I notice that in bradans post of 355 service they are using the redline NS
You won't if you follow Ferraris fluid type recommended. After that there are all kinds of additives and manufacturing techniques that do make a difference in our boxes. This shifting problem is part of Ferrari charm since the beginning. Every once in a while newer owners rehash this thread's concepts as they learn about Ferraris. That is not a put down on newer owners or the uninformed just fact of life and every has to learn.
Yes you can do the tried and true 1/3 shift for two minutes and you are good. Or you can find what your box likes and shift good from stone cold. Or you can do Dave's method and idle for twenty minutes if you have the time. There are a lot of redline users and a lot of royal purple users etc. Somehow more fchat people like redline. That does not seem to come from testing but the majority of those willing to post. If you ask redline users if they have tried other oils many will say "no."
I've experimented with idle warm up time and 5 minutes is very good. 7 seems to be the best where no more has a benefit.
As much oil advanced last few years its a crap shoot I use RL because its easy to get I will go with the lightest weight I can always for maximum flow, gone are the 20-50 days
Bob I found the same problem with redline and i even added possi additive' and it seems to sometimes to even grind into 2nd even when warm which it never did before.Im going to try a different brand of oil.
Actually neither my 308 QV nor the 355 has much of a problem when cold. Yes, it get's better when warm but it's not a complete hydraulic lock out. Like I said, I don't pay much attention to it because I don't have to 1-3 it. However, when my 308 was new (back in 85) it would not go into 2nd until warm, period. 1-3ed it for a number of years before it loosened up. 30 years experience with Ferraris has taught me there are a lot of things better left alone. Example, never replaced cam sealed on my 308 until it was 25 years old. Then only because one was weeping. I full subscribe to the if it ain't broke, don't fix it school.
Not sure if your F1 or Manual. I set my manual linkage to shift better 2-5 where I do most of my chaos. Also ground down the nubs on my H gate I will be looking at modding the linkage maybe some roller bearing setup
What mechanically is happening to make 2nd hard to find when cold? What mechanically then occurs when warm to make 2nd slip in there as normal?
Never had the tranny apart but I know the linkage adjustment is suspect, inside hydra lock and tight clearance due to cold but I am guessing there
The non NS oil has friction modifiers for positraction. That is the antithesis of the lubrication needs of a synchronizer. In some cases it makes it just a little worse, in some cases it makes it a lot worse.
I have used both in quite a few cars. I have no idea why RP even exists. I have yet to see a car it worked well in. I had a few people ask me to take it back out. Shell makes an oil that works well but it is very hard to get here. The only distributor I can find that sells drums can't be bothered to sell it.
Brian Can you explain why? I did have a chatter when turning when cold which did go away. but i then got the 2nd gear grind.
I refuse to use royal purple because they would not disclose their technical specifications. I am happy with Redline.
Haha... Now Brian, if I told you once I told you a million times...quit exaggerating!! Seriously it all has been posted and the threads wander and drift with the wind. Redline NS = Non slip? Mobil 1 LS = limited Slip? Royal Purple and their specificationless goo Heck I'd pee in there if I though I could hit the hole and it would help What is the better option now that we are in 2014?
There was an article years ago in Prancing Horse on why the 308 gear box would not go into 2nd when cold and a fix that involved drilling a relief hole somewhere in the transmission casing (to allow oil to escape). Don't know how or if it relates to the 355. I'll have to see if I still have it.
Thanks guys for the information. Bob, looks like you made the right choice with getting the Redline NS. Brian, have you ever used Mobil 1 in any Ferrari transaxle?
Really old news like 30 yrs ago. Totally different gearbox. It really wasn't needed then. We didn't even have problems with the 348 sloppy cable shift with the right attention to detail. Another detail item is just having good well bled clutch fluid. Many run around with incomplete bleeds and black fluid and poorly adjusted shifters. So many people don't maintain their brake lines and their clutch lines are even worse. I have never seen a clutch line cleaner than a brake line. You can sever a 348/355 clutch and brake line during an engine out and reconnect them and NOT bled your brakes or clutch and they will appear to work fine. But people really need to bled them. There is no list of repair items in a 30k major but a complete flush of brake and clutch are in mine and I do them annually and more on anything that sees the racetrack. If you do a search there are those who will have had the shift rod break off in their hands due to poor adjustment of the shifter and long term wear of the shift rod on gate. I think there is even a funny picture of Ernie using a pair of visegrip pliers as a shifter. I know this thread is about cold second gear but the reality is that all these small details add up to good shifter function. What feels great at street shift speeds can be inadequate at racetrack speeds and people just don't know it because they never drive under those conditions.
LOL! My 30 years taught me different. If you don't do it all and do it right you will be doing it again. Luck was never on my side. I'm the guy that the bird cr@ps on.
That makes a lot of sense. At the end of my major, my mechanic bled the brakes, bled the clutch, and adjusted the shifting linkage. I could see that if other things weren't set up right it could compound the problem.
