Just Got my 355 F1 and the Check Engine Light Went On!

Hi All,

After months of looking, I finally bought a 1998 F355 F1 Spyder last week. I drove it home about 30 miles and it ran great. I just like everything about the car. I washed it and took it out Saturday for about 30 mile drive and it also ran great. Then on Sunday about 10 miles into the drive, I noticed the check engine light was on. The car still ran great and so I carefully drove it home.

Here is the background on the car. It has not been driven much in the last year or so, maybe only 300 miles. Before I purchased the car all of the fluids were changed and the oxygen sensors were also changed. It passed the California Smog test with flying colors, generally only 5% to 10% of the allowable emissions. Yesterday I bought an Innova 3100 and hooked it up. Five codes showed up. Here is a list:

P0153 – O2 sensor circuit slow response, Bank 2, Sensor 1
P1128 - Manifold Absolute Pressure too low? – Car is running lean?
P1129 - ???
P0422 - Main Catalyst efficiency is below threshold, Bank 1
P0432 - Main Catalyst efficiency is below threshold, Bank 2

The car has around 21,000 miles on it. The service history of the car shows that the cats were replaced about 4 years ago ( 5000 miles ) and, of course, the oxygen sensors were just replaced. It also has a Tubi exhaust, if that makes a difference.

Given all of this information, what do you think these codes indicate? I am not sure of P1128 and does anyone know what P1129 is for? Is it serious or should I just reset them and keep driving the car.

Thanks for the help.

 

Any Ideas? Has anyone else seen similar codes?

 

I did call the service manager where I bought the car right after the check engine light went on. They had done all of the fluid changes and had changed the oxygen sensors prior to my receiving the car last week. The car passed the California smog test last week as well. After I explained the circumstances surrounding the check engine light going on (on solid, with what appears to be no loss of performance) he suggested that I continue to drive the car and see if the light goes out. He said that due to the fact the car had not been driven much in the last year, it may just need to driven and that driving it with the light on solid would not damage the engine. I have read quite a bit on OBD II and check engine lights and I don’t feel comfortable “just driving the car” and seeing if the CEL goes off.

Is it true that when the CEL is lit that the engine only runs in open loop mode? When I saw that it had thrown 5 separate codes, I became even more concerned. It seems to me that the codes indicate I may need new cats, however they were just replaced 5000 miles ago. As far as the P1128, which may indicate a lean condition, does anyone have an explanation for that code? How about P1129?

Has anyone seen similar codes? What was done to correct it? Does my car actually need an “Italian tune up” to clear out the cobwebs from a year of inactivity?

 

Thanks for all of the responses. I bought the car in Silicon Valley, California. I bought it from a non-authorized dealer who sells many different brands of exotic cars. This car was on consignment from one of their very good customers. I did meet the guy and he seemed ok. This was his fifth F355. He spent over $4k on the fluid changes and other items that needed attention right before I took delivery of the car. The service manager there and all of the mechanics have been very nice and quite accommodating. I did do the PPI through them, which I know can be a conflict of interest, but I observed the inspection and was satisfied with the results. I had originally planned on a separate PPI at another independent repair facility, but these guys were very through and did actually find a number of items that needed correcting. I do not think a separate PPI at another dealer would have actually caught this particular CEL issue. It took about 80 miles (2+ hours) of driving before it showed up.

My original purpose in this thread was not to learn how to repair the car, but rather to get as much information as I can before I confront the dealer, service manager and the previous owner. If the cats indeed do require replacement, I do not think the dealer, which is not an authorized Ferrari dealer will be able to actually do the warranty work, but I may need their help (explaining the work done on the O2 sensors) in persuading the authorized dealer to perform the warranty work. Of course I can show the authorized dealer service manager the receipts for all the work done including the all new oxygen sensors, but I wonder how they will respond to my buying it from a non-authorized dealer. The reason I didn’t buy from the local authorized dealer is that they do not carry 355s. They deal in the 360 and 430 lines primarily.

What makes this whole cat replacement a bit difficult is that this car just was subjected to two separate smog tests, one, a pre-test at the dealer, and the other “official” one, at a “smog only test station”. It seems that all the Ferraris of this age in California are now being required to go to a “smog only” test. Both sets of readings were excellent and consistent.

