New 355, lots of questions (CEL, oil, mystery switch..)

Hey guys,

First time Ferrari owner here. Very happy with my purchase, and I have
a bunch of questions!!! 1995 355 GTB Rosso/Saddle 17k miles.

1. Mystery switch in the ashtray. What is this? When pressed, it moves
to the opposite direction, and then flips right back... Does not seem
to do anything. Is this maybe aftermarket? Anyone have any idea's?

http://24.75.229.194:5006/mystery_switch.jpg

2. Discoloration of engine bay cover. Has anyone had this happen to
their car? The car is Rossa Barachetta, but the engine bay cover
seems to be slightly off color to the rest of the car. I’m not sure
if this is heat related or not. Anyone else have this happen?

3. Loose electrical connector in bumper.
I have a seemingly random loose electrical connector hanging down just
below the rear bumper. It has a BLUE cap on it, and looks like a female
connector with two connections in the middle. I can’t seem to find where
this plugs into.

http://24.75.229.194:5006/car_side_rear.jpg
http://24.75.229.194:5006/car_rear.jpg
http://24.75.229.194:5006/blue_cable_1.jpg
http://24.75.229.194:5006/blue_cable_2.jpg
http://24.75.229.194:5006/blue_cable_3.jpg
http://24.75.229.194:5006/blue_cable_4.jpg

4. Rust on frame. I don’t know if this is rust or not. The history
of this car is not well documented. It almost looks like the frame
scraped on a speed bump or something, and some of the "black stuff"
scraped off and exposed the metal. I cant tell if its rust or not.
Is this normal / not normal?

http://24.75.229.194:5006/blue_cable_2.jpg
http://24.75.229.194:5006/blue_cable_4.jpg

5. Oil drips. Car seems to be dripping a couple of drops of oil after
every drive. 2-3 drops front and 1 smaller drop rear, all under the
engine. Oil looks too be engine oil (clear as the oil is fresh). Does
not leak overnight, just after drives. This normal / not normal?
(last major 30k completed Oct 2004). I plan to get under the car this
week and clean up under the engine and take some pics to get an indication
of where its coming from.

http://24.75.229.194:5006/oil_drops.jpg

6. Check engine light. The ghost in the machine. My "check engine 5-8"
mysteriously flashes on and off. I’ve driven 900 miles so far in the car
and its never consistent. Driven 250 miles between fillups with no light,
then light comes on, and flashes on and off during the drive. VERY random.
What should I be looking for here to help diagnose this?

General observations: Car runs fantastically. Revs hard. No "weird stuff".
Had a full PPI done by Algar including compression and leakdown with no
indication of issues. Drove 900 miles since I got it last Wednesday, and
the oil tank still shows on max, which I assume means no burning of oil.
The oil was fresh as of last week. I also have not had the emissions done
yet, so I have no idea if the 12 year old cats are still good (prior owner
was emissions exempt)

I really appreciate any help you guys can share to help get a couple
Of these things sorted..

 

I'm not answering your questions here but how do you become emissions exempt?

 

blue cable goes to the side lite in the rear bumper.

 

Apparently drive less then 5000 miles and live in PA. The car is not
required to have any sort of roadworthy inspections including emissions.

 

That blue cable powers your aparently missing soleniod switch that is for the vacuum line that opens a diaphragm....to allow the secondary/coldstart air-pump to blow air into the headers.

The missing soleniod looks just like this:

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=379764&stc=1&d=1156947195


You have one just like it on that small, aprox. 4x4 inch plate with a similar connector only black.

Like on this pic you loaded:

http://24.75.229.194:5006/blue_cable_3.jpg

Your plate should look like this pic I loaded with a pair of solenoids on a plate.

I hope it makes sense, as I still do not know how to load pics in between text.
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Ahh, ok. So Im missing an entire gadget... great!
What exactly plugs into the solenoid other then the electrical cable? I
dont see any piping of any sort that would attach to it. Would this
cause the CEL light to come on?

 

The missing gadget is about $75.

There is a cylinder shaped vacuum tank that connects to both bottom nipples on the pair of solenoids/gadgets. It is located just to the right/outboard of the 4x4 plate. About the size of a coffee can, only black.

The top nipple of the solenoid you DO have, connects to your exhaust bypass valve. It opens it when you get hard on the throttle.

The top nipple of the soleniod you DON'T have, connects to a black and white plastic diaphragm valve. It is visibly located just forward/below your right/rear tailights.

This is all part of the emissions system. It will cause your CEL to go on.

Let me know.

 

Hey, would the missing solenoid effect the 5-8 bank or the 1-4 bank?

