As I consider a few Ferrari's of various years, I was curious about what years were watershed years for certain problems. Obviously 1999 had the most issues. Although on the plus side there were no pre-cats. 2002+ Ferrari fixed the security system battery issue. 1999 - 2000 Starter ring gear 2001 - Battery Ground 2003 - Power steering delivery hose 1999 - 2002 one generation transmission (needs clarification) 2002+ second generation transmission/upgraded ECU (needs verification) Basically certain years have more allure than others as problems get ironed out. What year did most things get ironed out? Also the variator cams... a problem for all production years?
Here are a few things to be aware of: 1. The Variator issue was subject to engine #'s below 60769 and VIN range 114015 - 123399. Those cars were subject to the Timing Variator and tensioner replacement campaign #97. Car which had the service done are supposed to be stamped "VD" (i.e. variators done) on the cylinder heads. 2. Some of the early cars had problems with the seals in the gear box. I forget the exact details, but it was something about how the F1 system shares the brake fluid or something. I spoke with FNA about it after buying my car, but I am still not exactly clear what the story is. I believe it was something about certain fluids can cause the seals to swell up - and this can cause the T/O to jam. I think this is only an issue on the F1 cars. My understanding is the problem was corrected from assembly #50913 on, although I am not sure if that # relates to the gear box or the car. 3. Early cars also had bolts which were too short where the T/O bearing rides. This was corrected after assembly # 39019. The short bolts can allow the T/O bearing assembly to fall off the bolts if the T/O becomes over extended (I believe due to the above mentioned seals problem). When this happens, it isn't pretty. 4. After assembly # 43022, they switched to using 6 bolts on the starter ring. Another issue was the sending unit in the fuel tank. On 360's (not sure if all, but I would assume) up to 2001 or maybe even as late as some early 2002's, there was a problem which resulted in a full tank of gas on the car only showing 3/4 full on the fuel gauge. Once the fuel was used up and got down to 3/4 in the tank, then the gauge would start working properly. This problem was fixed by changing over to a new sending unit arm (part #194140), which allows the gauge in the car to properly reflect the fuel level in the tank. The 99's had no pre-cats if I recall correctly. That's about all the info I have handy. My basic slant on it was that you could avoid most of the "big" issues, by buying a 2001 or later. When I bought my car, I was initially shopping for 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002 model years. After checking into the potential issues (at that time), I narrowed my search down to just 2001 or 2002 model years. When I was buying, the 2002's were still bringing a premium over other cars because they were only a few years old. The real price break started with the 2001's, so that was sort of the sweet spot price wise. The main issue when shopping for the 2001 model year was to make sure the variators had been done. Also to check to make sure the alarm LED on the dash wasn't lit. In my case, I only discovered the fuel sending unit issue after I purchased the car (and noticed the gauge didn't show full when I filled up the car). My take on it was the major issues were pretty well sorted out by 2001. Oh, there was also an issue relating to the grounding pin on the OBDII connection under the dash. Not sure which models this affected. I know it was taken care of on my car, so I presume it impacted cars until at least the 2001 model year. Anyway, hope that helps. I'm sure others will chime in with further information. The only area where I'm a little unclear is the subject of the seals in the transmission. However, I believe that issue only related to the F1 cars and was not a factor in the manual gear box models. Ray
ray, that was actually pretty awesome of you to take the time to write that all out for the community.
With the exception of the precats most of your items are really a non issue. The bolts for the throw out are going to be changed (they are cheap anyway) at most if not all clutch jobs. There is NO down side if the old ones are still there which is a remote possibility in any event. The clutch slave seals got changed in most under warranty and most of the rest during a clutch replacement. The alarm siren wiring update got done on most cars under warranty and for the few that did not it takes 50 cents worth of materials and about 15 minutes to perform. Variators were covered by Ferrari, most got changed. It is an open campaign and Ferrari will still pay. If you find a car you like a single phone call to a dealer with the VIN handy will get you an answer if it has been done or not. 6 bolt ring gears. Again most have been changed by now. If not it is an additional $650 or so when the clutch is done. Not enough to keep me from buying an otherwise good car. The early cars have weaker frame supports for the motor mounts and some have been known to break when driven by complete animals. It is not a terribly expensive repair and seldom required in any event. There is nothing on this list that would make me feel there is a substantial reason to buy one year over another unlike most Ferrari's. I would buy the car I liked no matter the year with one exception. Early Spiders are a real PIA to do a clutch on. Look for one with frame member access holes in the bottom of the top tub.
