F1 with 36K miles- time to spend some $$

I have been told 3rd gear synchro's are known problem with 360's, but cant find any threads on this topic. Has anyone else had this problem? I think it needs to be replaced, as I am hearing a definite "clunk" when shifting and with 36K+ miles should I rebuild the entire tranny while its apart? Another thought is that my clutch has not been replaced since 5,000 miles (14 years ago) so I am wondering if that may solve the problem if I just do a clutch? Any input on this would be appreciated?

 

When do you hear the "clunk", exactly?
I do it as I shift from third to fourth, only when engine's car is cold.
The car I'm talking about is twelve years old and 40k miles used.

 

I hear it even when the engine and car are completely warmed up.

 

When you say clunk how loud is it? I can here mine going into gear say from N to 1 and it is louder when cold. The only time I hear a clunk (well more like a bang) changing say from 2 to 3 or 3 to 4 is when I'm in Sport mode and it's above 5,000 RPM but there again I have the CS TCU which does tend to shift harder.
Alan

 

I have driven this car for 10+ years (23,000 miles+), its a CLUNK and I have only heard it in the past 2 weeks. My regular mechanic from Ferrari dealership took the car for a drive w me on Saturday and said immediately that is sounds like 3rd gear synchro. On my drive today I only heard it shifting from 2-3 and occassionally from 3-4 and downshifting 4-3. In no other gears there is a noise shifting at any engine speeds or tempreatures.

Clutch is old but only slips occassionally pulling away in 1st. I will have it replaced (if diagnostics say its worn more than 50%) as labor costs to replace are significantly cut if the are already billing me for the transmission repair. Anybody else had this problem?

 

That is how a bad syncro in an F1 manifests itself. Took us a while to figure it out back when they were new cars. It shifts quickly enough and with such force the typical grind is compressed into a very short period of time and sounds like a clunk.

Other things can clunk too but it may be a correct diagnosis.


I would not go so far as to say 3rd gear syncros are a known problem. The way I would say it is if lousy oil is used (the stuff Ferrari uses among other things) and it is not changed often enough ( like the Ferrari service schedule) it is a known problem.


Using a better oil and annual changes are a far better plan than replacing syncros.

 

Mike,

Out of interest, what engine speed do you hear it? Right across the range or only at low/high revs?

I wouldn't describe it as a clunk but going into 3rd both ways are the only gear changes that you can detect on my F1 and it is only at <3-4k revs and when the box is very warm. When the box is cold or at higher engine speeds there in nothing......M

 

Over the last 2 weeks I have heard the noise at every engine speed. I typically shift at about 4k, but have heard it at 3k, 5k, and higher about 70% of the time when shifting around 2-3-4. Wish somebody would have told me earlier on to use a better quality transmission fluid but I have always serviced it at Ferrari specialists and assumed they knew which fluids to use.

 

Thanks......

I suspect that 2 to 3 changes are the ones that generally take the most hammer on the road...higher gears require highly illegal speeds for high rev changes...
At least the synchro is relatively inexpensive if the labour isn't....isn't it a common maser part and the blue boxed one a bit cheaper?
If you proceed let us know how you get on.......

 

How often did you change it?

Scott

 

I have it a Ferrari of Fort Lauderdale now being fixed I will let you know the game plan. Not really sure how often the tranny fluid was changed but I can tell you I have followed all service recommendations.

 

I have mine changed annually on the recommendation of my technician.
That is about 3-4k miles.
He says the transaxle oil gets a hard time in these cars and comes out discoloured.
Two years or 13500 miles is too infrequent in his opinion.

M

 

Hopefully the damage isn't too bad. Keep us posted and good luck.

Scott

 

I agree with him totally. We have seen far too many, especially the 360 and 550 transmissions destroy their oil and have very rapid wear from doing it the Ferrari way.