F1 Transmission Fault

I have a 99 355 and I just had the pleasure of finding out the control unit (pump used in shifting the F1) is not delivering constant pressure. This is the reason my car shifts into neutral at all the wrong times. I have to let the car sit until I can finally get the thing into gear. Ferrari OC told me I need a new pump. Great! That's $8,500. Now they tell me that FNA does not sell the pump by itself anymore so now I have to buy the pump and actuator for a measly $18,000. Thanks FNA. Not only will I never buy another F1 (which I was skeptical about in the first place) I may never buy another Ferrari. It really is a shame because I love these cars. I never had a problem with my 348 except that every kid in a hopped up Honda blew my doors off.

 

Truly sorry to hear your plight! Is there any reference of someone being able to rebuild the existing pump instead of replacing it? Hydraulic pumps are by no means rocket science, and considering all the machines that use them, someone, somewhere must be able to repair them. Even someone non-Ferrari specific.

Best,
pino

 

Fatbillybob, you are one of the most savvy ferrari owners I know, but I would like to set the record straight on one point:

Regarding "It is really stupid that Ferrari does not add an emergency pump mechanism to manually presureize the system so you can roll the car in neutral. This is the single reason I would never buy an F1 car until I could figure out how to make the tool or buy the tool so that I could do something as rudementry as roll the car onto the flatbed. 5 hours to get a team from dallas with a tool is just plan dumb."

I would like to point out that the Ferrari workshop manual makes specific reference to a quick disconnect on the hydraulic line and to a "hand pump" that can be inserted at that connection to pop the gearbox into neutral. This is the area where my disagreement with your statements ends, as I generally agree with the rest. This manual pump does not appear to be an item that is delivered with the car. In fact, I can't find it in the 360 parts manual.

So, I agree that it is silly that they didn't provide this pump in the tool kit (as I see no evidence of it in either manual), although they have at least thought of the issue and have developed such a tool.

BTW, as long as we are discussing emergency procedures, the procedure for manually raising and lowering the 360 spider roof in an emergency seems far more convoluted, thus making me cringe at the thought.

After looking at several 360s, electricals overall seem to be more organized than in the 348s and my old Mondial T. However there is plenty of feedback from the dealers that the grounding to the aluminum chassis is finicky at best, as you had predicted. I haven't even received delivery of my 360 and this issue has already raised its head in the prepurchase inspection. Other than this, I am excited about the purchase and eager to receive the car. If I need to learn to bond grounds to aluminum, then that's what I'll do. I think the bigger concern is that most repair procedures in the workshop manual require the use of the SD2 tester, thus necessitating a tighter relationship with the dealer than I'm used to. So, while past repairs on the Mondial required 1 bucket of money for a small repair and 2 buckets for a large repair, the dealer-centric repairs on the 360 will likely require yet another bucket.

Like you, I have also tried the Vette (a C6 in my case). It was nice but not good enough as far as I'm concerned. If I had the room for another car, I would consider a D-spec racer for track fun and keep the Ferrari for street enjoyment.


Lou

 

If this is an issue then Ferrari should NOT have used the chassis to complete the circuit, but instead used a wire (or 50).

We don't actually need to use the chassis as part of the circuit ... I'm sure no carbon fibre F1 car does!

Slack design by Ferrari IMO, and probably solved by less than $100 bucks worth of extra wires.
Pete

 

hOOkem,
I suspect that the problem is an intermittent bad ground that eventually fried the control module. I hope I’m wrong because if it is a spotty ground you will have more problems. So, if Mr. Ohm starts running the computer and the car stops again just ask Boardwalk Ferrari to check, clean and tighten ALL the grounds. In the mean time watch for an intermittent ‘CAT TEMP’ light - a brief flash is as good a warning as you will ever get. It is easy to miss too - the wheel is often right in the way. Good luck!

 

I wanted to thank Eugenio for his expertise in resolving the problem with my 1999 355 F1.

The original problem was the car shifting into neutral at the worst times. The car would stay in neutral for 20 minutes or so before I could get it back into gear and on the road for the next few miles where it would repeat the process. My frustration level was increased as the car only had 4000 miles.

My repair experiences were costly and completely off track..

I took the car to FX Performance. They reset the computer and waved a magic wand. Clearly, this did not fix the car. Cost: $2,500.

I took the car to Ferrari of Orange County and they wanted to replace the F1 pump and actuator. The cost of this repair was $20,000. They believed that I had low pressure, therefore I purchased “just the pump” myself and they graciously installed it for $8,000. No luck. Total cost: $11,000.

I then took the car to Auto Gallery. They replaced a few relays and aligned the car. Another $5,000 spent and the car was not fixed. All of the original problems still existed and now the car began to stall at red lights….. getting worse.

Wanting to be fair, I took the car back to FX Performance and they replaced the engine mounts. Another quick $1,000,, and no fix.

I researched the internet, contacted a few mechanics from as far away as England and no one had a clue about what was wrong with the car not to mention how to fix it.

All the while, and at no charge to me, Eugenio was researching the problem, and on a Saturday plugged in his SD2 computer. He discovered that the problem was the result of a few bad sensors, and at the grand sum of $1,400 (parts and labor included),,, removed the bumper and bell housing and the car was fixed in one afternoon while I waited. YOU ARE THE GREATEST!

I am so happy with his level of professionalism and persistence that I may even purchase another Ferrari and it may even have the F1 system. I was committed not to ever buy another Ferrari especially with the F1 shifter. I now feel confident that there is not a problem that he cannot diagnose and repair at a fair price.

I always tell my friends that many people can afford to get into the Ferrari game, but few can afford to play unless you have a friend that is a Ferrari mechanic. I then tell them that their friend is E.

“Thank you for all of your help over the years” does not begin to describe the relief you have given me, but words are all I have.

Sincerely,
Johnathan Sires, 1999 Ferrari F1 Spyder – Canyon Country

 

Hi

Maybe you have locked TCU needs to re Setup the SW? if the Ferrari Tech can not open the TCU @ SD2/SD3 and or ? No Self Learn ? ex... there is a process for it.

 

I agree whit it.

 

I am sure it was painful for you to go through the process, cost in one hand and no resolution in another. What I am curious about is why would all these people who have worked on your car and suggested different repairs miss the sd2 sensor responses? Were the readings intermittent, borderline or they were simply overlooked? It seems to me sd2 diagnosis would be the first place to look for problems.

 

That is my question as well. each mechanic said that there were too many faults that they could not determine where the problem was. Eugenio, after the initial investigation, cleared the faults and then had me drive the car until i received the error and then drive the car back to the shop. the main fault was a low oil pressure fault. My car's oil pressure is fine. Eugenio knew that the low oil pressure was not just oil on this car it was also the F1 system. We knew the car had been shifting fine so it almost had to be the sensor. At any rate, it was the combination of caring to fix the car, personalized service and expertise that I believe finally fixed the issue after many years of having this problem. Thanks for the feedback.