New Scud Owner - Have Problems - Need Help

Bittersweet congrats. That must be Knicks car.

I was giving it some consideration when it was listed at FofSV. What turned me away was a combination of knowing its history and the fact that the dealer was mentioning that something needed to be fixed before the car was to be delivered. I don't remember the details but I think the dealer mentioned something related to the transmission.

Hope it gets sorted out. It's definitely one of the most unique and beautiful colors on a Scud.

 

As desperate as the situation may seem, I wonder if you can have the car taken to another dealership for another perspective on the fix since the current one can't pinpoint the issue.

I take it you're in Denver? Unfortunately I don't think there's another Ferrari dealer in your state.

Did the current dealer give you any type of timeframe on when they'll hear back from FofNA?

 

I can not help you specifically on your clutch issue, just not enough information and I am no expert anyway.

However I will offer you some advice on how to handle the situation.

Options: (in order that I recommend)
1. Have them flat bed it to another dealer. I recall an electrical gremlin that eluded dealer A, and dealer B nailed it fairly quickly. In the end the dealers workshop has a few techs, and the techs have a finite experience level. Trying another dealer or qualified Indi is not a bad idea to get fresh eyes on the issue. I would have dealer A refund your funds, or reimburse dealer B. That will be a bit trickier.

2. Just wait and be patient. Eventually they will resolve the issue, possibly with the assistance of FNA and/or Ferrari proper.

My guess at the issue?
a. sensor damaged, mis-aligned, incorrectly installed
b. shift actuator needs alignment, there is a special tool for that.

Many dealers are system level troubleshooters as opposed to component level troubleshooters. i.e. they may want to replace the $15-20k F1 "system" as opposed to identifying and repairing the actual faulty <$1k piece.

 

Info on the 430 F1 system and alignment tool can be found in the worksop manual at D6.08 CENTRING THE GEAR SHIFT-SELECTION ACTUATOR LEVER (FINGER)

http://www.ferraridatabase.com/The_Downloads/Manuals_Workshop.htm

You can use the 430 workshop link, besides being "superfast2" its likely the same.

Page 389 in the PDF Workshop Manual F430 Spider.pdf

 

I don't have any suggestions for an ecu fix, but I did have a similar problem with my Scud a couple of years ago engaging gear. The fault was a (the?) valve in the e-diff. Apparently, when this valve fails, it prevents car from engaging any gear.

Not sure if the symptoms were same or not, my car was just stuck in neutral and wouldn't go into reverse or first gear. Had to be flat-bedded to dealer and that's what they told me. Don't think my car was the only one with this problem. Kept the car another 5000 miles with no further issue.

Hope this is helpful rather than adding confusion as I know it would be rather coincidental for this to fail at same time.

Best, Paul

 

Small world..

I actually have a Scud in the shop for over a month I tried ordering that ECU for, but your shop got their order in first. LoL

With that said, your shop already has one of the best technical resources available, the factory and it's technical advisors.

They would have to have opened what's called a " Red on Line " when your car came into the shop. That in turn opens the line of communication between the dealership and the technical department. ( They just have to use that option )

For what it's worth, the car we have in the shop is doing the same thing yours is, just without the previous clutch work...

S

 

As someone else put it, Knick's car had 9 lives; I guess it's down to its last one now.

It is a beautiful color combo, just needs some exterior carbon & this ecu thing fixed and it will be amazing. Best of luck!

Edit: Sad to hear you didn't get it with the custom x-pipe! That thing was crazy!

 

There are only two men I trust with the ferrari, Richard and Fernando at http://www.competizionecars.com

They have sponsored and put out a winning F430 race team and will at a minimum talk to you about options and possible solutions. People ship their Fcars to them from all of the country. They are also sponsors here on Fchat with a huge reputation.

Best of luck!

 

On the bright side it's not May-Sept. and you're not missing 80 degree sunny days! When you're back up and running you should come on some drives with us. Don't stress you will be on the road before you know it. Good luck!

