dear Mr. Kenyon Thank's for your inquiry for imola-racing performance parts. We attach the price and product list as pdf-file, so you can see all available products. We hope to hear from you again and if you have some further question, pls. don't hesitate to contact us. Best regards Heiko Seidemann Dimex Automotive Group Tel. +49 611-9740925 Fax +49 611-9740926 Do you believe my know ???? Please let me know !!! I cannot uplaod Dimex 40 BHP upgrade ecu chip. I will e-mail you it. | ||
| Jens Haller (Jh280774)
Junior Member Username: Jh280774 Post Number: 227 Registered: 9-2001 |
Justin, Wow, Really lots of mods you did there! Just handed over the Tubi exhaust, the test pipes and the K&N to the mechanic! On Ferrarichat someone from the US (Don�t know anymore who it was) said that with this configuration he dynoed the car with 330hp. Do you think this is realistic? You reached 365hp with all your mods so it might perhaps be not too wrong! Con saluti cordialissimi, Jens Haller | ||
| Justin Randall Kenyon (Kenyon)
Junior Member Username: Kenyon Post Number: 79 Registered: 10-2002 |
No point ruining the cats by removing the insides. They cost �800 pounds a cat. Should be kept when the car is sold on to a new owner or they might be needed at some stage. Test pipes are not expensive. I ordered tubi test pipes and copied and had a set made out of highly polished 316 stainless dairy pipe (orbital welded)used in the pharmacuetical industry, better then tubi 314L stainless steel test pipes and sent them back. Their is nothing to the design, nearly straight pipes. Orbital welded meaning a seamless weld. My performance figures show the results. My Performance 0-100 km/h - 4.7 sec / 0-60 mph - 4.6 sec Top speed is 295 Km/h / 183 mph Max Rpm Limit - 8200 rpm Max Power Output � 269 Kw / 365 bhp (PS) at 7,800 rpm Max Torque � 375Nm / 278 lbs/ft at 5,200 rpm My Performance Upgrades Dimex/H&S Electronik Engine Upgrades � ECU/Ignition/Injection Mapping Upgrade, Adjustable Bosch Fuel Regulator Upgrade, Tubi Design Non Cat-316L Polished Stainless Steel �Free Flowing� Exhaust System, Optimasation of Airflow with K&N Filter System, NGK Platinum Racing Plugs, Gas Flowed heads with polished valves & seats. Fiorano Handling Set-up � Ventilated Tarox Brakes Disc, 4-Pot Brembo Calipars, Momo 18� Light Alloy (8.5 & 10.0) Rims, Bilstein Adjustable Dampers, Eibach Sport Coil Springs with anti-roll bar configurations. Regards, Justin | ||
| Craig Williams (Craigw)
Junior Member Username: Craigw Post Number: 55 Registered: 4-2002 |
when my cats were removed they found that there was nothing in them, the previous owner had removed all the innards. Having changed them to test pipes has made a huge difference, much louder&better sound, more power. | ||
| Jens Haller (Jh280774)
Junior Member Username: Jh280774 Post Number: 224 Registered: 9-2001 |
Amar, Hope we can see at Spa in april! Rob, Will give them a very good review if everything works out fine. Sadly I seem to be the only frequent german FChat member with a Ferrari so it won�t have such a great impact. Jeff, Indeed it should have the same effect if you can "gut" the cats. But can you technically do that? I don�t know to be honest! Thanks for all the info and advices after all! Helped me a lot at least for psychological reason. After all it seemed to be right to keep on searching for an honest independent shop with very good technical knowledge! But believe me here in Germany they are hard to find... Con saluti cordialissimi, Jens Haller | ||
| Jeff B. (Miltonian)
Junior Member Username: Miltonian Post Number: 95 Registered: 12-2002 |
Jens: If your cats are gone, can't you just gut them (cat gut?) and use them for "test pipes" instead of the Tubis? | ||
| Rob Schermerhorn (Rexrcr)
Junior Member Username: Rexrcr Post Number: 168 Registered: 11-2002 |
Jens, great news, there is always hope that our fellow man is not always out to take advantage of the situation and requests only fair compensation. Please, if you are pleased with how the repair goes, give the shop a good review on FerrariChat with contact information. | ||
| Amar Inam (Amar360)
Junior Member Username: Amar360 Post Number: 77 Registered: 10-2002 |
Jens, Read the good news on the other thread and delighted that this nightmare is finally ending for you. Do write when you finally get the car back - and after you've had the celebratory blast with it on the road! And I look forward to meeting you at Nurburgring if not sooner. A presto, Amar | ||
