hello all! My maranello is a 98 and has 35k miles on the clock. I did a search and the general consensus is they go out at around 30k miles depending on how you drive it. Well as most of you know i live on a island with much, much traffic! the gears do not want to go in anymore and they grind a little going into 3 and 4th, this started happening this morning. so i guess my question is where can i buy a clutch, should i go with a stock clutch, how much is the repair?
Sorry to hear about your bad luck. My 550 has done 35000 miles on its original clutch, and my mechanic told me "not to worry" as it is still in very good condition. I remember traffic in Maui and Big Island was very smooth, with fantastic empty roads in the back country (the Paia-Hana in Maui, the Saddleback on BI, or the Volcanoes NP / Kona roads on BI). I guess in Oahu the situation must be quite different. Suggestion: get yourself a weekend home on Big Island, park the 550 there and fly out whenever you want to enjoy the F-car properly! Seriously, go for a stock clutch from a main dealer. It's not expensive to replace (about $1000 in Europe).
Wouldn't grinding be a synchro/transmission issue? Manual 1998? If the pressure plate/TO bearing is going (If Maranello has this setup) I'd get it replaced before u damage the transmission. Def will need a transmission inspection too.
The symptom for a worn out clutch is slipping, not grinding gears. Consider having a real mechanic do a real diagnosis.
Robin, it sounds like your clutch is not "de-clutching" or dis-engaging all the way, rather than slipping. Is your clutch pedal free to travel all the way? Any extra thick carpet perhaps? Is the fluid level above minimum in the reservoir? Those who told you a clutch goes out at 30K forgot to tell you that, on the other hand, it may last more than twice as many miles if you do not abuse it. Good luck, Saluti,
ok, there is no slipping of the clutch, and there is very little grinding. I have a hard time explaining myself on the net. it feels like it is hard to shift in into gears, like there is less pressure in the clutch. say from neutral, i try to shift into 1st, does'nt want to go in, release clutch and depress again goes into gear. Once on the move it is harder to go into the rest of the gears and it grinds a little when you get it into gear. i talked to my f-car mech. and he said it could be a bad master cylinder, something like that. i replaced the T.O bearing already.
the fluid is a above min, no thick carpet, i don't ride the clutch and when i come to a stop i put it in neutral. the clutch feels like it is engaing about halfway...
Having read this thread yeaterday, I was co-incidentally reading a long-term roadtest article on the 550 that Evo magazine in the UK were running until recently and noticed that they had what seemed like a similar problem on their car. The full article is on the link below, but you will need to register (free) to access it: http://www.evo.co.uk/carreviews/evolongtermtests/62493/ferrari_550.html Key Quotes "I mentioned in a previous report that when you changed up from second to third the Ferrari had an occasional habit of crunching its way through the gears. It was as if you hadn't fully depressed the clutch rather than any synchro problems, and as it happened only occasionally I was expecting a relatively simple explanation when the car went in to Dick Lovett's for it to be checked out." And "Two weeks later, the car was returned sporting a brand new gearbox. Ferrari had decided it was easier to replace the whole unit rather than spend time searching out the cause of 'Le Crunch'. As I'd purchased an official Power Train warranty when I bought the car (available for any Ferrari that's covered fewer than 56,000 miles) the scary £10,392 bill (£9870 for the gearbox, £522 for fitting) was sent to Ferrari's warranty department rather than me, thank goodness, confirming that buying the £2335.90 warranty was one of my better decisions last year."
Robin, from what you describe it sounds like the clutch is not disengaging properly. If there is a residual drag from the clutch, the gears are not completely free to slide and the syncros cannot do their work, therefore it is hard or impossible to shift properly. In this case, if the pedal is free to travel all the way, I would then check the link between the pedal and the master cylinder (I do not know if the 550 has an adjustment there), or there may be an air bubble in the line to the clutch itself (if that line was disconnected when they changed the thrust bearing) and finally it may be the master cylinder that is bad, like your F-guy is saying. That should not be a big deal to fix anyway, in terms of time and money. Good luck, Saluti,
