| Author |
Message |
billy bob (Fatbillybob)
Junior Member
Username: Fatbillybob
Post Number: 126
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 31, 2002 - 12:25 am: | |
Inertia switch? I did not think Ferrari was capable of 1)properly placeing such a switch, 2) Getting one that actually work.
Ferrari elctricals are scary. Which car with Airbags would you rather be "hit" in a Ferrari or a Chevy...assuming you want your Airbag to work? |
Jeff B. (Miltonian)
New member
Username: Miltonian
Post Number: 21
Registered: 12-2002
| | Posted on Monday, December 30, 2002 - 7:35 pm: | |
I had mysterious flashing lights in my VW Corrado, they would come on while driving, sometimes in the middle of the night I'd look out in the driveway and they would be flashing away by themselves. Eventually turned out to be the control module for the factory alarm system, as JRV mentioned early in this post. Too expensive to replace, so I just jumped the starter leads and bypassed the module, has worked fine for years now. Sounds like a good possibility, for what it's worth. |
Mark Freeman (Mrpc12)
Junior Member
Username: Mrpc12
Post Number: 124
Registered: 11-2001
| | Posted on Monday, December 30, 2002 - 5:42 pm: | |
Billy:
I've rubbed my head and scratched various body parts but to no avail...
I went to the shop and talked to the technician working on my car and we're pretty sure it's the inertia switch. The new one came in today so hopefully, I'll get my car back tomorrow. Thanks for all the advice. |
JRV (Jrvall)
Member
Username: Jrvall
Post Number: 439
Registered: 11-2002
| | Posted on Saturday, December 28, 2002 - 1:50 pm: | |
Billy, Inertia Switches typically sit in an area accesible from the outside but close to either the fuel pump/gas tank itself or the fuse block...(i'd have to look up the 550 location). The reason they need to be accesible from the outside is to reset/replace them...while there are several different design types (some contain a steel ball, others mercury) the principle of all are the same and act exactly like the mercury switch in a home Heating/AC Thermost wall unit. |
billy bob (Fatbillybob)
Junior Member
Username: Fatbillybob
Post Number: 114
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Saturday, December 28, 2002 - 12:11 pm: | |
Mark,
Have you tried rubbing your head and patting your belly rotating three times and then start your car? Even Modern Ferraris have funny electrical systems!
JRV,
I have actually never seen an inertia switch. What do they look like and where do they hide them typically...not in the 550 discussion? Are they an actual switch like a relay that shorts to ground or are they some type of solid state transistor in the modern ECU? I.E. dealer not serviceable without R&R of ECU's? |
JRV (Jrvall)
Member
Username: Jrvall
Post Number: 423
Registered: 11-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 24, 2002 - 1:50 pm: | |
Red, it seems that if the cars sit for an extended period, upon putting back in service the speedo's sometimes don't work.
97-99's had some type of problem with the speedo-sender/speed signal switches. One of my customers has a 99...he called the local dealer and they told him 'common problem' come in for the update...this only happened a couple weeks ago so I haven't had a chance to get the feedback...I think he was intially told some type of connection/connector problem...I checked it all and didn't see anything other than the right speed sensor wire looks to close to the ground strap..wouldn't surprise me if that has future potential problem written on it.
Mark, sure it could be the inertia switch....I tend to think logicaly, 'example: maybe the nail in the tire is why it's leaking air rather than some mystery problem...'
but that's just me, and doesn't mean it always works that way, but it's usually where I start.
Regards, JRV
|
Red (Redhead)
Junior Member
Username: Redhead
Post Number: 93
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 24, 2002 - 1:13 pm: | |
JRV--What Spedo sensor update are you talking about? I have never heard of this on a 550???
Mark---The Fuel pump inertia switch is a switch that turns off the fuel pump automaticly when the car rolls over to prevent a fire. It also turns on the hazard lights if it is activated. If you had OnStar, it would call them as well. It is a saftey feature that all most new electric fuel pump cars. |
Mark Freeman (Mrpc12)
Junior Member
Username: Mrpc12
Post Number: 121
Registered: 11-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 24, 2002 - 11:10 am: | |
Thanks, JRV. I've called them and told them to check the alarm. Now, they said they think it might be the inertia switch. What's that? |
JRV (Jrvall)
Member
Username: Jrvall
Post Number: 422
Registered: 11-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 24, 2002 - 9:21 am: | |
have you tried turning on & off the alarm with the remote and/or resetting it ? if that doesn't work, have whomever was fiddling with the alarm system check their work, yes it sounds possible they may have overlooked something.
did they update your speedo sender while they updated the alarm? if not when you go back ask them if your yr/model needs the speedo update...if so you can kill 2 birds with one stone. |
Mark Freeman (Mrpc12)
Junior Member
Username: Mrpc12
Post Number: 120
Registered: 11-2001
| | Posted on Monday, December 23, 2002 - 10:03 pm: | |
No. It has the factory installed alarm system. |
Ming Cheng (Onlinesys)
Junior Member
Username: Onlinesys
Post Number: 100
Registered: 5-2002
| | Posted on Monday, December 23, 2002 - 9:55 pm: | |
Hi Mark,
Did you or the previous owner installed a third party alarm system? I did have similar problem on my 456 but was worse than you as the Immobilizer was kicked in everyting was cut off!
|
Mark Freeman (Mrpc12)
Junior Member
Username: Mrpc12
Post Number: 119
Registered: 11-2001
| | Posted on Monday, December 23, 2002 - 9:43 pm: | |
Gee. Do you think the "siren" they replaced last week under a campaign could be the cause? |
JRV (Jrvall)
Member
Username: Jrvall
Post Number: 420
Registered: 11-2002
| | Posted on Monday, December 23, 2002 - 5:04 pm: | |
the alarm systems overide the flasher button and trigger flashing parking lights. |
Mark Freeman (Mrpc12)
Junior Member
Username: Mrpc12
Post Number: 118
Registered: 11-2001
| | Posted on Monday, December 23, 2002 - 2:31 pm: | |
Anyone ever hear of this happening on a 550? They started flashing all by themselves and the switch has no effect. I took it into the dealer and they have had it for days trying to find the problem. |