Carlo @ Alfa Tacoma or Dealer...?

Nice Italian Wine or any nice quality wine hits the spot for Carlo.

I haven't read the thread but Carlo broke his foot in his shop, tripped over an extention cord. So has been in a walking boot for over a month. So is not doing what he wants to do because of that. Slowed him down a lot and he does not like that.

He worked on my Yellow 308GTS shift linkage that has not been right for some time. Pulled it out and replaced bushings, cleaned and lubricated everything. Put it back together and was very reasonable. The car drives better than it ever did. Didn't realize how fun it was to drive.

Carlo is an awesome person and the best mechanic out there when it comes to these older cars.

 

Hi Brock... I'll try to keep my schedule open.. just keep us posted. In Seattle,
the Max is pretty cool (weird cool - lots of rock stars stay there), the Roosevelt,
and the Westin Towers are good too.

Keep me posted... I'd really like to hook up this time

Jedi

 

Fingers crossed...

Jedi

 

Brock, are you having to wait till September 2nd?

 

If you are wanting a fix, I can swing by on the way to C&C next Saturday and give you a lift.

 

Just throwing it out there, but wouldn't the dealer have all of the technical information on the vehicle needed to test extensively? Does Carlo have that to help figure these tough ones out? If he does, I guess it's a level playing field...

Hope it comes together for you soon though

 

Has anyone confirmed that the car actually DOES HAVE a problem?

...meaning has it been verified with independent test equipment that you really have a "lean condition"? From time to time, sensors do go bad themselves and ECU's do give faulty information indicating that there is a "problem" when there is really not.

In short, your engine may be running fine....but, the sensors / ECU are malfunctioning and "think" there is a problem...

 

As an example, I have a buddy with a 360 that has a defective fuel level sensor ---- so, the gauge never indicates less than 1/2 full........ doesn't mean he hasn't run out of gas before in the car

 

Very good points, which is why I replaced all of the terminals associated with the FI, ignition, ECUs and emissions on the TR with the Gold Connector Kit supplied by Dave Helms. All of the sensors are getting pure signals and communications between each other. Once installed I had to readjust the FI because of the better signals from the O2 sensors etc...

 

...............just saying................if I had a dime for every "problem" I've attempted to track down on Ferrari's that turned out to be nothing more than an electrical glitch giving a "false positive fault", I'd have enough dimes to buy another Ferrari and my hair would be starting to go gray --- which it is !

 

Brock ---

The most expedient way to get some meaningful information would be to swap ECU's with another M5.2 355 (that doesn't have a current CEL ) ---- then see if the problem reappears on the other car, as well as if it persists on yours. Once you've ruled the "brain" in or out of the scenario, the remaining possibilities are few and easily isolated.

Maybe another F-chatter will volunteer? --- if I still had my 355, and if I still lived in Portland, I would have gladly helped you out

Also, RTGT may be willing to set you up with a "mule" ECU....

 

Sounds like you are getting it boiled down. Frustrating thing is it take money and time.
Had a similiar issue with a 350 in a scarab boat and my old 427 Vette. Vette had a miss at high RPM's that no one could fix. Lots of attempt and money thrown at the problem. Lots of guesses and they were all wrong. I strapped a racing magneto under the hood and bungied the hood down for a test ride. Ran like a raped ape with no issues. Lucky for us one day a guy drives into the shop with a 67 Impala with a 427. Free test mule. Swapped
parts until we found the issue which was a deffective coil that actully passed testing. Cheap part that took almost 2 years to track down. With parts to swap back and forth we
had it figured out in a couple of hours. I can not tell you how many times I said lets replace the coil and everything to be sure. No it tested fine so there is no need to change it.

 

What about putting it on a Dyno and just letting it run?

 

Carburetor Connecton in Kirkland is where the NWRFCA has done our dyno day event. They are very knowledgable and several of us go there to fine tune our Fcars.

http://www.carbconn.com

 

There is someone who has a setup in Portland, because ATD sent my 365 there to break in the engine. I don't recall the name, though. I would think there must be one in Seattle.

 

It would probably require Carlo or one of his techs watching the car run while on the dyno. Think of a Dyno as a treadmill for cars, but instead of running on a rubber mat the drive wheels are on a big drum.

If you do decide to walk this path you should let them know you are not looking to rev the engine as high as it will go to see the max HP, but a constant run at high speed to recreate the hiccup.

 

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