| Jens Haller (Jh280774)
Junior Member Username: Jh280774 Post Number: 223 Registered: 9-2001 |
Forgot to mention that the shop also found out that both cats are gone! How good I bought Tubi test pipes several month ago which are still lying at home! So this damage just made me smile when the mechanic told me!  Never thought that I would laugh about something like that one time! Con saluti cordialissimi, Jens Haller P.S. The mechanic also told me that he hasn�t seen such a clean 348 for quite a while apart from the transmission and the cats. | ||
| TomD (Tifosi)
Intermediate Member Username: Tifosi Post Number: 2484 Registered: 9-2001 |
good to hear - hope your back on the road soon | ||
| Jens Haller (Jh280774)
Junior Member Username: Jh280774 Post Number: 218 Registered: 9-2001 |
Manu, Glad you like the book although it is a little bit older. Again thanks for your kind help with the call at Norman Marshall! Still the repair ain�t cheap but compared to the horrible prices mentioned at the beginning it was a true relieve to find an honest shop with reasonable prices and the will and knowledge to rebuilt the gearbox. Repair will be finished somewhere next week! Con saluti cordialissimi, Jens Haller | ||
| Manu (Manu)
Member Username: Manu Post Number: 632 Registered: 2-2002 |
Thank GOD the saga is finally over Jens.... I felt absolutely awful for you when you first told me about it - you MUST have considered selling the car!! At last it's over and for 2700 Euros too! You must have breathed a HUGE sigh of relief.... BTW - Did you get my email - thanks very much for the book mate - totally unecessary but very much appreciated! Cheers! Stick the Tubi on too - you'll love it! | ||
| Jens Haller (Jh280774)
Junior Member Username: Jh280774 Post Number: 217 Registered: 9-2001 |
Last update: Finally found an independent shop which wants to repair my transmission. He just opened the whole unit and told me that quite some parts are broken but he orders them from Ferrari and the whole work plus parts will cost me: 2700 Euro Additionally he will give me a warranty of one year that nothing breaks again and says that with all the parts and the alignment of them it will be exactly like a rebuilt transmission (Remember what this rip off dealer wanted for the rebuilt transmission without built in? Just look down on my previous posts!) Man, Enzo must have smiled down on me from heaven today From 10000 Euro down to 2700 Euro! That�s not bad, isn�t it? Will most probably built in the K&N air filter, the Tubi exhaust and the Tubi test pipes as well all in once. Really keen on being on the road again in the near future! Con saluti cordialissimi, Jens Haller | ||
| Jens Haller (Jh280774)
Junior Member Username: Jh280774 Post Number: 167 Registered: 9-2001 |
Hi guys, Just wanted to update you about my situation: Lately found a shop which wants to open the gearbox to examine. Just the thing the mechanic says is that it first cost you a lot of time to actually open the box and then the costs very fast become as high as a whole exchange transmission since parts for the gearbox are deadly expensive and mounting time is high. Now I have three options: 1. Buy a brand new exchange transmission from Ferrari Germany which cost my stunning 10000 Euro plus around 1000 Euro for building in. (Anyone can lend me some money for that?) 2. Buy a generally rebuilt transmission from a dealer with one year warranty which costs me 6500 Euro plus built in another 1000 Euro 3. Buy a used transmission from a british vehicle salvage company which has run under 20000 miles (As much as my one when it broke apart by the way!). I have never actually seen this unit and don�t know in which condition it is (Can�t be evaluated without opening the gearbox which I can�t do before having bought it!)! This would cost me 3750 Euro plus mounting. Advantage would be that I can resell my transmission for let�s hope around 1000 Euro to some rebuilt dealer here in Germany. Problem is that I can�t be sure that the new "used" transmission breaks down after some miles as my old one has done. 4. Give it to the above mentioned shop for examination. Most probable result will be that he tells me that the repair is as expensive as an exchange transmission and I have to pay for this diagnosis plus the new gearbox plus the mounting. So what shall I do now? Really a difficult and most probably very expensive decision. Any opinions would be greatly appreciated Con saluti cordialissimi, Jens Haller | ||
