355 reassembly

these are not split boots they are the real deal so you have to take it all apart and repack the bearings after cleaning. I will see if I can find the part and prices, actually call FOW in washington and ask for Peter in parts he can get them for you.

 

You need to PM Dave Helms and get his electrical connector and boot kit for your engine wiring harness.....it will be money WELL SPENT.

 

Its the end all, be all, fixes everything that ails you........

Its just a boot and Gold plated connector kit with all of the tools required to do the job to a professional standard that far exceeds what is currently on the car. With the engine out it is a piece of cake but still quite doable with the engine in. "F355spider" has recently finished doing the DIY install testing up in your neck of the woods and has given it his blessing. Hugh has made a number of recommendations that helped us fill in the gaps on the kits before they were made available. We are doing it on every car that the engine comes out of for service and on each car that has nasty habits and CEL's when the engine is still in place.

http://ferrarichat.com/forum/vbclassified.php?do=ad&id=124

 

............ that is exactly the product I have been waiting for ...........

I think I will be doing this for my next engine out .......... how many or which connectors does this kit replace?

 

Dave, I must say you've done an excellent job in addressing this issue. Thanks for all the time and effort you've spent in correcting one of the MAJOR problems with these engines not being able to maintain a high performance level. Most owners don't have a clue as to the importance of maintaining an engine wiring harness....even if all the sensors and fuel inj's are functioning properly the data loss to and from the ecu can and will cause not only the performance level to drop but can also lead to expensive repairs to your engine....not to mention loosing sleep with undiagnosable fault codes(kinda like a dog chasing its' tail..lol)

I will not install my engine until I first install one of Dave's connector/boot kits.

Thanks again for your commitment to making these cars last and perform as they should..

 

Down, according to the WSM :
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

All of the Motronic engine connections at the sensors, plugs, relays

50 some connections on the 5.2, mid 70's on the 2.7, still working on the kits for the 550/456 and the 348's. I have yet to find the gold connectors for the MAF on the 5.2 but these plugs were well designed and I am yet to find a problem in that area. That being what it is it will be hard to justify buying 5 thousand of those if I do find suitable replacements for these.

On the 355's I have always wanted to try doing all of the Motronic ECU connections in the gold as well but have not yet done this. Everyone to date has has those connections just cleaned free of the grease and a few loose terminals replaced as needed. I have not been able to justify doing the ECU connections as all of the issues I have been chasing are resolved with just the engine connections alone and cleaning the ECU's.

That said, yesterday I drove the first F40 to get a full replacement on the engine harness. DAMN!!!! The biggest change is on the 2.7's and the F40's where one has 2 computers working alone. Get both of those 2 doing exactly the same thing at exactly the same time...... That is a definate seat of the pants, no questions asked change that can be felt! I have been able to feel it without question on the twin EECU cars when both banks are working together finally....let one bank run a little rich and the other a little lean and you have one bank making power and one going along for the ride...get them working together and it is a wonderful thing. On the 5.2's the difference is "Crispness"...thats the only word that Hugh and I could come up with. You can feel the change but it is hard to describe what is really felt....its just smoother, crisper....hell I dont know what we felt and between Niki, Hugh and myself we couldnt put a word to it.

Of course, if every connection in the Motronic system is currently making perfect contact there will be absolutly no change in any way. Having spent what seems like half my life on a 355 with a breakout box.....I will tell you I have yet to see one where perfect numbers were seen everywhere. I always took a reading and said to myself..."Close enough, its only 10-15% out of published spec". Guess what turns on CEL's???? I now can read exactly what Bosch is calling for through the whole harness and connections.

I will sum it up by saying on a 5.2 a change can be felt seat of the pants and that will effect CEL problems without question. On a twin ECU car...... All one has to do is look at the terminals under high magnification and they will understand the problems at hand with all of the systems. Get both banks doing the same thing and ONLY then do you feel what Ferrari built. Get a 5.2 doing exactly what Ferrari/Bosch intended it to do and you feel the same thing.

Kris is out of town goofing around for the next few days....I am going to do all of the ECU connections on the F40 after hours just to see if there is again more to be gained. That will mean I have to drive it a good deal before these are done and get a baseline with the engine connections done...guess there are worse things that have been demanded of me in the past. I have done near a dozen F40's in the past year and have a good feel for what they give....this one is a whole different animal and it is set to exactly the same cam timing, turbos, wastegate settings..... as the last 2 before it.

This was just too good to keep hidden and only have my local customers enjoy the benifits. You can be damn well sure I wouldnt risk 36 years of reputation offering something to the public unless I believed in it. Kit sells for high 500-low 600 depending on the model. Its not for everyone and the results are directly proportional to the effort put into the installation. Easier to do with the engine out, very doable with it in using all of the supplied tools.

 

Sell a set of those to Jetfixr! We just discussed one of his banks still running rich just yesterday.

 

dave

having received my kit for my 2.7 f355 i count 23 protection sleeves for 23 connectors.....................so how come you quote 70 connections in your post?..........am I confused here??

 

He already has it. His is one I have great interest in as it displays exactly the same issues I had with (3) 2.7's. Knowing without question the engine itself is set up correctly I am VERY excited to here about his results! I already know what they will be and know what his problems are...been there, have the T-Shirt. My only hope is he didnt wash out any rings yet but it is my understanding it was not a drastic difference like I have seen on some in the past. Not an ideal situation for new rings/liners.

For those in question, sit back and wait the results of those being done now. This F40 was car number 17 for us, we have been doing it for better than a year now.

 

That makes great sense to me Dave ................ one of the first things I did when I got my 355 was clean every connector I could reach including replacing all fuses/relays and cleaning their respective sockets. The result was indeed noticeable for the better !!!

I have always been a believer of good contacts ........... since the ECUs generates operating parameters for the engine using very sensitive voltage signal changes from its collective sensors. It stands to reason ..... any resistance caused by oxidised, weak or intermittent connections would wreak havoc on the ECUs and its operation of the engine.

These are the kinds of fixes that are hard to NOT justify ............ as it will pay immediate dividends and will also prevent numerous issues in the future .............

Does this kit replace the tinned contacts inside the existing connectors or replace the entire male female connection all together?

 

This could be a result of Obama's stimulus bill.....my bank is on the lean side and may go into default.

Time for Dr. Weasel to do his thingy...

 

At least 99.7% of the plastic plugs are fine and require cleaning and replacing the female (thats "inney" for you Bruce, just to keep things straight and not get confused) connectors. The female connectors are not cleanable by any method once corrosion sets in. I designed and made brushes that come with the kit that do a great job cleaning the male pins if a proper effort is given to doing it.

If you felt a difference by only cleaning the male pin....imagine what you would feel when both sides of the contact actually mate cleanly. Due to your specialty you know first hand what the Gold offers...nothing better to date. If it only rids the cars of CEL's and nothing could be felt seat of the pants...that alone would justify the effort. No way of cleaning between these connection points
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

dave

"If there is any confusion I can email you the sheet showing each connector, wire color and pin placement. That may be one thing I should do on the emails updates I have sent to those recieving the kits"



To avoid any cock ups at my end could you email me as above?

 

Thats one of the causes of the problems. NO GREASE!!! Dry when dealing with precious metal connections.

 

dave

email me the sheet??

 

Ask anyone from NASA!