"Slow Down Light" Issue . . . Please Help!

Hey Guys, I already searched this forum and read dozens of threads about other peoples' "Slow Down Light" issues, but I think my issue is a bit different.

I am a somewhat new owner, but since I bought my car - it spent the next few months in service and paint (front end refresh). I still haven't even gotten to put my first 1,000 miles on it after 5 months of ownership.

I recently got new catalytic converters . . . http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=349369 - Replaced as so.

I was out for a group drive today, and about half way through - it started losing all acceleration power after 4,500 rpm and if I was able to downshift higher, felt like I'd hit a rev. limiter around 6,500 rpm. After parking it for an hour or so, I started to drive home. It was the same or worse, and the "SLOW DOWN" light came on (briefly, but came on a couple times). When I let off the throttle and coasted, it went off. I drove slowly, and it never came back on . . . but still had no power at top range of the revs.

I tried turning the car off and on, letting it sit for 3 hours, and turning the battery knob off for 15 minutes and driving again, etc. No change in this situation.

This is a freshly majored car with TONS of preventative stuff done. http://www.lilviv.com/personal/images/stories/user_added/motoring/550maranello/service/ - In order of newest from the bottom up - all that within the last few months and 500 miles.

Any ideas or things I should try here? Off to a rough start for first time Ferrari ownership. =/ Any help or guidance here would be greatly appreciated.

 

Battery is always on a Tender when parked . . . and, I filled up at Shell this morning (13 to 15 gallons - balance may have been a 4 week or so old tank that performed O.K.?) . . .

 

Admittedly, I relied on the shop I was at for help here - I hope they didn't remedy the symptom and not the main problem. What should we troubleshoot next to possibly remedy the root cause of all this?

 

My plan was to take it back to a shop this coming week, but I took it out briefly today after washing it up . . . and, the car ran great. No light, full power, etc.

Should I still take it in? Will codes still be there to read?

On a side note, I think we should ban all birds from flying above Ferraris. This resulted in a midnight rewash of the vehicle. =P

 

Your comments rightfully pushed me in the direction of exploring this further, even though the car seemed to be running fantastic.

For a "2nd opinion," I took the car to James Patterson @ Norwood Performance. I believe his reputation preceded him and that he's universally accepted around here as an extremely qualified Ferrari independent service house.

1) First, he put a boroscope through the cats. to see if they were currently damaged or had any problems. He confirmed that the cats. were undamaged. This was a relief, as the cats. were basically not a month or 200 miles old.

2) Next, he plugged the car into an SD2 - and, it revealed a cat. temp. sensor overheat on the LEFT bank (i.e., not the one that had the cat. that blew up). He cleared this and also reset the adaptations on the car so it could relearn driving style, etc.

3) He put a 5-Gas Analyzer on the car to check for hydrocarbons, any abnormalities, etc. I think ideally we need to be under 200 hydrocarbons (not 100% on unit of measure here).

The left bank (the one with the code) was in great shape . . . reading I think 160 to 185 or something similar. No cause for concern on this one.

Next, the right side . . . checked over 1,000 hydrocarbons (ruh roh). Clearly a problem, and I was told that level of hydrocarbons can destroy a cat. Then, James attempts to continue diagnosis down a somewhat scientific/logical path.

4) I am not sure when exactly this occurred - but, they noticed that the vacuum lines coming off the fuel pressure regulators were connected to each other as opposed to the intake manifold. Perhaps this could have caused unburnt fuel to exhaust out at lower throttle levels? I am not sure, though. Their techs. corrected this during the process.

5) He pulls the plugs to take a look at them, and I believe they were one month old Champion plugs (older technology, I believe) that the shop that did the major put on. One of them cracked - although, I suspect it might be possible that the crack happened during removal - 'cause the car didn't feel like it was dead a cylinder, although I, of course, have no basis for comparison, not sure, though. James said 11 of 12 is less noticeable than say 5 of 6 on a 6 cylinder car. A cracked plug that was not functioning certainly would've caused my issue here - although likely would've thrown a clear misfire code. Either way, he put in a brand new set of NGK newer style plugs here. Then, he ran the 5-Gas Analyzer again. It was remarkably lower - but this time, he ran it on both sets of 3 cylinders separately. The plugs alone cleaned up the back (I think) 3 back to around 180 to 220 or something thereabouts - about normal. The front 3 were still above 300 or so - but getting much closer.

