599 Misfiring Badly After Having The Scheduled 2 Year Major Service performed

Does anyone have any ideas about this type of problem: 2008 599 GTB Fiorano with 9,700 miles on the clock and perfectly maintained. Engine ran perfectly on a long, fast drive to the dealership - Major 2-Year Service was performed by a very good F Tech - Tech test-drove the car (fairly hard) after serving and it performed perfectly for him as well. I go to leave the dealership and start the engine and the car begins shaking profusely, which it has never done before...I immediately shutdown the engine. Tech drives the car (still misfiring) back inside the shop and the diagnostics say that cylinder #7 is misfiring. Tech again stated that the car ran perfectly on the road test, which I believe since he never would have returned the car back to me in this condition. Tech then replaces all 6 spark plugs on the same side/bank as #7. Engine is still misfiring, but this time the diagnostics didn't say that #7 was misfiring...just that there is a misfire. Tech changes all 6 spark plugs on the other side/bank of the engine and it is still misfiring. Car has been at the dealership for 2 days now and I'm starting to become concerned. Is there a better more efficient way to approach this problem versus the exploratory surgery method? - any ideas what to target next to identify the problem and associated fix - please advise - Dennis.

 

One problem that pops up on this forum is an engine that runs poorly after servicing because of overfilling with engine oil. The oil ends up in the intake tract. This is easy to check.

 

Thank you this good information - I will suggest this to the F Service Advisor and Tech tomorrow morning - I would be happy if something like this was in fact the problem - also, I would think that the Tech should already know about this scenario as the potential problem? - maybe they are having a contest at the F dealership to see who can sell the most F spark plugs at $50 a throw (just for the parts).

 

A good shop would dig a little deeper before changing 6 spark plugs. E.g. put a scope on the coil leads and the injectors to narrow down what is causing the misfire.

 

Thanks - actually they have already replaced all 12 spark plugs. I will follow up with them based on your suggestion.

 

What did the plugs that he removed look like? 599 is easy to overfill with oil so wonder if that is the source of the issue. Throwing parts at the car is not the way to resolve the issue. It is important to find the root cause of the issue.

 

"Very good" F tech should have better diagnostic capabilities. I had similar problem with an independent on a 575 years ago. turned out to be a disaster requiring significant repair when finally taken to dealer. if you are at a Ferrari dealer now, at least you should be covered and should not be paying for needless sparkplug changes, etc.

 

At a nearby Ferrari dealership, their “best tech” overfilled the crankcase oil on my 599. Oil was leaking down from the side vents. Even the best technicians at Ferrari dealerships make mistakes. It is frustrating when they do, but it happens.

 

The plugs looked just right; however they were original. Engine oil was not overfilled (and no smoking from exhaust. Turns out that the fuel rail had a lot of dirt in it and 2 of the injectors were very clogged - they sent the rail and the injectors out to a specialty shop to be rebuilt. I will know the verdict tomorrow. Who should pay for the spark plug job?

 

The oil was filled to spec - the problem, as it turned out, was fuel related - thanks.

 

Dennis, please let us know what the specific problem was.Could help with a future diagnosis for someone. Mike

 

yes, 599's are hard to get the level right Oil + Petronas additive... to me its crazy you have to check the oil very hot to get a good reading. poor design ... or attempt to make dealer fees? i the former vs. latter.

 

shop should pay for Sparkplugs...in my opinion. if its fuel issues - how did that occur all of a sudden?

 

Interesting the fuel rail and injectors are so dirty after such low mileage? Perhaps the car was not driven enough? Detergent gasoline needs to flow in order to do its job.

 

The guys at Competizione tell me if you are not racing the car, they do not use oil. Ever since they told me this I've stop revving the car at 6,000 rpm for two whole minutes to check the oil. It's always fine, I don't race my car.

 

Are you being serious...6k rpm for 2 minutes to check the oil? Please tell me you are joking

 

Apparently, the fuel rail and injectors (especially 2 of them) were gunked-up and clogged, which was causing the engine to misfire. The car is almost 13 years old and during the past 2-3 years I have only driven it about 1,000 miles - total miles are just under 10k. Fuel sample taken from the rail had a brownish substance in it that looked (when swirled around in a small beaker of gas) like very finely ground pepper. Don't know why this happened...it's probably my fault for not driving enough. My car has had some fuel related issues in the recent past. About 2 years ago both fuel pumps died and were replaced. There is no fuel filter in the 599 - only a screen before the fuel pumps. After this fix, I will make it a point to drive the car more frequently. Is there a good additive that can be added to the gas, from time to time, to help keep the fuel system clean and lubricated. Is it OK to occasionally use some Marvel Mystery Oil and/or Lucas Fuel Injector Cleaner in 599 - or does F recommend their own special gas additive - or should additives not be used period? I always keep the gas tank filled and have been using Shell V-Power. Regarding the engine oil, my car has never burned/used any between major services, and the inside of the exhaust tips are normal in color (not black/sooty looking) indicating a clean burn.

 

Thomas at FOA was telling me the same thing that in order to get the right temp, the process is to warm the engine up with progressive bursts up to 5-6K and hold stead RPM. I thought that sounded crazy but I do believe Thomas and Wade at Merlin as well.

 

Don't rev engine > 4000 rpm until the oil is at least 150 deg F. Here is the recommended way to check oil level in 599. It clearly states to let the engine warm up at idle.

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Read the manual, I said 6k it's actually 4k but it still is a lot just to check the oil.

 

The 2007 Owner's Manual says to simply let the engine idle for "some minutes" with oil temperature above 185-194 F,then shut off the engine and check.

 

4K english = 6K metric

 

Try to use only non-ethanol premium or perhaps even racing gas. Both will store well for longer periods. Non-ethanol premium is a bit hard to find in Florida, but WaWa stations pretty much all have it. makes a big difference.

 

Ethanol free is the way to go along with more regular use. I’ve got to burn two year old gas out of the ski boat this year. It’s only ever had ethanol free in the tank with stabilizer. I’m pushing it at the 2 year mark and it’s no high revving Ferrari V12, but it’s still running just fine.