Assistance Needed: 2007 F430 F1 Transmission Problem

Dear All,

Recently my 2007 F430 has been having an F1 transmission problem. When slowing down and still in 2nd gear it would automatically shift to neutral and stay in neutral. It won't accept any other gear, not even reverse for a few minutes. During normal driving speeds and accelerating the F1 transmission works normal, shifting up and down as usual. But once I start slowing down again the same reoccurs, namely it would go in neutral. This happens when the car has been running for approx. 30 minutes and does not happen when the car/engine is still cold.

The car has only done 2600 miles.

Any ideas what the problem might me?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Regards, Tarek

 

Well, I have an 07 as well... I emailed and visited with my service advisor just this past Thursday. We got into a clutch wear discussion, and he told me that when you near the end of your clutch life, that the car will just fall out of gear.

He said that it will allow you to drive and shift through the gears, but that it will just drop out of gear at slow speeds...

He said to watch for this, because you can warp and damage the fly wheel and then not only have to replace the clutch, but the fly wheel as well.

I would take it in and have them take a look.

 

Thanks Matt, I took it to the local Ferrari dealer today and it's there now.

I doubt it's a matter of clutch wear because the car has only done 2600 miles.

 

You would hope but the F1 clutch adjustment can be a tricky thing. If not properly adjusted, you can get end of life this quickly.

Keep that in mind when the Dealer calls back...if it is a clutch.

 

Don't know the answer to your question, but sure would like a hi-res pic of your avatar!

 

The car is still at the dealer. Naturally they weren't able to reproduce the fault. They have sent the matter to Italy and are waiting their reply.

 

Hey Tarek... sorry to hear of the problems you're having and of course the car wouldn't mis-behave while the techs had it... why would it be easy?

Please let us know what you find out. I have an '07 F430 as well with around 4K miles and, thus far, no F1 issues.

Thanks,
Frank

 

sigh, I feel your pain... I hate when that happens, hopefully something is stored somewhere reflecting a fault..Least now its documented so if outside warranty window this should still be a covered issue... ?

 

Thanks gentlemen............they did read a shifting fault on the SD3.

I will definitely post the results.

 

Hi, I had a similar problem, which is described in these threads:
http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=268458&highlight=F1+pump+relay

Generally speaking, there may be several problems, but the most typical are: 1) worn clutch; 2) failing electrical motor of the F1 hydraulic pump; 3) air in the hydraulic lines, which needs to be bled out. Start checking in this order.
Cheers,
Juri

 

Thanks Juri..............the car is still at the dealer. They are waiting for some answers from Italy.

 

I had something like that happen a couple of times with different F1 cars, here is what I found out. First the clutch tends to heat up, if you sit it traffic, on a hill in gear, or just drive when it is really hot, the clutch goes into neutal as a saftey measure. In one car the PIS was off in the other it was just me driving like a mad man when it was over 90 out. Not sure this will help.

 

Yeah, you dont drive it often enough!

 

Tarek,

it should be your f1 actuator, cant be your clutch unless you use the LC button everytime you're at the lights haha

i had the same problem recently...when coming to a stop at the lights or just slowing down for a speed bump it jumps into N from 2nd 3rd or sometimes 4th gear..

took the dealership and italy about 2months in total to solve the problem..they started replacing part by part at first...sensors pump everything, it got better didnt happen as often as it previously did but still it didnt solve anything..

finally after weeks of waiting for parts and communication between the dealership and italy they finally replaced the entire f1 kit which had been pre assembled in italy... including the pump sensors etc as the actuators have to be adjusted. all the individual parts previously were then sent back to italy

Car has been behaving fine ever since.

 

What MY is your F430? It is disconcerting to be hearing this repeatedly from owners of 07's. When I can jump in the market, that's the car I want.

 

Thanks Justin........they haven't replaced any parts on my F430 yet. Hope they decide to replace the complete F1 kit instead of having to try each new part.

 

Hey Tarek,

did they manage to rectify the problem? or are you still waiting for parts

 

The results..........

Apparently I had two different problems in my F1. The first problem was the car going immediately into neutral from 2nd or third gear when slowing down and it would stay stuck in neutral. The second problem was that the car won't accept reverse after driving hard for about 30 minutes.
The first problem was corrected by the adjustment of the actuator tolerance. It was out of tolerance by 1mm and therefore the correct gear was not selected and the F1 gearbox would not select the correct gear when slowing down. The gear selection is governed by a very specific movement of the F1 actuator. The dealer here had to order a special tool from Italy to be able to adjust the actuator tolerance. Once that was adjusted the car now automatically goes smoothly through the gears when slowing down. I tested the car with the service engineer on the highway while at the dealer for about 30 minutes and it was perfect until I drove into the workshop and the car would not accept reverse. They sent the matter again back to Italy, did a few more tests and measurments and Italy decided to change the complete clutch. They noticed from their readings on the SD3 that after approx. 30 minutes of hard driving the clutch overheats and once that temperature is reached it won't shift into reverse. They ordered a complete new clutch (warranty ofcourse) which arrived yesterday and I will be taking the car back for the installtion. Hopefully now the new clutch will solve the matter. Once it is installed I will post the results and confirm if the "reverse gear" matter has been resolved.

 

Almost 2 months to fix this? I hope the dealer treated you well.

 

They were polite..................

 

Tarek,

I'm watching this one with great interest.

Any further update on the new clutch?

 

Hi Donie, I will be taking the car back to the dealer this week to install the new clutch. I'll definitely keep you posted.

 

Tarek

The dealer still has not resolved my '07 430 reverse problem. Same as yours, however I have had it since almost purchasing the car new. After about 30 mins of driving, things warm up and it will no longer shift in to reverse. At first the dealers said it was an adjustment to the actuator tolerance that was needed. I was told, Italy told them to do this. They did said it was fixed and returned the car to me. Still not fixed though. I am taking it back again.

Did the dealer tell you what the reverse problem was?

Thanks

 

Yes, we went through the exact same process and I have the exact symptoms. The actuator tolerance was adjusted which only solved the "neutral" problem, but did not solve the "reverse" problem. When they investigated further and sent Italy more data, they found that the clutch was overheating beyond accepted limits after about 30 minutes of driving. It was sticking and not allowing for the reverse gear to engage. They decided to fit a new clutch.

 

Tarek Good Luck with your latest F1 'adventure' at the dealer. Hope the new clutch is a true fix for the 'reverse' issue with your car! No doubt lots of people are reading of your experience with great interest.
CH