Rough start for a new car!

Had that problem on mine. ECU sent to FNA for some "software adjustment" about 3000 miles ago. Soved problem.

 

Hi Michael: I have 1700 miles on my "new" 2007 F430 and I am seeing the exact same thing. If the car goes a few days without starting it, I get ~8 - 10 seconds of rough idol and then it eventually smooths out over a few more second. If I start it up 2 days in a row - no problem. There was a thread on this very topic several weeks ago and as I remember, this was not an uncommon problem among 360 and 430 owners. Some thought it was one of those Ferrari things and not necessarily anything serious. Others reported correction after ECU adjustments. Right now I am just living with it. Enjoy your car. Al

 

Same happens to me as well in my 2007. Exactly as Al described, depending on the frequency of start ups, the engine is either smooth or rough at idle. I just disregarded this issue.

 

On the 360's this was typical of all the cylinder's not firing upon start up. This may be the same with the 430's. Your dealer should be familiar with this although it sounds like he's hoping you just deal with it and it disappears.

 

4-5 days

 

break-in for what??? These cars are already broken-in before you take delivery....thus the delivery miles...and I can assure you, they arent driving like miss daisy...

 

Exactly!!!! If you drive the thing REALLY HARD it will get the idea that it's your Beeatch and it will drive fine. These cars are driven extremely hard right out of the factory before we see them. So let her warm up for 10 minutes and then rip her a new one.

 

more the reason to drive it everyday!!

 

^^^ One of the reasons why I hesitate to buy expensive second hand exotics.

 

Just a guess, but is it possible it's related to a weak battery? From some of the reading I've done on this board, and from some strange gremlins that affected my brother's F430 until he changed the battery, I'm thinking the ECU may get confused by a slightly low voltage at startup. Just a guess.

As these cars commonly sit for days or weeks, their batteries are often less than perfectly healthy.

 

You are a SMART guy, and should be a tech. I think you are EXACTLY right on your assumption and that it is a low battery issue...

 

I don't think it has anything to do with the battery IMO, as mine had the same issue after a long run and after just filling her up, I guess it's just one of those things that are common to most F430's
Ignition off start back up and it's fine,

on first start up the rough running is usually associated with high outside temps as I have found cold weather starting is OK which suggests to me like it could be over fueling by the start up circuit until the engine fires and gets chance to adjust itself out.

 

Regardless of how "smart" any of us are, analogous to a patient writing to us and saying "I have a pain", and 3 out of 4 of us agree it is pancreatitis, go the dealer, give it to the service manager, and let him/her diagnose it - that is unless all of us just like to see ourselves in print. Any recurring problem, human or mechanical, should be take "immediately" to someone trained and able to "see it". Best

 

I have a 2006 430 I just picked up a couple of weeks ago and I have the identical problem. For the first 30 seconds or so it sounds like its missing and stumbling but after a couple of minutes it purrs like a kitten..Dealer told me it takes time for the programming to read the current conditons. As soon as the idle drops to about a 1000, its ready to go...

 

But why does it happen? Even if it's common, doesn't mean it's ok. Maybe not bad for the car, but it's still a fault of sorts.

 

The dealer just doesn't want to deal with it. Believe me, there is an easy fix to have the computer re-flashed as someone as already mentioned. These are some of the most technologically advanced cars in the world and I think that current computers are "smart" enough to start them.

 

The F430 has exhaust and intake variators but no secondary air pump. seems to me that Ferrari figured out a way to heat up the cats. when cold. ever hear an Enzo fire up when cold?

 

I don't know if this is just a coincident but I added about 5 gallons of 76 100 octane to my last tankfull and it runs 100 % better at start up. I started it up a couple of times now after about 4- 5 days between starts and both times it smoothed out real quick...

 

maybe the plugs are fouled ... from "brake in"