My poor neglected 360 is in a very bad mood:(

thibaut, thank you very much for sharing your experience with your car. I very much agree with you that I should have no problems in driving this car once I get it up and running and a full service done. This car has been amazing to me, and except for one weird episode once in Germany with the transmission (that was fixed thanks to great advice from some members of ferrarichat), it has been absolutely a reliable and dependable car in every way, under any weather and road conditions and everywhere. I very much love this car and have no doubts about its reliability overall. Except for minor issues that every car of every brand has once in a while, I find the reliability of this specific model car very high. And in my case, if it was not for the immobilizer issue, I'm sure the car would have started almost immediately. Even the tires still have air, nothing really to be done except a new battery and of course a service and major detail afterward. I am just eager to be able to sort out the issue of the immobilizer that has gotten me totally stuck at this point. This morning I have tried several new tricks and attempts with the alarm remote and the immobilizer all of which have resulted in nothing. I am more and more convinced that I may have fried some sort of a relay, or fuse, or wiring somewhere as it all was working before I tried to start the car with a low battery. In fact, if anything, it's probably more my fault than the cars fault. I know perfectly well not to insist on trying to crank a car up with a low battery knowing it will infuse throughout the electrical system quick spikes in power and voltages. This is always never a good idea.

 

Thanks Robz328. Ill carefully pull all the fuses one by one, inspect them, clean the terminals and replace any blown one. Ill also take the relays out,clean the contacts and plug them back. I wish I know which fuse is the one related to the alarm/immobilizer so i can immediately check it first.. but I have no idea which one it is..

Thanks much for the tips F355steve. You are right and I plan to add a couple gallons of fresh gas and mix it a bit before trying to start the car. I do think the car will start. Ive always had luck with this car and has veer really failed me in any situation.

As for the sticky parts I really didn't know cleaning them by rubbing them well with alcohol can do the trick. I thought that would smear the gunk and make it even worse. I remember a few years ago trying to clean some very sticky parts and also the large vent plastic grill on the base of the windshield inside on my beloved 348tb (gosh I miss that car so much) and I made a mess of biblical proportions. That was the last time I ever attempted trying to touch or fix anything sticky on F car.. but Ill give it a good try again now on the 360. The problem is some of the parts like the door handles will need me to disassemble part of the door trim which I have no idea how to do.. Ill try it

 

foatech thanks for the insight. I have no idea what the secret 4 digit code for my car is. Where can I get? From the original dealer in San Diego it was bought from? Thanks again!

 

greyboxer, thanks much for the tip. Let me get into it and search!

I have started to clean up the mold inside first of all because I cant be sitting on the seats and touching things with all that stuff everywhere. So far, comes out fairly well. Some spots with heavier mold have a slight change of grey on the dark leather but I think, once I am finished, a proper conditioner will smooth out and re-moisture those areas.. at least I'm hoping..

I have made several new attempts of resetting the battery and multiple presses on the remote with fresh battery (both of them since I have two), and no success. I have noticed that the little LED on the dash associated with the alarm on/off, now is always off. I remember when I first connected the old battery and tried starting the car unsuccessfully because of the low power, the led was blinking while the immobilizer was on along with the proper chirp sound and unlocking of the doors, all of which now is non operational. I suspect therefor more and more of an underlying electrical problem not feeding current to any of the alarm/immobilizer circuitry, fried during the several attempts of trying to start the car with the old battery that had not enough power.

Many years ago I remember helping a friend with an Acura NSX (lovely car) that had a low battery and he did the same.. insisting again and again to try get the car started with a battery that had not enough juice. By the time we went to a local PepBoys to get a new battery and installed it, half the electrical system of the car was massively grilled. From the stereo to the electric windows, door locks, stuff on the dashboard, and issues on the ECU, it was a generalized massive destruction. So I should know better than trying to do the same a over a decade later with my car. I painfully recall the bill he got to get the car repaired at the neighborhood Acura dealer.. the cost was "Ferrari" style along with having to replace the complete factory radio/Hi-Fi unit assembly that "was not repairable". He sold the car shortly after that and never swear never to buy another Honda/Acura.

