I recently purchased a 2003 Maranello with 8K miles on it. Gorgeous. Hardly broken in. True mechanical art. There are times when I pull to a light, keep my foot on the brake to maintain first gear. And it slips into neutral. Several times this has happened. And in traffic when the light goes green, I flip the paddle for first. But it slips into neutral again. Concerning and dangerous. I turn the car off. Start up. And I hit the paddle for first and it goes. Is this something to have looked at? Or pilot error. Am I missing something with the F1 protocol here? Insight greatly appreciated. I have now convinced myself that buying an additional Ferrari is completely logical. jb
JB, are you familiar that if you sit at a light or still (foot on brake) for over a certain amount of seconds the F1 automatically pops into neutral? Details in your manual. If this is the case, as you are coming to a stop for an unknown period of time, paddle into neutral remembering to brake. At start up, with foot on brake, paddle to first and go. If the above situation is not your scenerio have a tech read your clutch life which is likely ok. Then have him look at your PIS adjustment. This is where I’d start. Recently had to have my clutch position sensor replaced, (15k miles) symptom-car fails to move. Prior to that my ‘02 shifted flawlessly. After that service I noticed a slight hunting of the trans on rare ocassion for the next gear while changing gears. Had the PIS moved fractionally and car is perfect again. Just some thoughts. Obviously defer to your tech once in front of him. Bill FL
When approaching stop, push clutch pedal in. If tired move shaft lever to neutral (middle of h pattern) and release clutch pedal. Admire gated shifter. Anticipate light change by observing status of cross lights. Push clutch pedal in. Raise rpm to an amount suffice to raise blood pressure. Upon light change rapidly release clutch and prepare for counter steer maneuver. Admire self for buying three pedal.
Jonathan, Although the above is true.... These guys joke a lot enjoy your beautiful new car... Post some pictures when you can. cheers
Bill - Great thoughts. Am aware of the manual infomation. But. I haven't been going into Neutral when coming to a stop. The F1 has been holding it at 1st. But I will give it a try. What magnificent machines these are. Thx!
What you most likely have is a bad or misadjusted brake pedal switch. The F1 system checks for a brake pedal depressed signal when stopped. If in 1st and that signal is not sensed, the system will put you into neutral in about 10 seconds. If you were in neutral, it would take several minutes but the system would still select neutral for you. Logically, this is a safety issue of rolling forward if the brake pedal is not depressed, or the F1 system thinks it is not depressed. Next time it happens, confirm by pressing harder on the brake pedal and see if that helps. Will confirm the switch is bad or misadjusted. Luckily, not too expensive a fix, even if you have to replace the switch. This is usually a bigger problem for the 360s and F430s than it is for 575s.
T- I did notice when I really pressed hard - the gear held - I'll take it for a spin to confirm. Meanwhile thank T- I did notice that when I pressed brake harder - the gear held and didn't slip into neutral. Will take it for a spin to confirm. Thanks for info - big help - jb
Minor infusion of cash for this approach..... And yeah, post pics. This is an absolutely great site for car porn and a wonderfully appreciative audience.
Ha! Hilarious! +1 Although I would like to try an F1 as well. Thinking semi-seriously about a Vanquish S....as I already have a Maranello...
Incidentally, what I meant to say when I for some idiotic reason said in neutral, the system will select neutral, is that in first gear even with the brake pedal depressed, after several minutes, the system will select neutral for you.
