Ok here's the deal- and I need your best advice- My new 86 328 has a electromotive XDi ignition system. I took the car to my Ferrari mechanic today and whoa- was I in for a big shock! To make a long story short- the car is not idling properly. Now- he does not feel that it is the XDi system, however he is concerned that the Co. that put it in for the previous owner did so because they didn't know how to fix/ diagnose the OEM system. What I'm getting at here is... he can trouble shout the whole system for around 500.00 and make it work correctly- baring there isn't any other issues with the ECU or engine systems themselves... OR I can take the OEM parts that came off the car to him and for around 2000.00, he can put the car back together stock and go from there. What would you do???? Please give me any and all thoughts on this- weather you have had experience with the Eletromotive system or not. Birdman- I am looking to you
is that the only problem ? when did it start ? has the car ever idled o.k. ? might or might not be ignition related ... if ignition related, aka XDI : have you verified the ignition advance at idle ? you can do this by taking out the XDI ecu (probably placed on the left side under your trunk carpet) and take off the 4-knob-plate on the opposite side of the harness plug - the "initial" knob is the one furthest to the left - it should be at 10 degrees for a good idle (once you are in there, what values are adjusted on the other knobs ? might be ... although "feeling" can sometimes be deceiving how did he get to his conclusion ? the electromotive xdi is a pretty reliable system so I would leave it in for now and try to identify the problem first Jonathan (Birdman) and Chris (Pizzaman) and a couple of other guys over here have successfully installed the XDI-System, me included so if your problem is indeed ignition related, there might be a good chance to find the problem - on the other hand, we need more information
The XDI system is the fix for the old system. If this guy is telling you to put it back to original, you've got the wrong mechanic.
Dig up a R&T with the first test of the GTBi back in 1980. They said the ignition was pretty dated THEN 1980!
If he does not feel the Xdi is the reason for rough idle why does he need to troubleshoot the system?
I put the XDi system in a '78 GTS, and it worked flawlessly. You or your mechanic can download manuals for the XDi from Electromotive's website, if need be. Also, the folks at Electromotive stand behind their product, and if there is a problem they will help you figure out what the problem is. IMHO, the very first thing to do is check the timing wheel on the damper and the location of the pickup to make sure that they are properly aligned. Get the engine to TDC on the intake stroke on #1 on the rear bank. At TDC, the timing wheel should be in the correct spot relative to the sensor. Also, open the oil filler cap and make sure the timing mark on the cam is lined up with the mark on the journal cap. If it is noticeably off, you could have a valve timing problem. Assuming all that looks good, put a timing light on it and start her up and check the timing. The XDi has limited adjustment of the timing. Check the manual for their "stock" settings. Nick Forza is an expert on the XDi application in Ferraris. If there is a question about setting up the XDi box, how it should be set, you might contact he. He is a super-nice guy and very helpful. Best of luck and let us know how it goes.
Thank you all! Really- I will keep the XDi system, as I don't believe that it is the problem...and no my mechanic doesn't think it's bad- he just is very old school and like everything "factory original"- for resale if nothing else. That being said- we have talked and he is gonna make the car idle properly and we will go from there. FWIW- previous owner just informed me last night that the ECU was replaced do to water damage after the XDi was installed, and the tune up at that point was not done quite right. Then the moron didn't drive the car much at all for the better part of the next year. Where can I find a new luggage compartment seal, and would running some good fuel injector cleaner hurt, help or be a 13.00 waste of money?
Get a different mechanic. Seriously. Guys like that who prefer 'originality' are like that becuase they refuse to learn new things. Originality is for concours cars, not for drivers.
Please show some pics of your upgraded (XDi) system and engine compartment so we can see if something is obvious.
Re injector cleaner, I haven't used it in my 328 BUT I've used it in other f.i. cars, with good results. Also, Chevron uses a product they call "techron" which also helps keep injectors clean. Even when I use less expensive gas in my other cars every so often I run a couple of tankfuls of Chevron gas (87 octane) thru the beasties and no problem. In 200,000 miles on one f.i. car and over 100,000 on another I've never had to replace injectors (very expensive!) and both run just fine. Remember that there are only so many refineries, so all the gas companies use essentially the same base product (super and regular, mid grade being a blend of those 2) and add their own additives at the distribution center- that is, the end of the pipeline from the refineries- for their own brand & stations. So even though the "cheapo" gas stations and Chevron, Shell etc. use the same base gasoline the additives make a difference. Not to mention how well stored their stuff is (meaning water condensate, etc.).
andrew: make sure that the area around the rear fender well where the wires goes into the trunk is well sealed and get the xdi components off the trunk floor i they're not already mounted high. the first time i drove in the rain i found water all around the unit and they don't like to get wet. otherwise as everyone has said the xdi is very simple and nearly bullet proof and a much better idea than trying to keep those awful marelli units alive. jon s
