My bet..it has to be electrical
Discovered this last night and could not stop reading till I got to the end. I apologize in advance if I am reapeating anything here as I have to admit I did not read every word. You have compression, fuel pressure, air and looks like that power to each injector was confirmed with noids and the L/R ECU were swapped with the same result. What I did not see was that the fuel injectors were tested for fuel flow individually at a FI service center and that each spark plug is actaully visually confirmed to be firing. Even if your timing is off, once you have fuel/air/spark you will make combustion of some sort, the engine would be backfiring / bucking or something. I had a similar issue once and it turned out to be bad injectors, firing order and fuel injector wiring. Good luck with this !.
Thanks for the note. I had the injectors professionally cleaned and balanced. I have pulled both injector rails and verified they are injecting fuel. If there is one thing that ISN'T wrong, it is fuel! I hope to hear something more from Vince today. At least if he's verifies timing. Stay tuned...
When I see a post has been made on the thread I quickly check in anticipation you have a fine running 12 cylinder Ferrari to drive. I hope this gets resolved soon.
+1 each time I open to the Fchat your thread is the first one I look at=I am intrigue so what was it finally?
Well, for now Vince has confirmed that all my work was good. On the timing, he was able to confirm the intake cams are all fine. We think the exhaust cams are fine too but both my hard copy and electronic manuals are incoherent (translation issue or a missing spec) as to the exhaust timing procedure. It is missing a line in it or something. I will try to post the language but it is messed up. So, adequate compression, great spark (he confirmed), fuel, etc. I think there is some electronic can-bus communication issue or something. Vince is determined to resolve it with me but it looks like my timing to the rear scribe marks puts the timing right on (I will confirm this when he gets the exhaust corroborated too). Gotta love a salvage title car! I was warned but never expected this...
So many people rooting for you. One day this whole saga will be a blip in a long history of enjoying the 612 (and being able to do all the work yourself with confidence).
I think I may have just found the problem with a read through the (electronic version) of the WSM I have... It appears you time the RHS cams off of the TDC indicator on cylinder 1. Then once done, you move the TDC indicator to cylinder 12 and do the LHS (driver's) bank. I don't believe my paper version had that information (I need to go back and check). As such, I had timed the whole engine off TDC on cylinder #1. That would obviously put the timing slightly off (quite a bit off) on the LHS bank (which is actually the one running) and the timing on the RHS bank would be correct. The problem there is that the cam position sensor is positioned off the LHS intake cam. So this could screw up the injection and ignition timing to the RHS bank. So both would be less than ideal. I have contacted Vince to discuss. I hope I am on to something here. Perhaps fatbilybob or Taz can confirm? Also, if someone has the specs for the exhaust valve timing (bucket and degree wheel) portion of the 612 or 575m, that would be appreciated. Like I said, I am missing that from both my manuals.
Jason, here's the 575M procedure, however I would think if you'd done it as you said, you should have a left head full of bent valves (which you obviously don't)? As you can see from the brief description of timing the LHS below, the degree wheel and lift are the same for the left as the right. How did you set the left head's cams if you didn't measure TDC on #12? Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thanks for this. I see it is the same as the 612. There is confusion in interpreting the exhaust valve part that I now think I have an explanation for (i.e. an interpretation). I timed the LHS and RHS off of #1. Here's the confusion in the initial set-up. Should all the scribed timing marks line up (RHS and LHS) with #1 at TDC or should the LHS marks line up with the #12 cylinder at TDC? I think it means the latter. However, if you were planning on skipping the degree wheel portion of the procedure (and trusting the marks), you would/could read it as I did (time all 4 cam marks with #1 at TDC). If someone can confirm this misinterpretation, than we know our issue. So, if this is the case, the crank if 60 degrees advanced relative to the cam timing on the LHS. Apparently not enough to contact valves against pistons (thankfully).
The fact that I never got a look at the timing marks with the engine at TDC at the beginning of the rebuild contributes to this issue. With the engine seized, I was unable to view it before disassembly. Bummer...