 

If it does affect the cylinder banks, it would be both banks. Unless you have a bad checkvalve at the header. Also it would only affect it during a cold start as that is when the missing solenoid would come into play. So it may affect the o2 sensor readings during startup, since the secondary air is not getting into the exhaust.

 

I'm guessing this is for an after-market remote radar detector. That's a typical location for the on/off radar switch in these cars. Folks who have remote K-40s installed often have the power indicator lights in the ashtray and the one/off switch and volume control mounted in the area where you indicator light is (right below the mirror switch).

 

Ok, I Traced all the connectors from the solenoid to their respective locations, and this is what I came up with.

http://24.75.229.194:5006/AirPump_Exhaust_Diag.gif

1. Looks like the exhaust bypass valve is hot-wired (or in this
case hot vacumed) open. I still have not had the car emissions
tested, how will this effect it? Will this have any other impact on
the car at all with this been wired open all the time?

2. It also looks like the air-pump cut off valve is activeated all the
time (does this mean the air pump is on or off?)
The pipe runs from reservior->t-junction->Pump Bypass valve.
The solenoid is in fact not effecting the bypass valve at all. Once
again, what effect does this have on the car with this thing injecting
air all the time (or never injecting if this is the case)? Emissions???

3. The pipe that actually comes out of the top of the solenoid, I cannot
trace its destination without taking stuff off. Any idea's where this would
go??

Thanks guys, this is somewhat consfusing as to why its wired this way.

 

Sorry for the slow response...nice diagram......respectively...

1.Some people say the keeping the bypass valve open all the time did not cause any issues. In my 1997 F355, I tried keeping the bypass open with vacuum and it gave me CEL with code P1448. So I put it back to stock. I and others here have not seen any problems (other than those noted above )or damage to be caused by keeping it open all the time. Some say it gives the car more bottom end...I did not notice much if any...just a louder exhaust at idle.

2. Ok, rather than us trying to figure out why it is in this configuration. I will try to describe how it should be:

The vacuum starts at both sides of the intake manifold. Tapped from the rear of each intake, just above the cylinder head. On each side there should be one small black and white vacuum check valve. They both tee together into one line....then go to one of the two nipples on the vacuum reservoir (coffee can).

Then the coffee can has the other line....it goes to the bottom nipples of the two soleniod valves on the 4X4 plate. It tees into two lines to feed both at this point.

The top nipple of the black connector solenoid....will go to your exhaust bypass valve...via rubber line into a small hard line that runs laterally under the secondary air supply hardline. Then into the exhaust bypass valve.

The top nipple of the blue connector solenoid....will go to what you described in your drawing as the air pump cutoff valve.

Notes: The actual air pump is powered independantly by the ecu. This system not functioning properly will cause the CEL to come on.

Let me know

 

If it has standard cats then if they are bad you will find light grey ceramic powder in the tail pipes. If there is no light grey powder then either your cats are good or the ceramic monolith has all gone
and you have official "straight through pipes".

Having the bypass wired open will cause less flow/stress in the main cats which I guess prolongs their life.

 

Thanks for the answers guys, but question 2 and 3 are not answered
yet. Please check the diagram for details.

What is the impact of having the airpump cut-off valve closed all the
time, including on start-up?

Any idea of where that other pipe would run?

 

I believe the "air pump cut-off valve" is only there as a secondary measure, to stop exhaust gases from getting out the wrong way. In the event either of your two "exhaust" check valves fail. This would protect the air pump and associated rubber lines from getting cooked.

As for the "unknown" destination. That line is more than likely connected to the intake manifold (vacuum source). Since that is the place that all your other lines are "not" going to. So the vacuum "has" to come from somewhere...

Also being connected to the top of the soleniod nipple means that line has access to outside/ambient air. This feature is designed to allow the exhaust bypass valve or the air pump cutoff valve to revert to the non-vacuum actuated position.

Hope this makes sense to you.

 

Car passed Georgia emissions today, origional cats (12 yrs old), original
headers, TUBI, flashing check engine light and all....

I did disconnect the vacume tube that runs into the top exhaust flap
thingy above the muffler, so that the exhaust gasses run thru the cats.
Car is slightly quieter like this, but looses top end power!

 

Duuude! That is too funny ! You passed smog like that?? I would say you are very lucky or live in an unicorporated part of the country!

You do not want to disconnect the bypass valve altogether...you will roast your cats for sure. Route the vacuum line as I mentioned before...use the soleniod you DO have.

Otherwise if you do not mind the CEL being on all the time just do the "open" all the time vacuum to your bypass valve. That way you will not hurt your catalytics or overheat your motor.