2010 Cali transmission/gearbox failure and warning light | FerrariChat

2010 Cali transmission/gearbox failure and warning light

Discussion in 'California/Portofino/Roma' started by vercetti1993, Feb 27, 2019.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

  1. vercetti1993

    vercetti1993 Rookie

    Feb 27, 2019
    4
    Full Name:
    Vasileios Avoukatos
    Hi everybody, i am new to this forum and after reading some topics regarding similar issues as mine, i decided to open up a new topic to hear some opinions because i'm having a hard time finding solution.

    Suddenly 6 months ago while driving back home after a 30km distance, i got a message "Cluth Overheated" and the gearbox warning light came up at the same time, and the car was only shifting 1-3-5-7 gears. The next day the same, and while i was looking for almost a week which service car store to choose (since nearest ferrari dealership is 800km away from where i leave), the problem seemed to be solved by itself and for 3months never did me the same thing.

    Now seems the issue is back, yesterday after i was coming back home the light came on again, the car does not shift even gears and goes from 1st gear to 3rd/5th/7th. After turn off the car for like 2hours, the problem goes away and it comes back after 20-25 a minute drive. So i am back in the field for searching a solution, for sure moving the car to official ferrari dealership is a long long road, and before taking my decision i would like to hear some opinions if somebody had the same issue, and what can be a possible fix?

    Thank you very much and nice to meet you,
    Vasilis.
     
  2. cls

    cls Formula 3

    Jun 12, 2007
    1,663
    Los Angeles/Montreal
    Full Name:
    Chris
    That sounds like a classic DCT failure. Most of the failures I have read about have the same or similar symptoms.
    Generally, the fix is pulling the transmission and replacing the failed module and/or wiring.
     
    vercetti1993 likes this.
  3. azlin75

    azlin75 Formula Junior

    Jul 16, 2017
    785
    Kansas
    Full Name:
    Shawn Hicks
    My bet would be failed speed sensor in the DCT and unless there is an independant mechanic trained by Getrag to do the repair near you you are in for a visit to your local Ferrari dealer.
     
    vercetti1993 likes this.
  4. vercetti1993

    vercetti1993 Rookie

    Feb 27, 2019
    4
    Full Name:
    Vasileios Avoukatos
    thank you both for your suggestions, although unfortunately i do not have a local Ferrari dealer, the nearest is 800km away. I've contacted a service car store in which i have a little more faith than the rest in my area, and he gave me a solution of getting down the gearbox and sending it to Germany to some contact he has that working on those gearboxes, for the repair. Now many people told me also that it might need a simple reset in the TCU, is that possible to be done from us or does it need an expertised mechanic to do such action?
     
  5. azlin75

    azlin75 Formula Junior

    Jul 16, 2017
    785
    Kansas
    Full Name:
    Shawn Hicks
    From the symptoms you gave us the clear indication is a failing speed shaft sensor on the even gear side. While there has been no real confirmation from either Getrag or Ferrari it’s assumed the failure is heat related. The good news is, generally the repair is much cheaper then replacing the gearbox which was at one time the only option.

    In ALL of the cases I have read about or heard of requires the removal of the gearbox and either a replacement to be fitted or the gearbox opens and faulty parts replaced. I have never heard of the tcu being the culprit.
     
  6. ttforcefed

    ttforcefed F1 World Champ
    Rossa Subscribed

    Aug 22, 2002
    18,772
    a decent size dealer can fix this for approx $7k - just find the right dealer - sucks you live in the middle of nowhere
     
    vercetti1993 likes this.
  7. 4th_gear

    4th_gear F1 Rookie

    Jan 18, 2013
    4,425
    Full Name:
    Michael
    Unless your service garage provides a single guaranteed price for the repair/swap with Getrag, it's very expensive to securely pack and ship a large sensitive piece of equipment... on a round-trip. It has to be crated.

    Why not ship the DCT or just trailer the car to the nearest local Ferrari dealer and then travel there to pick it up when it's fixed, make an interesting drive back?
     
  8. vercetti1993

    vercetti1993 Rookie

    Feb 27, 2019
    4
    Full Name:
    Vasileios Avoukatos
    That's what i am going to do most likely, i wanted to avoid traveling so far but seems i cannot avoid it, this week i am doing a last research and i will keep this topic updated. Thank you very much everybody for your suggestions, i really needed to hear some since it's very hard just by googling, most of the posts are old
     
  9. Piper

    Piper Two Time F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Jun 6, 2010
    24,851
    Northern Virginia
    Full Name:
    Bob
    Sorry for your troubles.
     
    vercetti1993 likes this.
  10. tomc

    tomc Two Time F1 World Champ

    Apr 13, 2014
    25,865
    DFW, Texas
    Full Name:
    Tom C
    I think that's the best solution in the long run, to have an authorized F dealer look @ it. Good luck.
    T
     
