I laughed my A$$ of when I read this the first time.. no offence Ernie (Ernie quote back in 2006) (Yup that's right kids my 348 is down for the count AGAIN! I just can't believe this crap. So, Tuesday I put in the new cats so I can pass smog and get my new tags. After I get everything bolted back together I take it out for a spin. The car ran great all day, but I was hearing some chattering, like the clutch was slipping or the flywheel was going out. The only thing was that it was only at low speed in either 1st or reverse. I figured that it could be because I haven't ajusted the parking break yet, or I need to rebleed the clutch. Any way that isn't the problem. Wednesday morning I get up early to warm the car up, before I take to get smog tested, and it doesn't want to start. So I put a charger on the battery for a few minutes. It turns over no problems but......it will not start. Oh fricken great now what. I try it again, and again, and again, and still nothing. Figuring that I could be low on fuel I go get 2 gallons of gas. Now the fuel gauge is reading 1/4 of a tank. Try it again and nothing. It turns over fine but will not start. Now I'm starting to wonder what the heck is going on. I check my MAFS connections and everything is fine. Try it again and still nothing. Just brilliant! Now I have to go over the whole damn thing with a fine tooth comb. I check and recheck everything. The mafs, coil packs, spark plugs, igniters, fuel pressure regulators, injectors, tps, battery connections, crack position sensors, cam sensors, O2 sensors, EVERYTHING!. Try it again and still NOTHING. Now I'm getting pissed because the fooking car was running just fine the day before. I go back recheck everything, then get out the electrical contact cleaner and clean all the connections. Try it again and zilch! Now I go in and check every single fuse and relay in the kick pannel fuse box. Get this they are ALL working just fine. Try it, and nothing. I even swapped the coil packs and igniters from side to side. So in a final attempt to get this thing started I go back and try starting it. Once again not a damn thing. It turns over just fine but it will not fire. I knew it was getting fuel because I started to smell it. So I stopped because I didn't want to wash down the cylinders. However I did notice something weird. While I was crancking the engine the 5/8 cel would faintly glow. Huh? I crank it again and the 5/8 stays on while cranking, the 1/4 light goes out, but the 5/8 only stays on while cranking. Great, I thought I goofed something up when I was in the kick pannels fuse box, so I go back and recheck everything, it's all is just fine. Now I dive into the instrument pod to see what the deal is with the check engine light, and it all turns out just fine. Hmmmmmmmm?! Okay I crank it again nothing. Fine I'll just reset the ecu's the caveman way, I pull the battery cables. Again I get nothing when trying to start the engine, and the 5/8 light does the same thing. Try it again but this time the 5/8 light stays lit even after I take the key out, and then finally goes out a few seconds later. So I figure what the heck maybe the ecu has a code in it, so I'll pull the codes. I have my paper and pencil read to write down the codes and press the button, nothing. WHAT THE F@#K NOW?!! I turn the key to on, and both 1/4 and 5/8 light up, but when I push the button for 5/8 it will not blink. Son of a beeotch! Thinking I screwed something up in the instrument pod, I pull it again and double check everything. Again all is fine. Goe to pull the code again and not a dam thing. Now I'm really pissed. Okay I'll see if 1/4 will give me some codes. Turn the key on, push the 1/4 button, and the light starts to flash. GOOD, at least 1/4 is giving me some codes, three of them. Now I finally have something that is making sence. I go inside and look up the code numbers. First code is no big deal, rpm sensor. Nothing big deal that one always comes up when the engine is not running, and I already check them. So that one gets scratched off the list. Second code, exhaust ecu's. Again nothing big deal because I removed the stupid cat ecu's, so that one gets scratched off the list too. But this third code is one I have never seen before, 1313. I wonder what the heck it is? I start going down the list and can't find it. Okay maybe I missed it, so I start again. Dang it I can't find it again. Okay, time to slow down, I'll just go one by one till I find it. Turns out I wasn't going far enough down the list, because it was the second one to the bottom. Well I just can't believe it? So I double check the line to make sure what I'm reading is the correct line with the number, and yup it sure is. 1313 turns out to be the worst code you can ever put out of your ecu, the reason I could not get the car started, and why I couldn't get 5/8 to flash. 1313 = Electronic Control Unit. That right boys my Motronic ecu for 5/8 is DEAD!!!!!! Son of a two balled beeotch! I just can't seem to win with this damn car. Just when I think I have it fixxed, something f#cking else happens! All the work, and money, and time, and busted knuckles, and sweat, and frustration, for what........to have something else break. I am convinced that I have the biggest peace of crap 348 there is on the plannet! You guys wanna know why I know so much about 348's? Because just about every m#ther f#cking thing that can break on my car has broken!!!! I have just about had it with this car. When you get a lemon you make lemonade right? Well I just can't seem to run out of the damn lemons no matter how much lemonade I make, and I'm starting to run out of sugar. Now some may say sell it. Oh noooooo.......I'm not gonna sell it, that's to easy. But, I sure am thinking about entering it the next demolition derby at the country fair. For all the headaches this car has given me, I'm gonna at least get some pay back. Someone please tell me WHY we like these cars again. end Quote) WOW what some rant, just let it out man, just let it out. See what I mean funny right
Well I use to think it was funny I am starting to feel a little like Ernie as of lately Last week my speedo decided to stop working then started then stopped Soon after my engine 5/8 light came on two days later (after not driving it) goes off then on then off Today 5/8 comes on then off then 1/4 comes on and engine cuts to half power I know from reading tonnes of threads that this is a safety shut down so I hobble home.. The car spurts to power here and there for a second but remains hooped for the drive home I have not pulled codes as of yet for the 5/8 or 1/4 I will do so on Wed as I am way too busy I already searched possible problems and solutions for this, I will start at the fuses as it is common for the problem to be at the junction in the fuse box at the foot well and go from there I will keep you posted, any help or suggestions appreciated Ps I do not wish to scare any newcomers to the world of Ferrari I absolutely Love my car it is more than a dream come true, but with every nice dream there must be nightmares as well, when your sleeping with a mistress...