| Tom Bakowsky (Tbakowsky)
Junior Member Username: Tbakowsky Post Number: 143 Registered: 9-2002 |
Maybe you should try an independant shop who works on exotics. The trans can be removed with the engine still in the car. It's not a difficult job at all. I'd say for an experianced tech it should take no longer than 3hrs to remove it. The second gear syncro is accessable from the left side of the trans. Remove the side cover undo both ring nuts and slide both gears out and second gear sycro just falls out in your hand. With parts available, this job should take no more than a coulpe of days. I highly doubt and enitre drive gear has come apart. You would know right away that something REALLY bad has gone wrong. | ||
| Jens Haller (Jh280774)
Junior Member Username: Jh280774 Post Number: 158 Registered: 9-2001 |
Sadly I don�t have the ability to work on my own car. 1. I have never worked on any car 2. I have absolutely no equipment and I have heard you need special tools to open the transmission 3. I have no shop I could work on the car Lots of bad conditions, I guess. Thanks for the advice anyway. Con saluti cordialissimi, Jens Haller | ||
| Rob Schermerhorn (Rexrcr)
Junior Member Username: Rexrcr Post Number: 74 Registered: 11-2002 |
I am also skeptical of that diagnosis being so "terminal". One will always find metal flakes in gearbox oil, depends quite a bit on driver. Now if they discovered large chunks, different story. Parts availability should be no different than for any other post 1980's car. I agree, personally (I have the ability) I'd take the 'box apart myself. You need a repair facility with more patience, sounds like they value their time and your money more than continued long-term customer satisfaction. Damage other parts in dissasembly!!?? Got to be kidding! | ||
| Reiner Kaiser (Reinerkaiser)
New member Username: Reinerkaiser Post Number: 45 Registered: 2-2001 |
Jens, this sounds like b.s. to me.... "by opening it we damage other parts.." "parts no longer available"... come on!!! The 348 was one of the most popular Ferraris ever built. Anyways, how skilled are you with cars? Do you have the repair and parts manual? If not, maybe someone can scan some pages with the transmission displayed? A friend of mine had his 348 gearbox blow up, and he managed to repair it himself with no prior knowledge of Ferrari transmissions, just using common sense. If I was in your shoes, I would -take the gearbox apart myself -inspect damage or bring the disassembled parts to an expert (what can be reused, what has to be replaced...) -if it is fixable, get the parts and re-assemble (for example it could "just" be 2nd gear/countergear) -if not, try to locate a used gearbox. They are out there, but a bit hard to come by... -if all else fails, I guess you'll have to bite the bullet and buy a replacement, but only as a very last resort!!! good luck! alles gute! Reiner | ||
| Jens Haller (Jh280774)
Junior Member Username: Jh280774 Post Number: 157 Registered: 9-2001 |
The nightmare goes on: The shop which my car is now in says it is too complicated to open the whole drivetrain and that there are too many parts not available any more from Ferrari. They searched the oil of the drivetrain and found lots of particels of steel from the gears. They say they can�t repair it anymore because by opening the whole unit they have to damage other parts bla, bla, bla. Now comes the best: The exchange drivetrain from Ferrari Germany costs 11.500 Euro(!!!) without tax and repair. With repair I am in for around 13000 Euro plus I have to do the 40000km inspection this year which costs me another 4000 Euro. Altogether these are repair costs of roughly 17000 Euro which is nearly half the amount of money the car costed me to buy it!!! If I can�t find a used drivetrain for under the half of a new one I will sell the car and my Ferrari dream has ended here!!! Nobody which has kept one blink of reality spends 18000 Euros for a car per year plus another 2000 Euros for insurance and tax. I love my Ferrari but that is plainly too much. Anybody can help me here with some kind of good advice? Con saluti cordialissimi, Jens Haller | ||
| Jens Haller (Jh280774)
Junior Member Username: Jh280774 Post Number: 145 Registered: 9-2001 |