  11. MDEL

    MDEL F1 Rookie
    Rossa Subscribed

    Feb 24, 2016
    3,558
    Southern Europe
    Full Name:
    Mario
    With a Cali the same age as yours in 2016 I've had the same problem and some others. The car had an extension warranty and the diagnose it was initially a faulty gear-box speed sensor. Ferrari ordered the dealer to remove the DCT and substitute the sensor and that's what they did. Because the repair caught the month of August when the dealer was short in personnel, when the DCT was put back again in place already repaired I had been without the car for over two months. They tested the car after the repair and everything was fine except for a small detail, the activation of the electric brakes by the DCT wasn't working properly. To my despair Ferrari ordered the dealer to remove the DCT one second time and when the car was given back to me almost 3 months had passed. After I got the car back and while driving home I noticed the radio wasn't working properly and the GPS showed a position in the middle of the Atlantic ocean several thousand miles away from where I was. Turned around very upset and took the car back to the dealer where I was told that they would have to make a diagnose to try to find out the causes of the reported problems. Two weeks later neither the dealer or Ferrari had yet diagnosed the problem so I wrote a letter to the dealer and gave them a 3 days deadline to come up with a solution and a repair timing otherwise I would present a formal complaint to Ferrari. The dealer top manager before the end of the deadline wrote me a letter assuming all the necessary repairs and asking for a maximum of more three weeks to diagnose and finish the job. They had to remove all the inside of the car to access a cable that was worn and new radio and GPS antennas hap to installed. Finally I received the Cali with everything operational and transmission wise after the repair it felt much better than before.
    I really liked that Cali in Nero non metallic but I was so fed up with all this odyssey that I sold it one month latter.
     
  12. azlin75

    azlin75 Formula Junior

    Jul 16, 2017
    785
    Kansas
    Full Name:
    Shawn Hicks
    Bear in mind that I’m not familiar with European dealers but in 2016 it was fairly early in the dealer repair option as up until dealers mechanics were trained to repair the DCT they simply removed the DCT and shipped them to getrag. A DCT repair shouldn’t be too horrible time wise in the United States however it is according to many Ferrari mechanics a labor intensive job to remove and reinstall the DCT. It’s also important to note that just because early model DCT’s can fail doesn’t mean it will fail. In reality I think you have a higher probability of an issue with the top mechanism then a DCT issue, which is another expensive repair.

    But thanks for sharing your story, since it helps to build a better understanding of the issue and it sure is sad you had to endure such a lengthy repair process.
     
  13. MDEL

    MDEL F1 Rookie
    Rossa Subscribed

    Feb 24, 2016
    3,558
    Southern Europe
    Full Name:
    Mario
    Now I have another Ferrari and I continuo using the services of the same dealer that has several mechanics trained at Maranello and fully qualified to repair any transmission. In the mean time I found some pictures I took of my Cali during this repair epopei and despite having posted them before here since that was a long time ago I post them again in the case they are of interest.

    The first picture was taken the 2nd August 2016 and shows my Cali side by side with an early F12 that was diagnosed exactly the same problem of a faulty speed sensor. The second third and fourth pictures taken the same day show the amount of preparatory work that has to be done before the transmission can be removed. All the bottom panels had to come off, a part of the exhaust and the rear wheels brake disks and part of the oil circuit had to be removed as well.
    The 5th and 6th pictures were taken on the 11th August 2016 after the DCT was removed and the cardboard box on the right side of the transmission is the one containing the new sensor. The 7th and 8th pictures were taken the 19th August 2016 and they show the operation of putting back in place the transmission.





    Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
     
  14. azlin75

    azlin75 Formula Junior

    Jul 16, 2017
    785
    Kansas
    Full Name:
    Shawn Hicks
    Those photos sure show how deep in they have to go to remove the DCT. Hopefully you have less trouble with your current Ferrari. It appears that around 2015 the issue was resolved as I haven’t heard of any California T or 488 that have had DCT issues.
     
    MDEL likes this.
  15. azlin75

    azlin75 Formula Junior

    Jul 16, 2017
    785
    Kansas
    Full Name:
    Shawn Hicks
    Those photos sure show how deep in they have to go to remove the DCT. Hopefully you have less trouble with your current Ferrari. It appears that around 2015 the issue was resolved as I haven’t heard of any California T or 488 that have had DCT issues.
     
  16. MDEL

    MDEL F1 Rookie
    Rossa Subscribed

    Feb 24, 2016
    3,558
    Southern Europe
    Full Name:
    Mario
    It's incredible the amount of work hours needed just to substitute a tiny sensor that costs around 200 Euros. As you refer it seems that in the newer DCT's the sensor issues have been completely corrected and according to a recent information from my dealer's chief mechanic all the gear-box repairs they've done in the last couple of years are in cars dated before 2015. As far as I know my ex Cali hasn't had any more problems since 2016 so it appears I was the unlucky one.
     
  17. vercetti1993

    vercetti1993 Rookie

    Feb 27, 2019
    4
    Full Name:
    Vasileios Avoukatos
    Issue fixed! As it seems the issue was on the electronic system of the car, dealership in Bari said that they traced three malfunction issues and they fixed them by updating the software of the car. Now already done it arround 600km and the issue seem to be a past!

    Total cost of the service: 200€, thank you all for your suggestions!
     
  18. tomc

    tomc Two Time F1 World Champ

    Apr 13, 2014
    25,865
    DFW, Texas
    Full Name:
    Tom C
    Awesome news!
    T
     
    MDEL likes this.
  19. 4th_gear

    4th_gear F1 Rookie

    Jan 18, 2013
    4,425
    Full Name:
    Michael
    That's wonderful! It's strange the software would suddenly cause a false DCT failure situation but it's good to know it was just software.

    Looks like your dealer is in Bari, Italy. Personally-speaking, I would not complain if I had to drive 800km to get service there. So are you now just 200km from home? :D
     
    MDEL likes this.
  20. craigludy

    craigludy Rookie

    Sep 20, 2022
    1
    Full Name:
    Craig Ludy
    I have the same problem. Today after driving 10 miles the car would jump all even numbered gears. I parked and the Reverse would not engage. I tried everything to get into reverse but wouldn't engage. After 2 hours the reverse would engage but only for 5 minutes of running and stopped engaging again. Is there a chance a software update could work?
     
  21. Marablel

    Marablel Rookie

    May 12, 2023
    17
    How did you get it resolved?
     

Share This Page