Either before he ran the sets of 3 cylinders separately or after, he ran compression on those cylinders - and it was consistent (around 185 or so - which varies based on temperature the test was done - but consistent with each other). My PPI for the car had compression numbers lower (done at a different temperature), but also consistent. Was glad to see this hadn't changed.

He then did a leakdown and said there was a little bit of leak on that side (I think 14% to 17% on 2 of the 3 that had issue). Although, they didn't think this was indicative of a major issue. They think it's more likely that the valves just have so much carbon on them (from whatever caused this issue) that maybe they aren't closing fully and letting a little fuel (or even just vapor) to escape. He didn't seem to think a valve job was anywhere near necessary.

His recommendation was to try two tanks through the car with Redline Fuel System Cleaner (which he gave me) and then bring it back to put the 5-Gas back on and see if this issue has cleared up.

This was a lot of diagnosis work, but I believe my bill will wind up around 8 hours of labor plus a set of plugs. Hopefully we remedied it with simple computer clearing, plugs being changed, and correcting the vacuum line issue.

Another few things he said that could be likely if the issue hasn't been solved:

1) The Cat. ECU box (as you guys suggested) for the left side that tripped the "Slow Down Light," but wasn't related to the cat. blowing up. This will be a quick and not too costly fix if it occurs, again.

2) The shop that did the major may have not timed the right side correctly. Being slightly off could cause the "imbalance" that is being noticed here. They seem to think this is very likely. This would be 15 hours of labor plus all the gaskets and such - basically like doing a "major," again.

And, I think that's it. Now, I went back to the shop to discuss my "2nd opinion" and the results. I can't speak highly enough about their response. They are great people, responded just as anyone could've hoped, and wanted me to be happy and feel like what I was, a customer who definitely overpaid them for a vehicle, spent a boatload on service with them to make the car 100% perfect, and was patient to deal with and work issues out with.

They immediately said they would do whatever is needed to take care of it - even if it meant retiming the vehicle, which is basically redoing the "major." They also offered to work out whatever service credit was needed later on. The tech. (who I believe to be a good tech.) said he checked the timing 5 or 6 times and felt certain it was correct.

So, I am pleased that I am on a path to get this remedied at the root cause level - without any further expense than the $20K I put in this car after I bought it a few months ago.

Thanks so much for all the help and advice you guys on the forums have provided me (rest assured, I will be "subscribing" to the forums very shortly, as I feel I owe that to the community, at the very least). I will continue to keep everyone updated and try to be helpful to others here as I learn more about these vehicles. Thanks, again.

 

I knew I had forgotten something!

Another thing they did was "smoke" the manifold to see about any leaks and such, and they found none.

Thanks for the feedback, John, and I'll keep you/everyone posted after my next visit here shortly. I am hoping a bunk plug caused this and that fuel system cleaner will clean off excess carbon from the valves, but perhaps this is wishful thinking.

Also, the car seems to run phenomenally, still. :/

 

Just saw this thread pop back up. I've never had a "Slow Down" light, again. I put over 1,700 miles on the car since the resolution of this thread. I went on several multi-hour drives, drove at speeds in excess of 190 mph (on closed racetracks, not public roads, of course) several times, and have had a blast with the car.

Since the resolution of this thread, I believe I changed all the Control Arm Bushings and front tires, and now the car is at Norwood Performance getting its annual service (was majored 1 year ago), getting a leaky electric heater pump replaced, getting the last of the switches de-stickied, and getting a quilted rear shelf.

I've spent a fortune on the car and spared no expense, and I am not one to cut corners anywhere. I overpaid for the car, certainly considering I put $40K+ into it during my first year of ownership, but I'm hoping I have a specimen that does the brand justice, now. I'm in it for the long haul, and I do drive the car as it was intended.

Again, thank you all for your help and guidance resolving the issue above and several others. I do try to always respond for sake of thread completion and those who have similar issues that need to search later on.