All, Thanks in advance for the help. Got a 360 Spider two weeks ago ('01). Haven't cycled the top too many times but it has worked fine when I have. Car had been sitting for a couple of days with the top down. Fired it up no problems, backed out of garage then attempted to raise the top. Here's what happened: - Metal lid thing popped up as normal - Then a whole lot of nothing for a while (while holding the switch) - Let go of switch (car complained at me) - Pressed switch other way in an attempt to close the lid thing (nothing or complaint, not sure but no movement) - Pressed swith to try to finish closing the top and it worked fine no problem Is this just part of the fun or am I heading toward a new top motor or something? Thanks. Tim
god.....i'd be honest. i love italian cars.....ferrari is in my blood but things like this that make me think.... for the love of god, is it so much to ask for them to make a simple thing like a convertable top to work properly? btw, yes....tim. it's part of the fun of owning (esp. when it happens to someone else). two of out three 360 spiders i looked at have had some top issues....one way or another. and of course, the dang thing isn't cheap either to replace. good luck to you.
The tops are built in their entirety in Germany and shipped as complete units to Ferrari for installation. They have been very reliable but are also quite complex so that when there is trouble it can be bad. It requires the diagnostic ability of the SD2 and someone who knows 360 tops. That may mean the dealer in your area.
God lord those are frightening responses. I got the 360 because the 355 top scared the crap out of me. (Among other reasons ) It worked fine just now, so I guess I'll keep my fingers crossed and cycle it as infrequently as possible. Is it common for it to act a bit flaky every now and again, but not being "going bad"??
The 355 top was junk and the 360 is quite a bit better from a reliability standpoint. But as the Germans are famous for, where one part would do that thing has 40. If a top cannot be raised with one hand while still sitting in the drivers seat like the old Alfa Spyder just give me a coupe.
Yes, thats about normal top operation. Mine got so bad taht it would not work properly most of the time. I found that it was low on fluid. Toped it up and it worked much better but still not perfect every time.
also call your dealer and give them the vin they should be able to tell you if the top has had the service campaign #128 done on it yet has something to do with replacing a cable for the side flaps Mark
The fluid reservour and the pump are mounted to the passenger side rollbar post behind the vertical leather-covered bolster. It is a PITA to get to. It is a long white bottle tucked behind the hydraulic valve assemblies (sorry, that's the best description I can give). I can't post pics right now as I have to reduce them, but I have several. Will try to do tonite. It fills from one of the 3 allen caps (middle one) on the side of the aluminum pump assembly. I don't know if there is an easier way to fill it, but this worked for me. Had to use a small sqeeze bottle to avoid spilling. I filled mine 3/4 inch above the center dot on the bottle and cured the problems of not closing. BTW, you also need to grease the guides for the little wings on the side of the roll hoops, as that can bind as well.
Here's the two pics I promised. The first shows the white reserviour bottle tucked behind the door jamb and a mass of small tubes. The second shows the same bottle after I unbolted the entire unit from the roll bar and twisted it to face outward. On my first attempt, I topped up the fluid such that it was even with the dot in the middle of the bottle. This helped considerably but wasn't good enough, so I redid it and went about 3/4 inch above the dot. No more problems after that. I refilled it from the plug in the pic that has the ink line drawn across it. I put that mark there myself so that I could know when I had tightened it to the same spot as where I had started. I used a squeeze bottle (leftover from the days that I used to refill my inkjet cartridges) with a small tube leading into the hole. Note that the second time I did this (to top it up the extra amount mentioned above), I didn't bother unbolting the unit from the rollbar. Instead I snuck my allen wrench carefully around the side and opened the tap that way. As I mentioned before, there probably is a better way to do this, but this is all I felt comfortable with. I didn't loosen any other plugs on the unit as I wasn't sure if they would lead to disaster. Hope it works for you. Mine has been fine since December ... used it many times since then. Lou Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
The old GTS roofs aren't that bad. Looking at that plumbing, can't wait to see the repair costs when these things crap out in 15 years...
Tim,basically...apart from hydraulics system-360Spider also has 12 microswitches that control the top movement.Every single switch is important,one of the switch fail to work means your top can't works properly.Check your fluid level.If less than ''min'' level shows that must be leaked somewhere.If not, I must say your wiring/microswitches problems.I will email to you the wiring diagram/microswitch location if required.Let me know...
Thanks all. Since it's working okay now, I'm just going to have it checked over at the next oil change time in a couple of weeks.
I been having trouble with my 360 top going up very slow and not closing all the way with out help I want to check the fluid My questions are do you check the fluid level with the top up or down and what's is the best and type of fluid to use Cheers Normcars
I had problems exactly like this (with good fluid levels) and it turned out to be my battery. My mechanic checked the fluid levels and load tested the battery and determined that it was actually the battery. Replacement cured the problem.
OK...OWNED THE '05 360 FOR 3 MONTHS...THIS MORNING STARTED THE CAR...SDL GOES SOLID AND 1 BANK GOES OUT...THEN A COUPLE OF MINUTES SDL STARTS BLINKING....DRIVE A FEW MORE MINUTES...ENGINE IS BACK TO SINGING....THERE AINT NO WAY THE CAT GOT HOT AT ALL IN 3 SECONDS...THEN SINGING IN FIVE MINUTES AFTER REACHING TEMP...WHATS UP WITH THIS FERRARI?????
Bill: You have posted this question on an old thread dealing with Spider convertible top functions. I assume when you write "SDL" you mean Slow Down Light? You might want to post this in a thread dealing with SDLs, or even start a new thread. I'm afraid folks aren't going to find you question here. Good luck!
You might want to depress the caps lock button, as all caps makes it appear that you are yelling. It sounds like a thermocouple/ECU problem. If you do a search on slow-down lights and thermocouple ECU's you will find a bunch of information. Most likely you have a bad ECU, a fairly common problem
Thank you...bought one new ECU, and now every morning when I start...no sdl...but after 1 minute...the sdl starts flashing...then 2 minutes later...the sdl goes out....and does not come back on...this car is weird.
It sound like you still have either another bad ECU or a bad thermocouple. How did you know which ECU to replace? You either need to do some proper diagnosis, or just shoot from the hip and throw another ECU at it. If that doesn't fix it, then you can start with the thermocouples.
