1999 355 Long Term Issues. Here is feedback after having logged over 75K miles on my 355. Before I parked this car I was able to Log 11K Miles in under 60 days… OIL… Engine oil is changed every 7K Miles and seems to be fine. I always used a typical 75/90 full synth fluid and they lasted about 30K before turning color. Per YELCABS recommendation, I tried using Redline Shockproof and damn the Shifts are so much smoother. Will change this every 20k now. F1-UNIT… Light began to blink, so I replaced the F-1 30 Amp Relay and both Shift and Speed sensors. It still blinks when I’m going slowly, but at Hwy speeds it runs fine. CLUTCH… The F1 clutch has over 50K miles on it, I don’t do any burnouts or track the car. TIRES… I usually use the cheap Goodyear tires (295-40-18) $300 for 2 of them. This is my 3rd set and they last about 20K. Just put on Continental DW Extreme Contact. These blow those Goodyear’s away, no road humming and the grip is phenomenal. How long will they last, who knows? HEADERS… The originals failed around 60K, so YELCAB installed some new Fabspeed Headers and they seem to work fine. A little bit of that High end tone was lost. They will remain Un-covered; we will see what happens… EXHAUST… Sold the Tubi and got a Capristo-3. There is NO comparison as far as top end sound (if that’s what U like) this **** is stupid loud; but it does drone around 3000 Rpm. SMOG… The Hyperflows will not pass CA smog. The Hydrocarbons put out, are around the 500 Range, about 5 times the high limit according to the smog technician. BY PASS BOX… Installed the Forza Compenenti By Pass Defeat Box. It works flawlessly with the Remote FOB. This unit is truly a Plug/Play install, about 45 minutes with a car lift. CONV TOP… When putting the top up, it makes a quick popping sound but other than that it appears fine. Pending the fluid drain when time permits. AC… It stopped blowing cold around 70K, after getting Fchat feedback; it appears to be the AC Valve, so I will replace this also. PLUGS… The Bierut plugs seem to foul easily, so I went to NGK, hopefully no issues. RADIATORS…The passenger radiator developed a leak where the Aluminum Fins meet the Tank Housing. I used 2 sticks of JB Water Weld and this lasted about 15K miles then it finally failed. I replaced both Rads with new ones. ROTORS… Originals rotors were warped, so I installed 4 new ones, took about 1 hour for all 4. The Porterfield Pads produce about 50% less dust than Brembo OEM but they still squeak occasionally. MOTOR MOUNTS… Both mine had failed, so these were replaced, huge difference in shifting and stopping MISC ISSUES… Accelerator cable broke on HWY-5 at night WTF! I replaced this for $80. Broken door Handle mechanism, the part was about $150. Replaced all 8 new Cat flange bolts with springs $20. 75K SERVICE... Big SHOUT-OUT to Mitch Le for the Kickass Job on my engine out service, after he reset the Cam Timing what a huge difference, U can especially hear it when idling, it just Purrrrrs...
Excellent break down. Very close to my experience. Just need the capo now. Is it too loud under 3000 rpm?
What is a By Pass Defeat Box? Is it an immobilzer defeat gizmo? I thought defeating the immobilized was impossible!
Congrats minster just a side note though my car with tubi headers and hyper flows and a capristo 3 with the double valves passed Cali emissions twice so far with no problems. That being said though I always need to take it for a spirited drive and then pull in and smog it while the cats are hot.
Thanks for your update. What's the car like at 75k? Does it pull just as hard? Is the chassis still tight or is it noticeably looser?
The By-Pass Valve Box from Stev Bisel is Awesome its a seemless install that works well. Hit the FOB and the Valve is open immediatley. The Fabspeed-Capristo 3 above 6 is beyond loud, below 4 and its fine. After having rode in YELCABS 355, my suspension/ride feels a bit soft. The Original springs Im sure have sagged a bit, will need to get a Span wrench and have him adjust them.
The adjustment is best done with the shock removed from the car. I see that one leaky shock and would guess that you need that rebuilt, or replaced.
The AC wasn't blowing cold, so I removed the Trunk Liner and located the AC diverter Valve. it was stuck open and wouldn't move, so I helped it with a large set of pliers. turned it to the right about 90 degrees. In doing that I might have actually broken the valve, BUT I immediately got cold air.
Nice to see somebody else enjoying their 355 f1 and not worrying about it breaking. I drive mine daily and put almost 7000 on it since I got it. The belts looked great after I removed them (10 years since the last major), it was the tensioner bearings that were worn (original units!) In my opinion the f1 transmission allows you to drive the car very hard and shift at high rpm , taking the worry out of a missed shift. The shift speed is phenomenal, and the clutch takes the abuse... mine has over 20 k we pulled it just for fun and there was lots of meat left on the disc so we put it right back in. lol I guess the cars that sit break more....leak more etc.
I will replace the clutch when the car starts slipping I don't know if that's what an F1 does like a manual...