The strange sounds only appears in second gear plus first is difficult to engage sometimes. No need to replace the whole drivetrain IMO. Just drove to an independent shop which has an own Porsche race team. In their shop was a Porsche 959 and a Testarossa. That kind of made me feel comfortable. They said he cannot tell me anything before opening the drivetrain or at least look at the fluids and their contents whether there can be found some very small particels of the drivetrain (Or something like that!). Although he told me it might be expensive he considered it as highly unprobable that the whole unit needed to be replaced. I will bring the car to them early next year so they can have a look and make a serious estimation of costs. I will be praying that it isn�t that bad till then. Will definitely keep you updated... Con saluti cordialissimi, Jens Haller P.S. Thank you all for your help and your proposals (Matt, Billy, Stanley, Rexcrc, Jeff, Ming, Bart, Martin and Manu  ) | ||
| Martin - Cavallino Motors (Miami348ts)
Advanced Member Username: Miami348ts Post Number: 3482 Registered: 5-2001 |
Jens, there is a shop just west of Frankfurt, they are independent and are VERY VERY good. I am just getting old and can not remember the name. Somebody in the Ferrari scene in Germany should be able to tell you. Since you are only an hour or so away I would give them a try. I mean they are really good. My only fear, this is 10 years ago, they could have changed locations. This is a little town west of H�chst. I think it was Unter Liederbach. Man, for having had my dealership there for 3 years and not remember any town or name, f*ck. Might call the Frankfurt Ferrari dealer and ask them about the shop. I am sure they know them well. Send me an e-mail if you can not locate them and I will have a friend drive by and get you name and number. I am so embarased! | ||
| Martin - Cavallino Motors (Miami348ts)
Advanced Member Username: Miami348ts Post Number: 3481 Registered: 5-2001 |
I am not good with technical stuff so I asked my mechanic what he thought. He said, it could be a gear but without having the car had to diagnose. Could be also the differenzial or the clutch. My differenzial makes some noise. Nothing too bad so nothing to worry. On replacing the whole unit, well I would say exchange the gear but not the whole unit. If one gear is bad just replace this one gear. Definetely get another opinion from another Ferrari mechanic. Might also do the big service at the same time. not sure if this is of any help. Martin | ||
| Bart Boonacker (Sharky666)
Junior Member Username: Sharky666 Post Number: 110 Registered: 9-2002 |
Woow Jens, that's really bad  I hope that the dealer is wrong, because that sure is a lot of money to be spending before it's 40.000 km service. If it is the problem the dealer said it is, could you do a 40.000 km service and the gear change all at once ? that would probably save some money. Good luck on the second opinion IF you can find a decent shop. Btw. your 348 sure is more important then the Fchat meeting, good luck once again. - Bart | ||
| Ming Cheng (Onlinesys)
Junior Member Username: Onlinesys Post Number: 95 Registered: 5-2002 |
Definitely ask for a second opinion. I was told to replace the a/c system on my Maserati Ghibli by one mechanic for US$3k and found out by another mechanic only a little leakage on one of the hose which costed US$90 with parts & labor. It must be some kind of Bull Sxxx without inspecting the car but replacing the whole thing. | ||
| Jens Haller (Jh280774)
Junior Member Username: Jh280774 Post Number: 154 Registered: 9-2001 |
Matt, Jeff, Rexrcr, Actually the clutch was replaced one year ago (That isn�t so long ago since I only drove around 8000km with the car since then, I suppose). All repairs were done by an official Ferrari dealer here in Germany. They are quite good but tend to replace whole units instead of trying to repair things (As done with the new clutch which cost me around 4000 Euro at the time including flywheel change etc.). The manager of the workshop was totally convinced that the whole gear had to be changed after a test drive although he didn�t take a look under the car or something. Will definitely ask another shop but it�s hard to find a good one who wants and can repair Ferraris... Any other help is greatly appreciated... Con saluti cordialissimi, Jens Haller | ||
| jeff ryerson (Atheyg)
Junior Member Username: Atheyg Post Number: 130 Registered: 8-2002 |
FWIW most gears are robust, it would take some serious abuse or a mistake to damage one, usually the spider gears or syncro rings are what fail/disintegrate and cause problems | ||
| jeff ryerson (Atheyg)
Junior Member Username: Atheyg Post Number: 129 Registered: 8-2002 |
