Engine warm up

I've never let my Cali idle on startup for 2 years of daily driving or my 458 spider. I drive conservatively for 5 minutes or so until the engine oil ticks up in temp and then it's time to light up the LEDs on the steering wheel.

 

This is definitely not normal behavior. My '11 starts and runs like a top right away. Suggest leaving the car at the dealer and insisting that a technician (not a porter) start it when cold.

 

I let my car warm up or go easy on it if I don't.....

 

I live in Florida also. I never warm up my 2010 458 before I move forward. Of course I never but any real power to the car untill the left screen teels me the engine is warmed up.

My car never does anything unusual while it is warming up. I have alot of cars so it may be many months before i get back to a specific car. I may let it idle for 60 seconds before I take the car out of my storage area. Then the car idles while I put the car I was driving in its storage place. Other than that which is nothing other than convenice I do nothing special. When the car is home and it sits a few days I just start it and go.

Not sure what to tell you. I have had great luck with Ferrari Orlando. Rocky is the service writer and a great guy. Bruce, the head mechanic can fix anything. Great people. You may want to talk to them.

Good luck

Best,

Lee

 

There is a reason to wait, it has to do with the engine control system.

If you don't wait enough the engine control system may get stuck in the cold-start program. If happens it feels as the car runs only on four-cylinder, this condition can persist over a longer distance.

Usually 20 till 30 seconds are enough (also when the engine is in a warm condition!!), then the software goes into the normal program.

 

I did not know that since we do not see any real cold weather in Florida.

Best

Lee

 

Oh yes. Wait for the CEL to go out but that does not sound like what is going on with Cheeky.

 

Exactly, if you look at the left screen once you start the engine, you'll see a yellow engine icon that will disappear when it's good to move the car. This can take a minute or perhaps two, I never really timed it. If your car acts up beyond that point then somethings not right and you might want to have it checked out at your dealer.

 

+1

 

This is completely normal. This is a high performance engine. If I don't allow for a proper warmup, the car will drive like crap for the first 2-3 mins.

 

I'll offer the following comments which I think are correct but would defer to a trained tech...

1) cold starts on any current-era engine are very controlled for emissions compliance; cold-start is the worst part of the entire engine cycle so manufacturers do all kinds of things to keep emissions low - including saying do not warm your engine.
2) the cold-start phase uses a different engine map (fuel/air/ignition), you can hear the difference in a number of engines when they first start, vs. idle just a few minutes later
3) the CEL stays on while the diagnostics are being run; it stays on after startup to confirm fuel pressures, ignition, emissions sensors, etc.

Both of our cars had a bit of a rough (slightly) post cold startup idle, but lasted less than a minute.

 

My 2013 spends 6 months in Florida. On start up the engine "hunts" and the revs go up and down on their own. I don't leave the garage till this settles down, which is a minute or so. I think this is typical Ferrari, and typical of a lot of cars at cold start. My Audi is more drivable in that first minute, but it sounds like there are marbles in the crank case.

 

Yes. And the idle roughness is very slight, hard to distinguish from the normal crank/cam vibrations that we know and love.

 

I let the 458 warm up for a few minutes. first thing the exhaust note is very loud. after the engine warms up the exhaust settles down to a dull roar. If the CEL is off, I am good to go.

I start out in WET mode to not offend the neighbors. After a mile or so I switch to RACE mode and VDA to make sure the car is ready to perform noted by turning from blue to green...warm engine, warm transmission, warm brakes and warm tires (sometimes never turns green if temp is 40F or less...be careful).

Best

 

A 458 engine is almost a racing engines with less flywheel mass / less rotating mass, extreme valve timing, complex fuel control system, dynamic air-flow systems etc. etc. It's very difficult to turn such an engine into a smooth idle.

The cold start procedure has to calibrate all components, to find the right balance into the particular environment (cold/warm/hot environmental temperature, cold/warm/hot engine temperature etc. etc.).

The cold start procedure of such a high performance-engine is much more complex then the procedure of a normal street car and needs its time.

Therefor you have to give your racing engine the chance to find its perfect balance, also (or especially) in warmer regions...

 

While the cars have advanced incredibly (for some, too much? see "I'm Done..." thread), the laws of physics have remained stagnant.

Combustion, heat transfer, et al still have the luxury of taking their time....though engineers have tried to bend the laws a bit.

One of my good friends likes to remind me "when you try to start a Ferrari, and it actually starts, consider yourself lucky".

 

It's not only Ferrari, this "problem" is typically for such high performance V8 engines.
Otherwise switch to a Ferrari V12…

 

Your friend needs a better mechanic. I've owned Ferraris from MY 1966, 1974, 2000 and 2012 and none of them have ever had a problem starting once I had the cars in my care for a year or so. Even below freezing I've started the 365BB and 330GTC without any issue. Every. Single. Time.

My 458 never shows any rough running, even when cold. It is normal for the engine not to pick up quite as well as normal, or for the idle to be a bit irregular, for a minute or two. But I don't qualify that as rough running. So if the OP experiences more than that, I would say a trip to the dealer is warranted.


Onno

 

Onno, sorry I failed to make it clear, he was obviously being sarcastic...

 

Just go about 7:00 am to any large stable with 570 horses and try to wake them all at the same time.... Then get into your f458 and push the red start button... LOL

 

Cheeky: I have had this issue with my daily driver, where driving off after a cold start was nearly impossible for a few minutes. It was caused by a faulty air mass sensor. This was diagnosed finally by exchange by me, as none of the diagnostic equipment of the garages I went to (or their mechanics) noticed anything wrong.

With the new Bosch sensor the car drove like never before. It also used more fuel for two fillups, after which power and fuel consumption normalised. This probably could have been right from the start had the new sensor been programmed in - yet it seems to adjust itself after a while. I have never had a problem in the morning since.