360 hard to get in first gear.

Hey folks!

A friend of my bought a 360 spider and let me drive it .It's very hard to get the car into the first gear. I know ferrari’s want to warm up first before they shift smoothly but even after warming up I found it still hard to shift to the first gear. Any tips or tricks ..??

Thanks in advance for the help in your replies!

Luuk

 

Try double clutching it.

While it is in neutral, rev the engine, then push the clutch in, and then try putting it in gear.

 

How much freeplay side to side is there in the shift lever?

 

From Neutral, try engaging 2nd or 3rd before engaging first

 

Should not be needed. There is something wrong and it should be fixed, not ignored.

 

Didnt say whether the car was an f1 automatic gearbox or a manual?
Also is it just 1st or is it 1st AND 2nd ?

I had an annoyance initially when I first bought my manual 360 a couple of years ago, on 1st and 2nd being difficult to select when cold, ok when warmed up. Instead of going straight to a garage I decided I would fix it myself. I picked up a copy of the workshop manuals cheap on ebay (pdf's!). On inspection I discovered that it was relatively easy to correct this problem. It is obviously a lot easier with a car on a proper car lift but I had to make do with axle stands in my garage.

I simply took off the underbody tray and adjusted the cables using a pair of adjustible spanners on the small nuts (as per guidance in the workshop manuals). This corrected the 1st 2nd for me. Be careful to adjust the correct cable (read the manual and ensure you understand it fully before proceeding) otherwise you'll be adjusting 5th and 6th!

The biggest hassle was I also had a problem with selecting Reverse gear. This turned out to be a worn piece of plastic in the mechanism. This was a pain to discover, after talking to a Ferrari mechanic near me I discovered that this is apparently a common part to go wrong as its made of plastic and it comes into contact with metal. Thats clever! Anyway the part was cheap it was just all my own labor. Would have hated to have put this problem into a garage to 'fix'.. Took me about 5 hours to fully fix both problems. Ever since the gearbox has been absolutely brilliant. Enjoyed every mile!

 

My, You are an astute fellow! Magnificent reply, sir!

 

Wow...this is somthing I can use ...thanks a bunch. I wil let you know the outcome.!! Just curios....pictures..??

Luuk

 

For the record..its a manual gearbox.

 

oeps... forgot to tell its only the first gear. The rest is working fine.

 

The 360 gearbox has no primary interlock mechanism... meaning that more than one gear can be selected at once by the rails. (Basically, it's designed to be F1, but with manual capabilities)

There is a secondary interlock in the external housing, but this isn't that great....

If the cables are not adjusted correctly, gears can get tricky.

Adjusting the wrong cable WILL NOT make you set 5th/6th instead of 1st/2nd...

One cable adjusts selection (side to side), the other sets engagement (fore and aft).

Check your car frequently... observe the amount of travel of the lever when you go into each gear... you need symmerical engagement.. ie same distance up the gate slot in each gear.

Selection is trickier to set....

 

Do the Maserati GT coupes use the same system?

 

I did adjustments to my 348 the problem was that the second en fourth gear where hard to shift to with a cold engine they just did not get far enough and there was space between the shift gate and the first , third and fifth gear. Two turns on both cable’s solved that problem. On the 360 its only the first gear so I think something is broken because the rest of the gears are fine.

Luuk

 

Well they use cables in the same way. If you are having selection problems i would check the selector plate under the car ( a big bracket that you will see moving from under the car at the back, on the left hand side of the gearbox,with someone waggling the gearstick) They dry out and rust and cause poor selection. Remove it, spray liberally with releasing agent and refit....

 

Thanks Phil for correcting my mistake.

I was going from memory, yes you are 100% right, it was quite some time ago now when I did mine now. Must have got muddled up in my mind.

For those who are interested in diy, just take look in the workshop manual, its got a full picture guide and it really isnt that difficult to adjust. The problem with cables, is that they will fatigue over time (How many manual cars have you known/owned which have needed their handbrake cable adjusting? quite a few do). Cables stretch and they can snap, they wear out and can need replacing.

Trev

 

I use a product QMI 90Wt gear treatment.
Will make the Ferrari shift REAL smoothly !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love the stuff
Buzz