I would second what Brian said about nothing on the list keeping me from buying a car. The main reason I selected the 2001 model year was because 1) it was the year (at the time I was shopping) which had the best age vs. price as far as cars available in the market. 2) it was the only car I found after 12 months of searching that was Titanium, 6 speed manual and had a solid black interior. Talk about finding a needle in a hay stack! Like Brian points out, most of the original issues have long since been taken care of / updated as the cars go in and out for service. When I bought my car, I called the local Ferrari dealership and provided the VIN #. Within 1 minute, they told me everything which had been done to the car and that there were no outstanding updates pending. Ray
No they are not an issue. They are scourge upon the owners who trusted what is supposed to be a high end car company to not use parts that might as well have been made in Taiwan.
Another issue was the sending unit in the fuel tank. On 360's (not sure if all, but I would assume) up to 2001 or maybe even as late as some early 2002's, there was a problem which resulted in a full tank of gas on the car only showing 3/4 full on the fuel gauge. Once the fuel was used up and got down to 3/4 in the tank, then the gauge would start working properly. This problem was fixed by changing over to a new sending unit arm (part #194140), which allows the gauge in the car to properly reflect the fuel level in the tank. Yep, that's exactly what mine does. Doesn't bother me though. Thanks for the post.
It's not the end of the world, but it did bug me that my gauge didn't read correctly when the tank was full. Installing the sending unit arm is quite a bit of fun. Here's my thread from when I did the job on my car: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=118530 Ray
Thanks Ray, Checked out the thread. Nice one. Will put on the to do list along with the alarm module (red LED always on). Andrew.
Thanks. The alarm LED is another fun job http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=111884 Ray
Hi Ray, I recently ordered a service kit from one of the on-line parts suppliers and was advised that Ferrari recommend the replacement of the exhaust phase variators whenever the belts are being changed. What are your thoughts on this? From reading up on this forum it seems to me that everyone refers only to the need to have them done on early model vehicles and I don’t find any mention of them being done as a service issue on an ongoing basis.
I'm not really an expert in that area. Someone like Brian Crall could comment better. There have been a couple of mentions of the updated variators failing on this forum (there was a very long thread about it recently, where it destroyed part of a motor), but that's all I know about it. Like I say, I'm not really qualified to comment on the variator question you have posed. If it were me, I might opt for replacing them when doing the belts, since a failure in that area can be very bad. Based on the pictures I have seen, it does strike me as a part which Ferrari could have made a little more robust all right. Ray
Thanks Ray, Since posting the other day a very kind forum member made the workshop manual available to me for download. It states that the service life of the variators should be circa 60k miles. I also note that replacement is not at all a simple procedure, requiring the camshafts to be taken out of the head etc. Given that I don't think there is actually any problem I think I'll leave well enough alone as I'd say the labour cost would be quite significant and I'm not even half way to service life. Cheers!
Incredibly useful info folks, thanks for taking the time. I bought my spider as a late production model, in part, to avoid problems of earlier cars, and it looks like I could have gone a few years older and been just fine.
I posted yesterday about trying to get my sensors reset on my 99 360 to pass an emissions test (the sensors were reset by FoW after dealing with a check engine light). I got sick of driving to the station to be told the right number of sensors weren't yet reset and I went ahead and bought an OBD II reader which reads the following sensors/status: Misfire Monitor - Ready Fuel System - Ready Comprehensive Comp. - Ready Catalytic - Ready Evaporative Sys. - Ready Oxygen - Not Ready Htd 02 - Not Ready If I'm able to read this, do you guys think it's safe to assume I've had the grounding issue corrected (this car previously passed smog in CA and was factory serviced with regular recalls completed). Thanks in advance.
I just got a call from the shop that my car was setting off some codes that my generica ODB II reader wasn't detecting. They've now replaced my cat sensors and re-flashed my ECU to ensure no corruptions. My question now is, were there campaigns on the 99 360 that will now need to be reloaded to the ECU? Is there a list I can check against? Also, would updating my ECU entirely to a newer version address all campaigns and also update my F1 software without leaving me with additional issues? Thanks in advance!
