F360: Air-filter covers NOT properly seated can trigger CEL?

Hi all. Yesterday I collected my 2003 f360 after a major service. This morning I took it out for a short drive, stopped somewhere for 5 miutes and after I drove off again, the CEL came on. When I got home, I had a look at the engine bay and discovered that the air-filter covers were not seated properly (you could see the air filters from outside) and the fastening screws were loose. Could this trigger the CEL? (air flow sensors reading out of specs??). Please advise...

 

The fact that your air filters weren't installed properly says a lot about the quality of your "major service"; i.e. perhaps it was not very good. Who knows why you have the CEL light? I suspect not many of us have experience driving with one air filter installed incorrectly and I can't say if that would cause a CEL light. It could be caused by many things, but if you're like me, you hate to pay someone a lot of money and then have your car returned with problems. You at least should try to find out why.

Refitting the air filter is simple. I assume you can do that yourself, right?

I would immediately contact the shop, tell them circumstances, emphasize how disappointed you are with their sloppy workmanship, and schedule a FREE session to have them read any fault codes. Put a little pressure on them while you're at it, express your disappointment, and ask them what they're prepared to do in order to keep you as a customer (perhaps they'll agree to free labor on your next oil change, or something like that). Of course, depending on where you live, that may be something of a hollow threat. Be polite and don't lose your temper, but make sure you stand up for your rights as a paying customer.

 

Of course it says a lot about the quality of service...But being the ONLY Ferrari garage on the island (authorized) I don't have any other options. I paid 4220 euros for major service (belts included) and complete brake replacement (discs & pads all around). Both covers wer NOT seated properly, it took me 10 minutes to seat them and secure them....They are coming to collect my car Monday morning. As said before, there are no other options here: No other garage (independent)....

 

Here are some photos I took showing the air filters covers as they looked after the service...
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And here they are, after I seated and secured them properly....(10 min job)
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The air filter boxes are located before the MAF sensors.

This means, the total volume of air entering the engine, is still all being read by the MAF sensors, so no CEL would occur from this. You could take the boxes right out, and there would still be no CEL as long as the MAF sensors are still hooked up to the throttle bodies.

 

Thanks Tim. One other thing:
When I was there about to collect the car, I noticed a "hissing noice" while the engine was running. The technician isolated the noice coming from where the 3 way union and the connecting hoses were (on the top of the oil tank). They said they had replaced that plastic T shaped joint and probaly the new one had narrower edges. When you pressed on the hoses with your fingers this noise stopped. They installed another plastic joint, and now the noise was a bit less but after pressing on the hoses(and cutting off the fumes or whatever circulates there) the noise did not stop....I don't know if this has anything to do with the CEL issue...

 

Why not find out what the CEL is? If you get any OBD2 scanner and plug it in, it will give you the code. That will help tell us why it came on. See if you can find a scanner or someone who has one.

As above, the loose air box should not give a code. Extra air being sucked into the engine by a loose fitting ahead of the MAFs just might.. Could be the simple vacuum leak. If that is what it is, there is no excuse.. none in my eyes.. that a hissing vacuum leak can't be diagnosed and fixed by a competent mechanic. Heck a monkey can do that.

Not impressed with the sounds of that service..

 

Thanks for the reply. They are collecting my car on Monday morning to investigate...Can you give me some more info on that "hissing vacuum leak" please? Is it smth I could locate and fix on my own??

 

Here is a picture of my engine compartment. My car is a euro model.

I see one plastic "T" connecting two lines from each cylinder head, with one to the air oil separator.. is yours like this?
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Sorry.. this one? or two?
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Psaltis auto parts might be able to help..

 

Yes, mine is like that. (photos are the same aren't they?)

 

Here is mine. T-joint and rubber hoses look properly put together...
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Are you still hearing that sucking sound?

If you're worried about air being sucked into that T-fitting, you can put some plastic zip ties around where the hose fits onto the T-fitting to make it fit tighter. It can be hard to diagnose over the internet. If you hear the sucking sound, then its possible there is air being sucked into the engine somewhere. Finding where this is sadly requires listening and wiggling and even spraying with carburetor cleaner in the area to diagnose any loose connections.

This is a diagram of all the parts in that location:
Ferrari 360 Modena Parts : Table 21 - LUBRICATION SYSTEM AND BLOW-BY SYSTEM

 

Thank you, I have studied this diagram (eurospares.co.uk)...I have given up :-( ... I will have to wait until Monday when they will pick the car up. If only there was another technician here I could trust...

 

Sorry to George. Please let us know how things workout... and ask the technician what the codes were then let us know. We can sniff out the BS.

 

Yes, sure. Will update soon. Thanks again.

 

George, are you absolutely sure you have no alternative shop to service your car? The obvious problems they overlooked is scary. Not impressed AT ALL. The assistance you get here from guys like Curt will certainly help, but the service you are receiving is very shoddy. Continue your search and best wishes to you.

Don

 

I would recommend swapping your plastic T fittings for brass ones. Plastic tends to crack due to age, heat, etc.

 

Don, I am aware of all this....But I'm living in an island with a population of 800k people. There are simply not many options, for many things. I have said multiple times that I won't be going back there (I own the car for the last 6 years), but having spoken to other owners and searched things, all I hear is more scary stories... Some people I know, have decided to sell their Ferraris for this particular reason: lack of decent service.

 

Any ideas where I could get suitable brass fittings for the 360?

 

It's possible that a loose air box cover allows more hot air from the cat and muffler rather than air outside of the engine compartment. The hot air will throw off the IAT sensor on the MAFs causing the ECUs to lean out the AF mixture ratio. Can't really tell unless you get the code(s).

 

Although most technicians find it unlikely that a loose box cover could trigger the CEL, this hypothesis sounds very logical and plausible...I will have to wait and see. Will update soon.

 

* Can a bad FUEL vapour filter (that black canister in the right of the engine bay) trigger the CEL? (wrong fuel pressure) *