Why does my F 355 stall out (almost) when the fan kicks on?

Yes, you were correct; thank you! I bought the disc with all of the manuals...lots!

 

Checked my battery voltage at the posts in the rear with the car off. It reads 12.57. Wonder if it will give me a different reading at the battery itself?

 

When the car is on, the voltage is around 13.57, and there is little fluctuation when the fan turns on. I switched the relays of the R/H and L/H fans. The only difference seems to be that the now fan kicks on at 195 degrees as opposed to 191.

 

Let me update you all on what my car has been doing for the past week:

FROM A COLD START, the engine now idles at 700 RPM instead of 1100, and it sounds like something is rattling pretty bad from the timing belt area.....in other words, it sounds almost exactly like an old Mercedes DIESEL with a lot of knocking, almost as if there is no oil in it, which is odd. I have to keep my foot on the gas to keep it from making this horrid noise. It sounds horrible....as if there is a loose bearing, or like the car is knocking the pistons off the cylinders or something.

IF I TURN THE CAR OFF IN THE MIDDLE OF WARM UP AND RESTART....it idles at 1000 like it should and the sound goes away, until I get to the end of the driveway, where it starts doing this again.

This all goes completely away after the car warms up. Like it never happened.

BUT, when the car is still warming up while first getting out on the roads...If I come off the power, slow down to a red light, pull it out of 2nd or 3rd and go into neutral, it STALLS! I have to restart the car at the light.

What is going on with this car?!?!?!?!?!?

I just put 13K into maintanence and repairs (belts, axle boots, AC system, radiator LH, tires, alignment, main oil line replaced, etc etc)

This is just too much. I am out of cash to throw at this car. I have to solve this myself. God why can't I just get into this car without having an anxiety attack? To top it off I now suddenly have a terrible brake squeak too.

Bummed. Totally bummed, I gotta be honest. -Brian

 

I called them today, might send the car back on Saturday. At the least he suggested I turn the key, wait until the beep goes away (to let the ecu and everything get ready, so to speak), because sometimes some cars can run on one bank if the car is started too quickly, which is what it sounds like when it idles low. If I start the car warm, it does not do this.

Yes, I did just dump a lot of $ into it (which includes a new exhaust).

Frustrated.

The service manager at Ferrari also said it MIGHT be some sort of idle control valve, or whatever part controls the idle.

Whatever it is, my F 355 sounds like an old diesel at start up now. Oddly enough, the stumbling when the fan comes on seems to come and go.

When the fan kicked on in my garage, I felt the vent and felt cold air pulling in, and checked it with a paper towel, which almost go sucked into the intake. So it would seem that I am not getting much blowback? Gonna try again and see what happens. Did not feel any hot air.

 

Actually I duct taped a piece of cardboard in the top intake duct. It's at a 45 degree angle which allows air to go into the intake but does not allow blowback. So far so good...drove 5 miles...waited for fans...no chugging yet. This looks promising so far...thanks for the idea. Hope it works to isolate whether or not blowback is the issue.

 

Now it Seems like the idle only dips about 25 or 50 RPM when the left fan kicks on. It never dips when the right one goes on. Cool...Hope it stays this way...if so I will make a permanent mod to the duct...at the top slot. Fingers crossed. Thanks guys.

 

I would love to get one of those 1998 ducts. Someday I will. I suppose I am still in the "problem elimination phase" for now. SO....

I mad a mod where the top vent is now dedicated only to air intake...I suppose this will take a little bit of air away from the radiator, but this car never seems to get above 195 degrees, and with the hot air blowback gone, perhaps it will run a tad cooler. Going for a test drive in a few. -Thanks again for all feedback.

 

Well...it seems like the stalling problem is gone. I drove the car 30 miles....waited for the fan to kick on...the engine didn't even notice when it turned on...no chugging or sputtering! Spent time to pull over when it hit 190, waited, and poof! problem gone. Went through many fan cycles too. Traffic lights, gas station, convenience store, side of the road, rolling in 1st gear etc.

Seems like the modification to the air duct worked. I took an old drum-head from my DW drumset, (flexible yet extremely durable), fitted it in with duct-tape and carbon fiber tape on the top vent, isolated the vent effectively from the back and both sides and it SEEMS so far like the blow-back problem is solved. Now, the engine behaves the same when EITHER fan kicks on, where the left one always dogged the engine a lot, and the right one never irritated the engine at all.

People always doubted it was an aging fan motor...and said I would likely blow the fan fuse before it would make the car dog out. Makes sense now that I am pretty sure blow-back was the problem.

Some of my friends say it was an electrical problem, or a charging-system problem...but the problem seems gone.

All fixed with....wait for it....tape and plastic.
Go figure.

If anyone thinks there might be any oversights on my part, feel free to chime in.

BIG THANKS TO THE GOTH-MAN. You are like Morgan Freeman to me now.

 

Good idea. I'm all over it. Any particular fuses I should take a closer look at?

 

Well, just when things were starting to look good for me and my dream-car, Now my car is off to Ferrari of Long Island again for the 4th time (major service, leaky valve cover, blown radiator, and this next trip...)

So now I have a cracked left side manifold, and the car won't start.
I do have full battery power and lights, dash lights, windows, alarm etc.

The car simply wont crank. I turned it off because I had a check engine-light. I would not start again. AAA flatbed to friend's house, awaiting pick-up by Ferrari.

When it was still running, I was test-driving it to see why there was throttle hesitation/ flutter under moderate acceleration. I am now guessing it could me due to the fuel-air mixture from the cracked header, evidenced by the white insulation dust all over the left side of the valve cover.

On top of that, my car was skipping a beat when I turned on or off the running lights, perhaps due to a newly installed back-up camera tied into the running lights. Perhaps too much load on the running lights now.

In any case, I am pretty much out of money, having spent a ton at Ferrari, so I am screwed. Looks like I won't be doing much driving anymore.