The 1st gear should cost around $500.00 and a syncro about $200.00 the rest would be labor to remove the eng/trans and dissassemble the trans I'd take it to a independent shop for a price comparison I wouldn't drive the car anymore, loose parts running around in your trans can really mess things up, some parts can cost 5000.00 alone if you mess them up Good Luck | ||
| Matt Lemus (Mlemus)
Intermediate Member Username: Mlemus Post Number: 1125 Registered: 8-2002 |
Jens, Did the shop that did your clutch look at the problem again or did the Ferrari dealer do it? Get a second opinion and/or have the shift alignment checked. | ||
| Rexrcr (Rexrcr)
New member Username: Rexrcr Post Number: 44 Registered: 11-2002 |
You definitely need a second opinion of the problem. Where are you located, maybe someone on FC can recommend a service facility? Who are you using now? The way you first describe the problem and the fact that it occurred shortly after service leads me to think there could be a very simple solution like shift linkage adjustment. | ||
| Jens Haller (Jh280774)
Junior Member Username: Jh280774 Post Number: 153 Registered: 9-2001 |
My worst nightmares have come true: My Ferrari dealer says the whole gear is done and will quit service sooner or later. They want to replace the whole thing which costs me nice 6000-7000 Euro (=6000-7000$). Can this be true? Have to do the 40000km service shortly which will cost me another 4000 Euro including cambelt change! Has anyone any other idea? Is the driving gear really that expensive? Do you really need to put a new one in? Please help me I am in despair at the moment... Con saluti cordialissimi, Jens Haller | ||
| Stanley DiGuiseppi (Standig)
Junior Member Username: Standig Post Number: 85 Registered: 5-2002 |
If the problem happened shortly after the clutch was replaced I would suggest brigning back to the person who did the clutch. Please let us know how you make out. Stan | ||
| billy bob (Fatbillybob)
Junior Member Username: Fatbillybob Post Number: 93 Registered: 8-2002 |
Could be lots of things. Need more data. Could be still air in clutch. 348 very hard to bleed. Causes funny shifts. could be failure of full travel of T/O bearing due to air in clutch. Shifter not touched during clutch r&R. Not liekly to be problem unless it coinsidentally has come out of adjustment. Could be bad pilot bearing. Many mechanics do not change this. It is a bit harder in the 348 than a regualr car...people are lazy. Gears can make that noise when there is improper load on them. There is an inspection plate on the ass end of the bellhouse reachable when the clucth is out. You can open it and make sure the gear teeth here look normal. 4 348's I know of had improperly staked lock rings on clutch shaft causing gears to misalign. | ||
| Matt Lemus (Mlemus)
Member Username: Mlemus Post Number: 968 Registered: 8-2002 |
The shifter sounds misaligned and the wine is from the diff/clutch. Possible bearing going? Take it back to who did the clutch and have them align the shifter. | ||
| Jens Haller (Jh280774)
Junior Member Username: Jh280774 Post Number: 138 Registered: 9-2001 |
Last several drives with my 1990 348tb I got a very strange sound coming from the engine bay section of my car. When accelerating there was a kind of electrical sirring. This sound got a higher pitch when I increased revs. Especially in second gear you can hear that sound quite good while it is not so loud in other gears. Besides that I noticed that sometimes when stopping at a red light and going in neutral I cannot engage first gear right away (Have to try two or three times then. This happens regardless of the engine temperature so it isn�t cold oil or something!). Second gear is strange as well: When I pull the gear stick to the end of the position where it belongs the electrical sirring or squeaking occurs as well very loud! If you then let the stick slide to the position where it automatically rests everything is OK (Hope somebody understands what I mean!). Perhaps both malfunctions have nothing to do with one another but it is strange that both occured at the same time. I suppose it is just a misaligned clutch (Was replaced totally recently!) which causes the strange sound and the frequent malfunction of first gear (Never had that before. Shifting was quite easy regardless of temperature). Hope somebody who understood my confuse problem can give me a hint! Con saluti cordialissimi, Jens Haller |