So it begins…

I would do the same. My 550 clutch has now over 120.000 kms. and works perfect still. The F1 make the clutches wear more than a stick.

 

Fantastic news Tripp! I think maybe you mean clutch slave cylinder though, as you should have the master cylinder there I think? Its the seals in the clutch slave that need changed for ones with EPDM seals for the clutch fluid, rather than the viton seals used in the F1 clutch master. I have some of these seals if you need them.

 

Can you please explain more in detail about the seals and brake fluids?

 

The F1 system uses a hydraulic oil, originally Shell Donax TX, but a lot of people substitute with ATF. The manual gearbox uses a manual clutch of course, which in the OEM setup, the fluid for the clutch is shared with the DOT 4 fluid in the brake fluid reservoir.

The F1 fluid is a hydrocarbon based oil, and so uses a FKM / viton elastomer as the soft sealing element throughout the system. This is the same elastomer that you would find in numerous engine seals as well. Brake fluid is chemically very different though, being a poly-glycol ether. Basically it eats through most seal types; see below from the DuPont chemical resistance guide:

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So the thing you need to be aware of here is that if you introduce brake fluid to the F1 clutch slave cylinder, it'll work for a short while, then after a few weeks will start leaking everywhere as the brake fluid has broken down the seals.

Now, the 550 uses EPDM seals in it's slave cylinder/release bearing (the seals are installed into the release bearing), however you can't just use a 550 release bearing, as the flange it mounts onto is a slightly different size for the F1 setup. So you end up needing to change that too, and then also the bell housing, as that too is different. The drastically simpler (and cheaper) solution is to simply swap out the seals on the release bearing from the viton ones that they come with , for some EPDM seals. Ferrari doesn't sell these, as this combination of size/material isn't used in any car. However, they're just o-rings, and so any good hydraulics shop should be able to supply them for not much money.

 

Erik- F1 does not wear the clutch any faster than three pedals if driven the same way. Throw-out bearing life may be lower, however, because the clutch is open whenever stopped, even in neutral.

 

New clutch master is here, warp speed courtesy of Ricambi! Slave cylinder seals en route from @brogenville!

Need to have the instrument cluster reprogrammed; Competitzione can do it but it has to be in the car. They recommended someone in Costa Mesa who can do it with just the cluster but I was driving, thought I would remember and...forgot, of course.

 

I’m guessing
http://ferrarioc.com/

Francorchamps

 

I will check it out!

 

FAI

Franchorchamps of America, Inc.
935 Sunset Dr Suite A
Costa Mesa, CA 92627
(949) 631-6373



Rod Drew

[email protected]

 

If Abacus have either a Leonardo, SD3, a TEXA, or various Autel's, then they should be able to do themselves with the cluster in the car. Takes literally 2 minutes with a suitable tool, vs a lot of pissing about removing the cluster and posting it across the country for it to be opened up and programmed with a test clip.

 

As of December of last year Abacus didn't have a Ferrari software tool - things may have changed. If you are in for a short trip you could take the cluster to Euro Ground Automotive in Richmond: they have a Leonardo.

 

Nope, they still do not.

This is GREAT NEWS! Thanks, I’ll contact them!

 

May I take some short education.
When dealing with the instrument cluster what all needs to be done in conjunction with the swap? Is this the 360trev software adjustment or another exercise?
Thanks — Eric

p.s. I ask because I still have dreams of the long slow hunt for a 575

 

Plus should I start looking for the SA tach face now…. @tazandjan did you feel like that was “unobtainium” when you got yours?

 

Eric- Affirmative, I was looking for an overlay when the SA instrument panel popped up on e-bay. Had to be repaired by FAI so the seller actually refunded me $200 off the $900 price. FAI matched my mileage from my old panel. All done while my dash was being recovered.

 

#hensteeth

 

Different deal. Trev and Sam are doing the ECUs, just have to plug in to reprogram the cluster. Or, send it out, which I thought I may have to do originally.

 

So the engine ecu's need to be re-flashed from F1 to manual configuration. If you have the right equipment, this can be acieved over the OBD, but not many can do this. With some fairly trivial ebay tools however, you can flash the engine ecu's by starting them in boot mode, which just involves grounding a pin on the circuit board inside the ecu.

The cluster also needs to be configured to manual mode. This is subtly different from what people normally mean by flashing or programming, as you're just flipping a single electronic switch on the eeprom chip. This is the same chip that stores stuff like mileage data, so is constantly being written to and updated, rather than the flash file which contains what you might think of as the "operating system" for the ecu. That maybe sounds complicated, but its as simple as selecting the configuration option on your appropriately equipped scan tool, then scrolling to "automatic gearbox", then hitting "off", then sending the command to update the ecu. (Some tools may describe the commands differently, but they all follow this basic process).

George (modificator on here) was working with a company to develop a cheap consumer grade priced tool for doing just this to help with the 430 conversion kits he's selling. Not sure how far on he is with that right now though.

 

Well...we were well ahead of schedule, so naturally something had to intervene...

Seems UPS lost my freshly tuned ECUs after 360trev's guy Sam dropped them off. I was hoping they would materialize after the holiday rush subsided, but no joy.

ARRRGGGH!

 

As long as it isn't lost, lost!

I have had that before! And you don't want that!

 

UPS aren’t showering themselves in glory from my side as well…

Hopefully they show up. If not I have a spare set of ecu’s if needed. I can send them pre-flashed too.


Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat

 

Thanks, Robin! Always good to know there is a backup!

Good folks ‘round here, I tell ya!

 

Sam is shipping out the replacement ECUs today, this time via FedEx. Fingers crossed

 

All parts have arrived, including the original ECUs that UPS misplaced! So we’re green light go for putting it back together. I unfortunately and somewhat inexplicably ended up with COVID (I’m fine, ran a decent 3.2 miles last night), so I’m not fit for the public until Tuesday. I’ll try to get some pics then.

 

That's a sight for sore eyes...