Curious About The Differences...

Hi Scott, Vas and Rick both have 1995 cars, I have a '97 and I think Enrique's is a '97 too. If we all get together sometime for one of the SD group drives, you can experience the difference first hand!

 

OK, but is it better, worse or just different?

 

The 'Just Drive It' group will be doing a Santa Isabel drive on 06/24. We may have a couple of different years of F355 joining. We can compare notes...

We are looking at doing a secondary meet point that is good for the Temecula / LA folks. PM me if any Fchatters not already in 'Just Drive It' are interested in joining the drive.

 

Still working on it Scott. Found two disconnected wires in the alternator harness and am having an auto electric shop rebuild it for me. Once I plug it back in I'm hoping that the system will return to normal. Just checking one thing at a time, but this does seem like a real possibility. I'll let you know more tomorrow (I hope).

 

I am in the hunt and gathering data... thus far what I can share:

My local mechanic services Ferrari and Lambo and owned a 355 for several years.. when I asked him about the car in general the first thing he said was try for a 1995 since it is an OBDI car ... 1996+ is OBDII and will have more sensors, etc.. You will see the discussion of that elsewhere. My private shop mechanic, who I trust quite a bit, said overall the car was a solid exotic mechanically if you sift the headers & valve guides. Not sure how much the OBDI vs II really plays into real life expenses? Comments?

Local Ferrari mechanic at WPB Ferrari who specialilzes in F355 work told me two wks ago he felt like the 1995 & 96 cars were more prone to valve guide issues.. Maybe someone could chime in if there was any technical difference... or just that these cars are slightly older and showing more wear due to milage?

2cts...

subscribed!

 

I think the guy with the sweet white GTS (sorry, forgot the username!) has a list going...

Earlier this week we added "1995 has no annoying alarm system to drain the battery or cause the immobilizer to engage"

 

Add to that list,

95 can take the cat bypass without throwing a CEL light
95 has no stupid engine immobilizer to strand you in the middle of no where
95 you just get in and turn the key and go
95 has a few more horses (but there are so many other things that affect power that you cannot really feel this)

But, OBD2 has more sensors and it will actually help you trouble shoot your car easier. And, with a 355, you will end up with lots of need for trouble shooting your car.
Some states, smog check amounts to plugging the car to the computer and if no codes are found, you pass on a OBD2. On a OBD1, you get the probe up the arse and that would be a fail if you messed with the cats.

 

Personally more sensors the better. Data collection is a good thing. Knowing what to do with it helps

 

Speaking in generalities...Early cars... early problems. Cars always get sorted just when the next model comes out. If you get a early car with all the updates that's a different story.

 

Hi Guys, newbie here researching for my next purchase and my teenage dream ride - F355. I've been studying the problems of the F355 pretty thoroughly here on FChat.

Wanted to ask about something I came across on a craigslist ad. The poster says "Ferrari updated the '99 355 (and late '98s) and as a result they are not affected by valve guide issues like the '95-'97 cars." Is this true? Here's the ad: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/cto/3088531095.html

 

They have much fewer valve guide issues, but I don't believe it was every completely eliminated.
Ferrari changed the valve guide material somewhere in mid 98 production to sintered steel. It was changed a few other times earlier in production, with less positive results.

 

So it looks like it something that has to be addressed regardless. Thanks for the heads up.

 

Are there any reports of the sintered steel guides failing? I haven't seen any that I can recall, so if they really did update them for the '99's then it should be solved. I'm not sure that's actually the case, though...

 

That is not what I said.

 

All things being equal, I'd take the 1995 car over an OBD II model. Do your PPI and CHECK - YOUR - COMPRESSION.

 

Drove a 97 Berlinetta yesterday back to back with my 95 Spider...

The differences are minor.... but the 95 does feel a little more "Raw" in Ferrari terms

 

It's been a long time since I've bothered to look into it or heard about it, but I seem to recall the 95s having an issue with sticky throttle pedals. It was said to have been resolved from 96 onward, but I'm not sure if it's a big deal or if someone has found a fix for it.

 

Ferrari had a couple fixes, including a different geometry part where the cable connected to the engine. But I have heard mixed results on that fix. I have also heard replacing the cable and sheath can help a great deal. People have also attributed this to improperly adjusted throttle plates as well. I guess the trick is proper diagnosis to figure out which of these solutions is likely to correct an individual car, since there is not one affliction, but potentially several that can contribute.

I test drove a couple 2.7 F355s and never noticed any issues, so not all cars have this issue.

 

Sorry to bump.

If i may ask some help with info regarding the ECUs.

So i am interested in the one with the less 'electronics' as possible but not to affect reliability i men if the 2.7 version keeps the engine running good, that's all i want.

Between the 2 versions regarding the ECUs 2.7 vs 5.2, witch one is the best if i want to do this if they have it:

- airbag(s) delete
- alarm delete
- immobilizer delete
- stock 'active' suspension replaced wit 'normal' suspension.
- air injection device

Can i do this on a car that has them all and eliminate them will not affect the ECU and to give warnings, put the engine into limb mode etc?

I like the 5.2 because it simplifies things i mean only 1 ecu, 1 fuel pump etc..but i understand it has more sensors, i think all the above come stock with it and hard to fidle with it. True?

For me less is more

Thank you.

 

2.7 doesn't have the immobilizer, the rest can be disconnected easily.

 

This is bang on. You can mod the car without triggering CEL lights.

 

Super.

So just unplug them and remove them..and that's it ?
Good.
If some lights apear in the dash i'll just pull out the bulbs

I just looked through the Ricambi site between the 2.7 and the 5.2, all the schematics.

Just out of curiosity, are these the differences, sensor wise?


2.7
- 2x Ecus
- 1 or 2x fuel pumps
- 2x MAFFs
- 2x lambdas

5.2
- 1 ecu, 1 fuel pump, 1 maff
but has extra
+ 2x ping sensor
+ 4x lambdas

 

99 F1. Fastest 355. Period.