"SLOW DOWN" Warning Light | FerrariChat
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"SLOW DOWN" Warning Light

Discussion in 'Technical Q&A' started by arkferrari, Feb 11, 2012.

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  1. arkferrari

    arkferrari Karting
    BANNED

    Feb 9, 2004
    211
    Hot Springs, AR
    Full Name:
    B.F. Mitchell
    #1 arkferrari, Feb 11, 2012
    Last edited: Feb 11, 2012
    The SLOW DOWN light came on after a 30 minute in-town driving outing. Could not find any explanation/suggestions in the owner's manual. 1999 355F1. Help please.
     
  2. PT 328

    PT 328 F1 Rookie
    Silver Subscribed

    May 1, 2005
    4,016
    #2 PT 328, Feb 11, 2012
  3. george111

    george111 Karting

    Aug 21, 2011
    120
    florida
    #3 george111, Feb 14, 2012
    Mine turned out to be a simple solution...My service station put about a pint too much oil in the car
     
  4. Mitch Alsup

    Mitch Alsup F1 Veteran

    Nov 4, 2003
    9,742
    #4 Mitch Alsup, Feb 14, 2012
    Which causes excess oil to vent out though the intake system, through the cyclinders, and out to the cats. The cats then do their best to burn off the oil residue, which liberates copious amounts of heat, causing the thermocouple to trigger the alarm.
     
  5. arkferrari

    arkferrari Karting
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    Feb 9, 2004
    211
    Hot Springs, AR
    Full Name:
    B.F. Mitchell
    #5 arkferrari, Feb 18, 2012
    4 days after the steady illumination of the SDL appeared, and after starting the car several times with the same illumination, the red warning SDL started blinking....AND the yellow shock absorber light came on! I contacted a local garage who could hook up to the OBD II. I drove it to his shop (6 miles) without any performance problems. He could not get any readings with his computer. I drove home to ponder my next step in diagnosing the now flashing SDL and the yellow SAL. The next day I drove the car for 30 minutes and lo and behold, BOTH warning lights went off! I was cautiously optimistic. I have started the car twice since and ALL warning lights are OFF. I have not driven the car but am not expecting the lights to come back on. Still can't explain the original problem or the apparent solution. Thanks for all the posts though and "Long Live the ECU's".
     
  6. Darolls

    Darolls F1 Veteran
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    Jul 2, 2003
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    Sparky
    #6 Darolls, Feb 19, 2012
    At this point you'll be able to sleep soundly.

    Sounds like an anomaly occurred that may have just been a 'puter glitch. Happens all the time on a PC and just a restart can solve the intrusion!
     
  7. Apple Sauce

    Apple Sauce Formula Junior

    Jun 30, 2008
    626
    Wide Open Throttle
    Full Name:
    Vic
    #7 Apple Sauce, Feb 19, 2012
    I experienced this problem intermittently on my 360, but the car otherwise operated normally.
    Apparently, poor grounding on ecu's. Improved bonding permanently corrected problem.
     
  8. Mr. V

    Mr. V Formula 3

    Oct 23, 2004
    1,247
    Portland, Oregon
    #8 Mr. V, Feb 19, 2012
    You might want to consider investigating ****************'s gold pin connector kit.
     
  9. WATSON

    WATSON Two Time F1 World Champ
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Sep 9, 2010
    23,926
    WI
    #9 WATSON, Feb 19, 2012
    The shock light will come on if you start and stop the car several times without moving it. The shock ECU is looking for speed readings from the sensors to adjust it's parameters. If you start and stop the car and do not move it, the shock ECU has no speed reading inputs and figures that the sensors are bad...and triggers the light.

    Two solutions:

    1. Freak out, call the dealer, have the car towed to the service bay. Learn that the specially trained 100% pure Italian Ferrari tech has indeed connected the SD2 computer via the magic cable to your car and cleared the light and reset all shock parameters back to factory original standards.

    2. Back the car out of the garage and drive 100'...the sensors now send signals, the shock ECU is happy and the light goes out.

    Sorry...feelin' a bit sarcastic this morning. :)
     
  10. Darolls

    Darolls F1 Veteran
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    Jul 2, 2003
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    #10 Darolls, Feb 20, 2012
    Not sarcastic but true. Sometimes a few 'drive cycles' are required to reset the puters' to default mode. Many OBDII cars require this cycling.
     

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