F1 gear indicator flashing, cause?

My car is back, I got a phone call yesterday afternoon to say I could pick her up, but that she still needs more road testing to make sure they have found the problem and sorted it out.

In the name of keeping F-chat a good resource for solving problems I will continue to talk to myself in this thread with the hope that this thread might help someone, some day, in the need of an answer to this same problem.

It appears now that it was the bolt that holds the F1 actuator to the selector arm on the gear box, this bolt looks to have been installed upside down and every now and then it would rub or hit the sub frame below it, this then causing the car to pop out of gear and the computer that controls it to become confused-believing it had selected a gear but the gear box was in neutral due to the selector being moved by a foreign object (bolt to sub frame interference). There are wear marks on the sub frame from where this had been happening, very very minor wear marks, enough to slightly remove the paint, but evidence that it had been rubbing.

So to anyone reading this, that appears to be the problem, I have done 200kms in the car now and it has not given an issue, it’s a long weekend over here so I am sure it will get plenty more testing in the next few days.

 

JDM,

That is the weirdest thing I've heard....wow...upside down?

Amazing...

Mike in Kuwait

 

Hi Mike, yeah, the bolt being upside down caused the longer thread end to protrude below the selector arm, when turned over it meant the head of the bolt was at the bottom therefore giving about 10mm extra clearance. Crazy aye.

 

Glad you got it fixed, I've been wondering what you found out. Happy Motoring!

 

Well, its not fixed!

This problem is a crazy one, Ferrari New Zealand workshop spent 4 weeks with the car, fixed and tried multiple things, and still the problem remains.

I'm am now convinced it is the F1 pump, i have no rational basis for this assumption other than it just makes sense, the pump looses pressure randomly and the car is unable to shift correctly.

The car will be returned to the workshop after the weekend, this time i hope it does not take them another 4 weeks to solve it, and i also hope this time the solve the gremlin and return the car fixed.

On the upside, i have had 2 days of good weather and plenty of Ferrari motoring, even managed to see a local F430 out this afternoon, we went for a convoy past the cafe seen and then for an awesome spirited drive around some back roads, life's good.

 

Given that they have not been able to rectify this problem, have you been charged for all the work that has been carried out?
I know that these issues can be difficult to diagnose, but it sounds as though parts have been unnecessarily replaced.

 

It is being repaired under warranty so i am not paying for anything, parts have been replaced, but this does not concern me, understandably as I'm not paying the bill
I just want it sorted out, a free clutch along the way helps to make up for the time its taking to sort the real problem. Yay free parts.

 

I also have a 1998 355f1 and when warm gear indicator flashes 1-4th gear and cannot select 5th or 6th but can select 1st to 4th ok and back down, car changes gear fine when cold, i'm thinking F1 pump is losing pressure ??, any ideas guys please