Hello all, new member, new owner. Maybe I can get some input. Basically the question is this: Car, '95 F512M, around 20,000 miles, shifts kinda tuff when cold, especially into second. Now, I know this is typical of Ferrari (and most) gearboxes, but I remember reading improvements were made to these? Not sure of the details of the upgrades. Basically is this just life, and I just need to wait till it warms up? Or do you recommended a fluid upgrade? Pretty sure my mechanic put Red Line in my previous 328 GTS, and it made the cold shift effort better. Any recommendations for a F512M? Once warmed up it shifts great, so I gather the guts are A-OK. Would just like it to shift better when cold if that is possible. Much appreciated!
first of all would be good and nice if the new member could introduce himself a little he not even filled out anything in his profile
Sorry, I had some issues getting the account started. Rob helped me out, no time to fill out the full profile yet. Only had the car about a month. Any input would be fantastic. I was told by a local Ferrari owner to swap to Red Line, he said it made a huge difference. Plus, in all honesty, I am not sure how long the gear fluid has been in there as I don't see a change listed on the last service paperwork that came with the car...
To start you really need to get someone very familiar with the model to drive it and get a base line. Every variant of the TR was subject to having issues with shifter adjustment internally and get someone to evaluate and correct that may eventually be required. That is going to take someone intimately familiar with the internal workings. For background I was factory trained on them and am an owner as well. With that said I have had a great deal of luck with Redline 75-90NS but not every car responds the same. Also in the 512TRs there was a change by the factory to a different type of gear oil and it caused some problems. Some cars went so far as getting glazed syncros and their ability to do the job was compromised and either replacement or removal and hand lapping was required to fix the problem. That happened to a number of cars early on. Most stopped using that oil years ago. I am not big on warming up cars and in my car, having a properly adjusted shifter and Redline oil on a 60 degree morning I can start, back out of the garage, drive down the street and easily select second in 50 yards. Colder days will be worse and it gets better as it warms up. It will not however be as easy to shift as your average Japanese sports car so do not ever expect that. Get it to someone who really knows them, have them evaluate the shift quality and try the Redline oil and see where you are at.
Thank you for the response. The shifter seems lined up well, in N it is centered and it goes from gear to gear just fine, alignment wise. The only issue as I said is getting into second when the ambient temp is low and the car is cold. It doesn't grind or anything, it is just not slick. Once the car is fully up to operating temperature, in say 15 min or so it goes into second just fine. All the other gears are good, cold or warm. I will try this Red Line fluid next week. Just noticed your name, I have read plenty by you in the past as well as the buyers guide in Forza, many thanks.
The shifter being centered in the gate has little to do with internal adjustment of the transmission. Nor does the shift quality of the other gears. Probably 50% or more of the BB, BBi, TR, and TR512 can be made to shift better. Most owners don't know how they are supposed to be.
Understood. So in your opinion, an F512M gearbox, if set up properly should shift 1-2 well even when cold? If that is the case I will surely have my dealer look into this more, besides just swapping fluids. I have a friend overseas with an F512M, and he claims his (with regular fluid none the less) shifts into second perfectly, even when cold...
Mine shifts very well cold. but no question it gets better when warm. Since I have no idea what part of the world you are in I suggest in your case not to go to a dealer. Few dealers have anyone on staff anymore with any meaningful TR experience. You will be far better off finding an independent with some old guys who were around then.
I know of quite a few but I have no idea what hemisphere he is in. Your comments about profile were correct. I gets hard to help with no information.
I would also bleed the Clutch, (after changing the fluid), if it hasn't been done recently. My gear changes improved a lot after I changed the fluid and bled the clutch.
I am looking at 512 TR's, and have driven two. One shifted okay, slightly notchy, but not bad. The other was silky smooth. Both were cold, then up to temp. Both within 4000 miles too...
