Hi I am new to Ferrari ownership. I recently purchased a 348 and have a concern reguarding the shifter. A little background, Im a master Toyota tech and have spent most of my time for the last 15 yrs modifing imports. Ive built a ton of custom engines and transmissions as well as wiring and tuning vehicles. Ive done custom turbo setups, fuel, and intercooling etc....Im used to shifting high hp cars with the cable shifters and did a ton of research before purchasing this perticular car. Now that I have somewhat explained myself and my skill level onto my question. Noticing the shifting problem most have with this cars transmission the first thing I did was a trans fuild exchange for redline 75w90ns. I did only notice the usual build up on the drain plug as you would see on any car but there was one good size piece of a syncro that came out. No glitter in the fluid and the fluid appeared to be redline already (color). I decided to adjust the shift cables but noticed in neutral when pushing the shifter from left to right it does not return to the center by itself. If moves a little but not all the way back. Then I tried to shift into gear with the engine off and it does not go into any gear. I thought maybe the shifter was dirty so I started to disassemble it but it looked good. Then I decided to take the cables off the trans to determine what end was causing this issue. After I removed the cables from the transmission the shifter returns to center perfect and smoother. It seems the transmission shift shaft is rough. While driving hot or cold I have to push the clutch in and rev the motor to shift in pretty much every gear so it will shift or shift smoothly. The clutch pedal disengauges and enguages almost all the way at the top of the travel. Anyone else have simular issues? Ive been reading through posts for weeks. thanks
After messing with the shifter it does shift into all gears with the engine off as most cars do. Its just a pittle touchy. I tjink the clutch maybe near its life end though. no slipping just a high pedal and sometimes while running its hard to shift or get into 1st at a stop like its not releasing all the way. i will bleed the system to be sure no air. just weird how stiff the shift shaft is. Anyone else experience the nonreturn to center in neutral? is the shift shaft normally that stiff?
Welcome to the 348 Brotherhood, and welcome to Fchat. You may want to check between the shifter, under the shift gate, to make sure the foam hasn't blocked the lever from returning to neutral.
Hi thanks for your reply. Ive taken the rubber boot and the foam off to check for debris and everything looks new. Thats when I decided to remove the cables from the transmission. After I did that the shifter acted normal so It seems in on the actual transmission shift shaft or deeper that is the problem. With the cables disconnected the shifter returns perfect every time. I just dont want to tear the transmission apart if its something someone else has had experience with and is a easy fix. thanks
This is my concern. Ive never driven a car that does this and it feels to stiff in the side to side motion. Ive driven other exotics and have not seen this with other cars. The other cars Ive driven are more modern cars though so I would expect better shifter feel anyways. Anyone else notice this on their car?
I agree. I have never experienced this in any other car either. I just attributed it to being Italian. I never thought it was a problem but I really have no idea. I also would like to know if it is supposed to relax to the middle in neutral.
My 348 shifts like crap no matter what I've done with it. I'll be taking another crack at improving things this Winter. I'm not expecting much. Your car sounds normal to me.
Ah, well then, hate to break this to you but , as Tim pointed out, it's "normal". The 348 tranny shifts like crap. You can try running Redline gear oil in it, as that seems to help it shift better.
My clutch also disengauges and enguages high, almost at the top. My clutch was just replaced, so almost new. Mine also once a while won't get into 1st at stop light. I usually just shift to 2nd and then back to 1st and it solves the problem. I found that it is best to shift into gear quickly. You shuld shift whitout any hesitation or pause. If you pause or hesitate a little, the shift will become rough or you might hit the sychro.
I understand they shift horrible and I did put new redline in it. That is not my question of concern and I dont need to start yet another shifting thread. My question is relative to the relaxed center of the shifter while in neutral. Is it supposed to return to center like other cars or just sit where ever you put it? If you pull it to the left or right does it return all the way to center or just move back slightly? Mine moves a little but not all the way back to center like a normal car. When disconnecting the shift cables it does return to center perfect. The transmissions shift shaft or deeper internally is keeping it from returning all the way on my car so Im wondering if its normal.
I you might also want to make sure the shifter cables themselves are free. Disconnect from both ends and make sure they move effortlessly within the cable housing. A kink, lack of lube, or other issue could easily botch up the shifting. I disagree about the horrible shifting. Mine shifts very well and snaps to center just like its supposed to.