 

Aaaah fun. Not sure about the intricacies of the Scud F1 system, I would agree that it *sounds* like something simple that was not fitted properly when reassembled. We've all done it when reassembling a complex group of parts, only at the last minute to go "darn" when that extra screw is on the floor when its done. My bettin' money usually isn't on the ECUs.. I'd go with a misplaced sensor, connector, or misc. system that is interlinked like the EDiff. But I'm just an armchair internet mechanic with 20/20 hindsight vision. Most repairs I've experienced were usually simple things at heart that took a ton of time to find.

On the good side, once you have this sorted it's going to be rock solid for a very long time.

 

Thing is FoSV didn't know what the problem was exactly either & were going back and forth on whether to buy the car, in the end they backed out at the time. My scud was keeping his company for quite awhile, for some warranty carbon replacement bits from Georgia, then someone inadvertently nicked my plexiglass-glass hatch and they had to order me a new one! All in all my car was down an agonizing 2 months for seemingly simple cosmetic stuff and was his close bunk buddy.

I too was seriously considering trading my scud for knick's but after some discussion I walked away...i know, i know I'm a pu$$ay, just didn't have the gonads to take on the risk+work+going down to an 08 from an 09. I love that color combo though, so much so I caught myself frequently still thumbing through pics for weeks after the fact lol.

I really hope this scud gets back on the road! Keep us apprised of the journey, good luck!

 

If it helps, my 09 Scuderia has been over 2 months at a dealer, with F1 shifting issues.

I was at a racetrack (Sebring), and the car was shifting fine. Then on my 2nd 25 minutes session, the car started mis-shifting (going to N then to the intended gear). Back at the garage after my 2nd session, I noticed the car would not go on reverse anymore, but all forward gears were working fine. After my 3rd session the car would not go into Reverse, and no forward gear except 1st.

Car has under 14,000 miles.

My car has a new e-diff control valve, new F1 solenoid and new F1 pump installed in May-July due to e-diff errors on the dashboard since April.

This last time, no errors were displayed on the dashboard.

The first diagnose, my TCU (transmission control unit) went bad. I'm still puzzled on how a small computer would fail on its own, not being a mechanical part, and being isolated from humidity and heat.

FNA shipped a new TCU but it came with no programming, later on the same new unit reprogrammed was installed and the car started shifting again, but it will not align the clutch, and shifting was harsh. Currently everything points out to a faulty F1 actuator (the bulky part next to the transmission), and the cost of the actuator is mind blowing.

As of now, the car has accumulated over $25,000 on repairs related to the F1 system just this year. I have been talking to F430 Challenge owners and they do not experience this type of failures, so I'm afraid that the SuperFast2 might be just a SuperFragile2, and I cannot justify $25,000 bills (not including any transmission maintenance, or clutch replacement) every 15,000 miles.

Unfortunately, these automated single clutch transmissions did not evolve well since their introduction back in 1996 with the BMW SMG, and they have been silently replaced with the dual-clutch units now popular with most brands.

Personally, I don't like the mute and numb feeling on the DCT, but I don't like the $35k bills either (if I add clutch replacement, and frequent transmission oil changes, to the actuator and sensors replacement cost). There are no Scuderias with manual transmissions, and there are no Scuderias with a DCT, so I'm going to wait for the next 991 GT3 RS (with a manual tranny), or expect the used price adjustment on the 997 GT3 RS 4.0.

At least my car is in good hands, with the best Ferrari dealer I have dealt with so far (Ferrari of Fort Lauderdale), and with great technicians.

My ideal car: a 2009 Scuderia with steel brakes and a manual transmission.

 

I hope it'll get fixed soon so we can do some drives!
Pics of the car I took about two weeks ago:
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F430GT: How does that experience change your thoughts on the Scud's reliability, if at all?

 

Love the shop images;

1. The oil drain pan, all dirty and old, looks like money with the Ferrari sticker on it.
2. The transmission dolly has clearly been used backwards enough times to promote them to inscribe "430 Facing Rear" on it
3. Beautiful and unique color on your Scud