Slow down light in the cold

I have an unusual problem. I have a 2001 red 550 maranello which runs perfectly but over the past month or so whenever I take it out for a spin in the early mornings or in the evenings/night ( esp in the rain ) the slow down light comes on immediately and remains on throughout the drive. The problem is severe enuf to cause the engine to cut back and I can only manage speeds of 160km/hr at the most. At all other times the car runs fantastic and I can easily reach speeds in excess of 200km/hr. I think it is the cold ie low ambient temperature causing the problem. Any ideas guys? I've never encountered similar problems in the forum before. Help

 

Thanks for the reply. Appreciate it. Problem occurred about three months back when the light came on any time I drove the car. New cat ECU's placed, new cats, thermocouples changed and the problem was solved for all of three months. Now I get the lights on whenever the ambient temp is low.....

 

Hi guys, those who have read my earlier posts will know that I have had a long running inconsistent problem with slow down lights for the past 18 months!!!! After all checks by the ferrari guys here with diagnostics etc, the problem always seems to be in the ecu's for the oxygen/thermocouple sensors. However even changing the units only solved the problem for a few weeks......well finally the problem is solved. The dealer whom i bought the car from...a ferrari enthusiast himself...finally had a brainwave and asked me what Ron rating fuel I was using...aha!!! ironically enuf I was using Shell V power 97. He said that this ws not suitable for the car and advised me to use BHP or Petronas Ron 95 and to cut a long story short the dreaded slow down light has not been seen for the past two weeks even with driving in all conditions...and I'm the happiest guy ever enjoying my beautiful rosso red 550.
Yaahhhooooo

 

Here is an extract from my earlier post and ALL the steps that were done......I have a year 2000, red Ferrari 550 which is or rather which was in immaculate condition. The past three months the red slow down light used to come on intermittently at random occasions while driving. The engine ran fine and the light would go out by itself. Ferrari dealer said that it was probably due to the O2 sensors. The last two weeks however the light comes on continuously and the engine cuts power to one cylinder bank. My baby has been in the workshop since then and all attempts to rectify the problem so far has come to zilch. O2sensors changed, thermocouples changed, ecru unit changed, cats changed and still no dice. The diagnostic check says it's a problem with the "emission" at least that's what the mechanic says.......any one with any ideas? She has only done 30,000 km so far and really is in immaculate condition. Please help. PS the dealers say that the will ship in a more sophisticated diagnostic unit next week but I'm rather sceptical.

 

I used Ron95 in the first few months and then caltex Ron97 before using shell V power racing (?Ron98/100) and then finally Shell V power 97 exclusively in recent times.

 

Initially the light came on intermittently in cold weather ( cold being relative as I live in the tropics and the temp rarely goes below 23C ) and went out spontaneously. Later the lights came on intermittently even in warm or hot days. In the beginning the lights came on after a about 1 hour of driving and as the problem got worse the interval became shorter and they came on after 10 mins and at the height of the problem the lights came on after a minute of starting the engine and never went off! But now there are no slow down lights at all. Har har har

 

I dont think so as these were repeatedly changed with new ones while the ferrari service guys were trying to figure out the cause of the slow down lights...I went thru three pairs of new ecu units...
Everytime the car was sent to the ferrari service centre (abt 205km away) the slow down light problem would eventually settle down but once it arrived back at my home the problem would surface after a couple of days...looking back I think this coincided with me filling up with Shell v power 97 fuel..

 

It appears as a slow down warning light and only started to cut the power to one bank some months later as the problem became bad. It then stopped after "service" by Ferrari and then reappeared after a few weeks but no power cut. It didn't show which bank was involved. So far she's been behaving herself after changing the fuel grade. A gasket leak was thought off by Ferrari but then disregarded. Anyway I'll drive her and enjoy the car and let you guys know if the lights come on again.....fingers crossed.

 

hi guys, forgive my naivety...after reading all the comments from you I called up the ferrari service guys to check on what exactly was done to my 550 on the latest service visit. Well it turns out that they finally got the diagnostic unit from singapore and plugged it in and the error codes indicated that there was a problem with the thermocouple sensors which plugged into the exhausts. It seems the last time they DID not replace them because no new unit were available so they "cleaned" them up with a blow torch ?!! and plugged them back. This time they had new units and these were plugged back into the exhaust.
The dealer recommended ron95 fuel since these have less additives that can disrupt the sensitivity of the sensors...sorry for the misinformation "Blush"