Here is a smog data:

HC (PPM)
Dealer
15 mph Max 48 Ave 9 Meas 5
25 mph Max 32 Ave 7 Meas 1

Test Station
15 mph Max 48 Ave 9 Meas 11
25 mph Max 32 Ave 7 Meas 11


CO %
Dealer
15 mph Max 0.47 Ave 0.02 Meas 0.01
25 mph Max 0.44 Ave 0.03 Meas 0.00

Test Station
15 mph Max 0.47 Ave 0.02 Meas 0.04
25 mph Max 0.44 Ave 0.03 Meas 0.03


NO (PPM)
Dealer
15 mph Max 405 Ave 57 Meas 45
25 mph Max 692 Ave 50 Meas 4

Test Station
15 mph Max 48 Ave 9 Meas 51
25 mph Max 32 Ave 7 Meas 28

After reviewing the smog test data it does seem like the official emissions are a bit higher than the dealer’s, however they are both well under the limit, some are even under the average for all cars that passed ( which includes Toyotas, Hondas, etc.). I would think these would be good numbers for a F355 with 21k miles on it. I did not actually witness the test, but the data seems fairly consistent between both tests. That being said, how difficult would it be to “fake” the California smog test with an OBD II car?

A little more history on the CEL episode. Sometime before I noticed that the check engine light went on, I was in fairly heavy city traffic. The car was idling for a while and I was inching up thru traffic. Sometime after I had got back on the open road I noticed the CEL was illuminated. It is possible it went on in traffic and I didn’t notice it at the time (too busy worrying about someone hitting the car). Would this cause the CEL to go on even though the car may pass the smog test with the numbers shown?

I don’t want to overreact to the CEL if it was just a single occurrence due to a combination of factor such as inactivity and traffic, if driving it properly for a few hundred miles will clear it up. Should I just clear the codes and then drive it some more this weekend and see if the same codes reappear?

I want to preserve the relationship with the service manager so that if any other issues come up in the next few weeks he will be willing to help. The car is not under any sort of warranty at this time that I am aware of. I bought it as-is, so I think they or the previous owner are not under any obligation to look at or fix the car.

Here are a few more questions I would like to get some comments on:

The car was made in February 1998 and put into service in June of 98. It was delivered by Miller Motorcars in CT, and soon thereafter moved to California. Does the 8 year / 80,000 mile warranty apply until June of 2006? It appears that it would given the car was delivered in CT. I have heard that cars delivered in California may only have 7/70 warranty?

How should I approach the authorized dealer if it does appear the cats are gone? They were just replaced 5000 miles ago ( 4 years ) by a dealer that was authorized at the time.

Should I give the car a third smog test just to make sure, witness it, and then compare the results to the two tests done last week?

After all this, I just want to make darn sure I really do have a problem with the car before I start wading in hip deep with everyone involved into the cat replacement issue.

Any insights or opinions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks for the warranty info. I would think this car falls under the federal 8/80 warranty. I will call the authorized dealer Monday morning to confirm this. The real sticking point to all of this is that the car has not failed any emissions tests, but actually just passed the California emission tests, not just once, but twice around two weeks ago!

My main concern about just going back to service manager and the dealer with guns blazing is that it was a consignment car without a warranty. The car was sold “as-is”. Although the dealer did have some problems corrected, fluids changed and the smog test done, the bill was paid by the previous owner. Does the responsibility lie with the previous owner or the service manager and repair shop?

They do have documents that show the car passed smog on Mar 9 and March 10, which would theoretically (if it was not “faked”) indicate is was running properly at that time. I drove the car for two days before the CEL turned on. If I lay it out that I picked up the car on Friday, March 17, and then had a problem with the CEL two days later on Sunday, March 19, I would think it would be very easy for them to just say that the car was fine when I drove it away, but now has a new problem. I am concerned that once they start working on the car with that in mind, I will be liable for a rather sizable repair bill. Any suggestions on how I should approach them to prevent that type of argument?

If the cats require replacement, I would think that would require the authorized dealer to get involved. My goal is to have as much ammunition as possible before I start this process with the service manager and the previous owner.