Hey there collective minds of the Ferrari Brotherhood.. Here is a question that I want to pose to the masses. My 348 over the last few weeks started generating this habit of idling very low at startup. After the car warmed up it wasn't an issue so I didn't concern myself with it. (The car is a jealous ***** anyway, if I didn't drive it more than once a week it made sure to let me know that it wasn't happy anyway). But recently the car totally stalled out in traffic at speed in mid shift fully warmed up. I coasted to a halt safely, let the car rest for a moment and then started right up and drove home. Took it out today to see if I was just going crazy and the idle was once again bouncing from 1200 rpms to stall out and as I try to drive the car, I can feel the engine sputter and hesitate like it isn't getting the right amount of fuel or something like that. So my question is this, any initial guesses? There were a lot of threads about stalling issues, but not about the sputtering while driving problem. In your experiences do you think it is something as in depth as a fuel pump, O2 sensor or plug/distributor issue, or maybe something as simple as needing some injector cleaner and a good boost to 5000rpms?
Has the battery been disconnected or run dead lately? If so, I would suggest re-initializing the Motronics as a first step. MIght also be a good idea to let it idle in the dark for a few minutes, and see if you can catch sight of arcing around the spark plug wires. You can usually hear stray sparks "ticking" at idle if the shielding is breaking down. By the way, your 348 doesn't have a distributor. Good luck with it!
Start with the basics. Determine if it's fuel or spark. Two basic systems, easiest to test. Low idle is usually one bank not getting one or another. Cutting out is both banks not getting one or the other.
I put in a new battery a month or so ago and have put about 600 miles on since then so I would guess that the electo-sync thing with the ECU thing probably wouldn't be the issue. I will check the spark thing tonight when the sun goes down. I'm guessing it is a fuel issue, but how can a novice mechanic check both to determine which way or the other?
Gotcha.. Ill add that to my list of things to check! I'm supposed to roll it into my Ferrari guru next weekend if I cant figure it out with the suggestions. Either way, the Ferrari Gods will be pleased with my sacrifice on the altar of commerce. Just wish that they were not so damn greedy! I guess it just goes with the territory!