The really *funny* part was ernie's solution. He just reconnected the ground strap to his engine/frame. That's what was causing his no-start, and that cable being disconnected was also causing his 5/8 light and 1/4 1313 code. One ground cable!
Roberto, I don't know about the Euro/Candian 348's so much, but the U.S. 348's have 4 lights in the dash (that count): 1/4 Check Engine CEL 5/8 Check Engine CEL 1/4 SLOW DOWN! 5/8 SLOW DOWN! If your 1/4 SLOW DOWN light is coming on and your engine is being cut to half power, shine an infrared thermometer ($20 at Harbor Freight or Wal-Mart) on your right side cat to see if it is overheated (or look at it to see if it is glowing a dim red). If it is overheating, then you've got a problem to deal with, but if it is a false alarm, there are some cheaper solutions available to you.
As usual I just let the car sit overnight start it in the morning and (drumrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrol) She starts up no problems, no lights(cel)on, and full power take her out for a spin and she runs awesome. Question If it is a problem with a o2 censor would this clear itself up after sitting overnight or if it is a cat heating up would this clear itself up after cooling off? I love gremlins
Be careful what you wish for! One other thing to check is for exhaust leaks. I thought I had an O2 sensor going bad on my 5-8 side; turns out the nuts had loosened up on the flange between the exhaust header and cat. Under certain conditions it triggered the 5-8 cel. Tightened it up and the problem went away. Quite a few of us have changed our ground cables to remove the bullet quick-disconnect to the negative post of the battery. That simple job seems to eliminate MANY potential gremlins.
What a long crazy story ernie, I hope you will be on the road soon.............. how is that fuel tank repair turing out............... ??
No....you really can't feel like Ernie until Plugzit, Vince, Goth, and give you sh*t for you you are fixing your broken car. THEN you'll feel like Ernie.
Well since it seems you missed THIS post http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=193188 All I need to do now is find an aluminum welder that has the balls to cut it open then weld it PROPERLY.
I think I found out what the problem was let me know if this could be the cause. The day it happened and just before I drove it I let Twila (my gal) drive the car back into town, I think she turned the car over and pressed the gas pedal at the exact same time during start up. She thinks that she did this because that is how she sometimes starts her car so that being said is it possible that it gave a odd reading to the ECU and after we turned the car off and then 1 hr later stared it as a normal start up without depressing the accelerator the ECU tripped the 1/4 and placed the car in limp mode. What do you think? it just makes sense to me. I also pulled the codes there were three all relating to possible o2 or ground issues. I reset the ecu by disconnecting the battery and letting car idle for 15 min I took it for a spin and she ran awesome, I hope this fixes the problem.
This might just save you a lot of money if you ever get the 1313 code and need to change an ECU. Shortly after purchasing a 1995 Alfa Romeo 164Q, it had this problem. The car was a California car, one owner, with only 50,000 miles, was very clean and had no corrosion. One day it just didn't start, it would crank but not fire. After talking to multiple mechanics and running the codes off of it, I was unanimously told I needed a new ECU. Which for this car, of which there were only 38 US models, is quite expensive! So I decided to open the thing up, it has a huge multi pin plug and although it did not look dirty or corroded I decided to clean it anyway. I gave it a very through cleaning with toothpicks and electrical connection cleaner. Now 6 years later I have yet to have any issues with it (not many miles, I have put more on the 348 since I bought it than on the 164Q). I know most people would probably also do this, but it most likely is something simple and physical such as this, unless the unit has over heated or become severely corroded not much else could foul an ECU
I've physically repaired two different Motronic ECUs from two different 348's. Both had chip failures internally on their removeable EPROMs (easy fix, just burned new chips). One also had a wiring connection overheat problem that I fixed with Stabilant 22a (on everything metal inside, from connections to wires) and a razor blade cut. Ernie fixed his ECU problem by reconnecting the ground strap to his frame/engine. And you fixed one by cleaning the contacts. So there are cheap fixes available for known ECU failures. I shudder to think about how many 348 owners simply ponied up for new ECUs at multi-thousands each when a $5 EPROM or good contact cleaning would have salvaged their OEM units.
Just an update on my CEL1/4 The car has ran great after the reset, the CEL came on a week later so I turned off the car for about half an hour then took her out for an Italian tune up and she has been fine ever since???????? Too bad going fast does not solve all our lives little problems...... Oh wait it does.... never mind..