Nope, all four LHS & RHS marks should line up with their caps only with #1 at TDC compression, because they're just meant to be assembly marks. They're meaningless when #12 is at TDC. They're just an indication of where it's OK to set the cams in place & torque them down. Hence the left ones shouldn't be used at all for timing #12. Here's a clip out of the 550 manual that spells it out: Image Unavailable, Please Login
OK, thanks. So still hunting then... Makes sense as doubtful I could product good compression numbers with pistons 60 degrees below where they should be on the driver's bank. Cribbj, could you post the complete timing wheel procedure from the 550 manual for me please? Thanks.
Jason, better than that, here are the links on Ben Deetman's site for a free download of the 550 WSM (and others): Vol 1: http://ferraridatabase.com/The_Downloads/The%20Documents/Workshop%20Manual%20550%20Maranello%201.pdf Vol 2: http://ferraridatabase.com/The_Downloads/The%20Documents/Workshop%20Manual%20550%20Maranello%202.pdf
Look at bullet point 4. From bottom. Is says recheck marks are on after timing has been done. This implies what i have always said that you cant go by marks are scribe lines because even after timing proceedure the marks will appear to line up. 2 or 3 cog holes you cant see a change
Good to see I have a fellow Norwegian watching the project! Surprised you didn't comment on my username. ;-) As for the timing, Vince needs to finish his check. Then it's gotta be some electrical nuance. Again, fuel, spark, air, compression, all there. LHS bank runs well, LHS barely runs at all. Headers only on the car. Cats are not clogged. Injectors clean as a whistle. Lots of suction through intake and throttle plates operating. The car does have a significant leakdown but it is comparable on both banks and the rings just likely need to bed in. Vince has committed to figuring it out...
Ever since I had a bad experience with tuning a freshly rebuilt engine after it was installed in the car, I now tune & break-in on an engine dyno before putting the motor back in the car. This might seem extreme, but it's so much easier to sort out problems, leaks, malfunctioning injectors, etc. when it's run under controlled conditions, and the cost is insignificant in comparison to rebuilding the engine yet again, due to washed cylinders, etc..... It's a little harder to do with a V12 than a V6 or V8, but there are aftermarket ECU's out there that can handle it, and if push comes to shove, it might be a consideration for you. At least by running on an engine dyno, with a separate standalone ECU, you'd know whether the gremlin is in the engine, or in the car.
This is quite the project. I admire your tenacity. I think anyone that has taken on a project like this has run into issues that seem unsolvable. I know I have. I have to walk away and gather my thoughts. Sometimes when I am so involved in something, I can't see the forest for the trees. But you have been through so much..... checked and rechecked. Experienced massive frustration. I am betting this is electrical in nature. Allot of these cars that have water issues, end up with ground problems that can be tough to nail down. I wish you the best, and when all is said and done and you are driving the back roads with your family, this will be a distant memory.
Thanks Dino... Along those lines, I was just thinking about the "Roof Control Module" that I swapped out with a new one. This module is underneath the passenger footwell and apparently has something to do with CAN network. I replaced the module proactively because I could see that it had gotten wet. It was indicated to me that that module did NOT need to be reprogrammed. But perhaps I am wrong? Reason I wonder that is because at one point I swapped back in the old one (as it had no burned board tracks or anything inside but had definitely seen water). When I swapped it back in, the car started stronger than with the new module. It then; however, went cold on the passenger bank too but that was BEFORE I had remedied the disappearing spark issue on the passenger side (where I was getting spark for the first several revolutions but it was then disappearing due to some interference in the line with the co-routed O2 sensor or a potentially compromised crank wire). In any case, I just called Vince and told him we may want to look into that device. Either try the old one again or have the new one programmed. Does anyone have any experience with the Roof Control Module and happen to know if it needs to be programmed?? Thanks.
Not overly helpful this, but in an Aston Martin (yes I realise of limited practical import) the roof control module (even in coupes) regularly fails with a plethora of problems inc red/orange lights, SRS Airbag Service, brake failure warning, no LCD display, speed/rev/temp/fuel gauges all not working, roof not working, radio controls not working, indicators don't work, windows don't work etc such that some owners carry a spare. Any module that fails in a CAN bus network equipped vehicle can cause apparently unrelated problems. So certainly worth checking CAN modules, however a failed module should be apparent from an OEM diagnostic scan.