Im keeping my fingers crossed for issues at the level of relays and fuses which is what Ii will check thoroughly next. The nightmare scenario of a major electrical mishap due to my negligence is too daunting for me to face..

 

Understand. The only issue is Hong Kong (where the car is now is NOT like the US. There is ONE dealer in all of Hong Kong, with people not particularly helpful or in any way service oriented.. not to mention they speak near ZERO English. The mistake is the car being here. I tried to have 1 technician from the dealer come to my location to try diagnose the problem without my car being dragged there as I do think this is not a major issue.. not only I got a fat quick "no" (no matter the pay I offered for such) but I was only offered that they tow the car there under their conditions. I am on the other side of HK Island, its a 45KM haul across New Territories in Kowloon, then cross the ocean, then cross HK Island and then into Aplei Chau, on the other side on another island where the dealer is located. The ONLY thing I was quoted on the phone was "cost". They didn't even care to hear what my problem was. The numbers, the equivalent of $2500 just to get the car over there, $1800 for "diagnostic" and a minimum service charge of another $1100 (not including any work or parts).. yeah here there is a "minimum" service charge, like in most restaurants here where you don't spend a certain amount, you are not allowed to eat or even stay sitting. Ive been here too long to know how it goes. Just to give you a pale idea of the costs here, Ive compared the price of a few internal items I may need to replace like side arm rests, windows dash electric switches and ashtray, and its about 3.5x the cost of the same parts in the US. Will cost me less than 1/2 if I buy the parts there and ship them over here. But "service" I cannot "ship". They will do it and bill me laughing out loud. This is the result of the increasing absurd cost of living here (buying a dinky 350sf. rotten 1 bedroom apartment can cost you 2 or 3 million dollars) and the fact there is ONE dealer and ZERO authorized external service centers.

The way things are operated here has nothing to do with good old California and the Ferrari world as I remember it.

So, being that the car has not been driven for 2 years and its a given that they will find 100 other "mandatory" things that are "wrong" with it without which the "immobilizer issue cannot be addressed", I am REALLY, REALLY interested in having the car started myself, and getting it over there by my own means for the basic necessary service, under my conditions, not theirs.

They'll eat me for breakfast, burp me for lunch and s**t me for dinner...

PS - I forgot, but the taxes are low and no need tipping..haha

 

Thanks for the feedback and kind words. Your 2 cents definitely taken in and appreciated! Super amazing the support and interest I get from all you guys and I can't thank enough for your knowledge and wisdom on Ferrari matters.. and for the time taken to try steer me in the right direction. Endless people here know vastly more about the true ins-and-outs of these cars and their particular model personalities than LOTS of Ferrari technicians that more and more do positively NOTHING but connect the cars to their computers terminals and just faithfully execute whatever the software tells them to do. Inspiration and true master technician troubleshooting, is all mostly a thing of the past. Repair shops have become obedient subjects of what the computer screen tell them to do, and religiously bill everyone mathematically for what gets done. A few more years virtually NO ONE at ANY repair shop will have any clue on how to diagnose or fix anything just as people have no idea what to do with computers when they crash except wiping and re-installing the OS, or buy a new hardware. One of my good friend's BMW here had a virus on his new car a couple weeks ago. Imagine.. now cars have viruses. Who has the anti-virus? The dealers? The mechanics? He had to replace 1/2 of the car's computers that were sent to Bavaria for further investigation. My advice to him? Enjoy the car while there is a warranty and run like hell when it's over. My dear 360 is at least virus immune. I feel privileged. Every day I love older Ferraris more (old cars in general). New cars have become as exciting and "special" to me as the thrill of a new laptop or cellphone.. that is, before it stops working or the "new" model comes out.

Again, thanks to all in this community for the awesome help. You guys are worth more in combined knowledge and true passion for what Ferrari truly means than all dealers and mechanics combined