For what it's worth, my shifter does go to the middle of the slot by itself. I must be very lucky because my car shifts like a dream into any gear, even when cold. There were many other issues with my car when I got it, but I must have gotten the best gearbox Ferrari assembled that week.... hope it stays that way.
I seem to remember my 348 shift once in the neutral position when to the center like it was spring loaded.... moving it out to first lined it up for the next gear.
I guess ill need to inspect the shift rod. it feels pretty tight, maybe new grease will help. Also when inspecting and adjusting the cables on the gearbox they only had a bolt and nut attaching them to the shift rod triangle looking peice. I noticed in the diagram #51 is a ball joint which i dont have. that could be a shifting issue by itself. does anyone have pics of this?
If I'm visualizing this correctly, your shifter must have an unusual amount of play in it. There is a good deal of on-center loseness normally, but it should not leave center. Something sounds wrong to me. Am I right in assuming your shift knob flops from one side to the other? If so, that is not normal. It also shouldn't feel really lose like an old 911, for instance.
No it is actually stiff. if i pull it left or right it does not return all the way to center. The spring maybe pulls it back a little but not close to center. when i disconnect the cables from the gearbox the shifter returns back to center as it should. i also cannot manually put it into gear via the shift shaft. Normally on a standard transmission you can shift them without the aid of the shifter assembly. Its pretty weird.
This is very unlikely, but worth mentioning: the shift cables in the back attach to a bell-crank kind of steel plate that pivots back and forth. Do you know if anyone has been playing around with that area? If they put that piece on upside down, everthing fits fine, but shifting is horrible (gosh.... ask me how I know!). Worth a check. The piece is flat on one side, but has a built up spacer on the other. I think the flat side faces the ground. There are probably pics on this site showing the correct arrangment. Also grease the hell out of all those parts back there, and make sure the bolts are not so tight that things aren't able to move easily.
Good to know reguarding the plate, I will check on it. Does anyone have a picture of this peice? Im really interested to see if im missing the ball joint that surrounds the two 10 mm bolts which hold the cables to the plate piece also. To me it looks as though there should be something that fits in the holes on the plate before you insert the bolts uolding on the cables. Thanks for everyones help with this. I Never like going back after someone especially if parts are missing.
Here's a laughable sketch of the piece viewed from above. Where the shift cables attach there are little Heim joint like balls that the 10mm bolts pass through. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thanks for the pic mine is similar. So I took it apart again today while I was changing the engine oil. My car does have the ball joints that I originally thought were missing and the plate they attached to is flat on the bottom side. After greasing EVERYTHING and moving the shifter and greasing everything again the shifter 95% returns to the center position. Wow what a touchy little mechanism. Thanks for everyones help. On a different note I decided to "reset" the shift cables as to me they looked adjusted incorrect. One side had a lot more threads showing than the other so I figured that has something to do with the poor shifting. What I did was put the gearbox in neutral via the shifter then removed the cables of the shift shaft attached to the gearbox. Then I centered the shifter in neuatral as close to center as possible ( supported with paper towels ). Then I loosened the lock nuts on the shift cables and adjusted both sides in/out untill the bolt holes lined up perfect. When I was done I had Exactly three threads showing on both cables instead of like 5 to 3 ect......Then time for a test drive. I noticed the gears when cold were a bit more notchy but they went in instead of having to rev the engine ect....once the gearbox was warm it was pretty smooth shifting. Better overall by about 75%. Now all I need to do is the half turn method here and there and I believe it will be perfect. Thanks to all !!!!!!!!
Well no knowing if my shifter was working correctly and reading it was supposed to return to the middle when relaxed I decided to look around. I took everything apart and found 1 bent end on one cable. I fixed it, lubed the cables so they basically fell down the sheath with gravity and now voila! My shifter works like it should. I would have never known there was a problem if this thread didn't get started. This place can be pretty helpful sometimes
Thats good news. I drove my car today to work for the first real drive since I adjusted the cables. It shifts roughly 85% better. After a few minor tweaks on the adjusters I think it will be perfect. The shifter still does not return 100% back to center but pretty close. Maybe Ill pull them completly off and test them for movement and to grease them. Since I regreased the rear shift shaft assembly Ive noticed a huge improvement. Agreed this is a awesome forum and has plenty of helpfull people!!!
