Yeah, I suspect some kind of catastrophic electrical failure, maybe brought on by the recent service. I had pulled the seats a couple of weeks ago and all was good with the harnesses. Hear a fuse blow? Is that possible? The fact that half of the instruments and many of the lights, clock, etc are out points to electrical failures though. The fuel pump, new one installed the day before, is also dead is suspicious. Stay tuned and thanks for your opinion...
Does the engine still go? I read your first post as meaning the engine died. You don't need a water pump or alternator or most of a cars wiring for an engine to still go. So yes my first thought was a timing belt failure. Pete
Well the last thing I was told by the mechanic who plucked the car from the highway was that with a jump box the engine would turn over but not run. The fuel pump along with other electrical devices seem to be dead so no fuel is being delivered. I do hope all of these exchanges help owners out in the future. More on Monday.
sorry I missed in the OP where you said you looked at all the belts. FWIW I just picked up a mondial QV in december. Owner was tired of the car not holding a charge, battery light always on and not running right after some use. He would use it for short drives and then have to keep it on a battery tender. I was thinking many different possible problems, (most big $). Pulled the rear tire and wheel well...there was no alternator belt on it. The car had traveled around a 100 KM since a very exhaustive service. Belt had shredded or burned off in less than 60 miles due to incorrect tension. It can happen quick, but obviously not that easy in this case. Good luck
Funny you say that. The first belt they put on didn't survive the test drive yesterday. They had to install another one this morning before I picked up the car (only to break down as described). These damn belts seem to be the Achilles heel of these cars. The thing is I lifted the engine compartment and checked the belts shortly after the break down. Both accessory belts were fine. Something else... But if your car is like a 308, the accessory belt goes to both the alternator and water pump so if it breaks temps spike. I understand that its on the 328s that Ferrari went to separate belts. What did they do on the Mondials?
I believe the QV has 3 accessory belts. They changed from two (AC, WP+Alt) to single belts for each in the "I" series.
Have you looke in the battery area? There could be some extra wires attached to the Pos. side that got shorted to the Neg side or ground.
There were as previous molesters had a power amplifier for the audio junk directly wired to the battery. That was removed several weeks ago so nothing but stock wires to the battery now.
I've pressure washed my 308 several time over the years. Never caused a problem. A for Wayne and Mike , they are both good guys, but that doesn't mean every car they sell is perfect. I've seen some real turds pass through there. At the same time, I've seen some beautiful stuff too. Consignment deals are another issue. But I agree, you would think that with the TV show and reputation it portrays they would be a little careful about what cars they take on consignment. However, that said, given that when you got the car it was seemingly running ok and since you pulled out a hornets nest of wires and another shop touched it, it's tough to point a finger at F40, or even the consignor. After all, your post started with the observation that the car ran better before it was serviced. That is bothersome to me. I don't think trying to diagnose such an electric problem over the net will be of much benefit. Nothing but guesses. Keep us posted.
To me the good thing about these forums is that people share their experiences with others. Now I know you don't think there is much benefit to my thread but you don't have the right to shut me or anyone else down. We can express our opinions, share our experiences, and float theories. That's what forums are about in my mind. Just ignore mine please.
WTF! I'm not trying to shut anyone up. As you put it, I'm just expressing my opinion... that trying to diagnoses such a problem over the internet is just guessing and that based on you first post(i.e. ran better...) the problem is something that developed post sale/service. That's my opinion, based on my experience, and the information you posted, as I chose to express it on this forum. Why the rage? Totally uncalled for. Your car is at the shop and they will diagnose and hopefully correct it at minimal cost, and you will soon be enjoying you car again.
WOW.. I think Johns statement was a bit tongue-in-cheek ( and very good advice ) Not meant to insult you in anyway. IIRC he's a mechanical engineer and one of the few that have on there QV since new. I agree with him. Right now it's just all noise and conjecture inless you have the vehicle in front of you or until the mechanic returns verdict. It is fun to throw theories out there however! Haha.
All noise and conjecture? Up until now I thought this was a constructive thread. Oh well, this always happens in public forums eventually.
This is unfortunate .. looking back through one of your previous posts, John actually extended the invitation to you to bring his car over so you could observe first hand factory wiring in the QV. Very gracious offer IMO. I think I'm done here.
Check that the engine ground strap is in place and not broken. The location is shown here -> http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/135417700-post9.html
Thanks peterp, I'll relay that to the mechanic this weekend. So if the ground strap is broken here does it mean that current will increase through other grounds? If so the other grounds might not be able to handle the additional flow and burn like a fuse? Thinking back 7 years when my 911 left me stranded due to a bad voltage regulator I actually replaced the original engine founding strap as part of the repair.
they (mondials) switched to the double belt system too when they both went to the QV engine. The belts can burn up do to wrong tension, usually too loose. And they can also go due to the two pulleys being out of alignment. If the alt has a slight angle to it, it creates enough heat to kill the belt
When I bought my 308 QV 16 years ago the car had the two belt set up. It was going through alt/wp belts overtime I drove the car. I bet I went through 15 belts. I rebuilt the wp, then replaced the wp, then changed the bushings in the alt thinking it might be moving and causing it to go out of alignment, then I replaced the alt. still nothing, I was ready to be done with the car. Finally a friend who is a Porsche Mechanic came over looked at it and said your belt is not aligned I told him that was impossible as it was all factory parts and brand new everything, he grabbed a scrap piece of 2x4 out my shed and sure enough the alt. was off ever so slightly. I went to the hardware store bought a .05 washer put it between the alt bracket and the block and the problem was solved.
More evidence of electrical failure in the 308. At the time of failure I had a V1 plugged into the lighter socket. This morning I plugged it into my Cayman and it didn't work. The plug has a built-in 2 amp fuse. BLOWN in the Ferrari. I expect that an over voltage condition that took out the detector also took out other components in the 308. Maybe fuses, relays, instruments, etc. Why don't these cars have volt meters? I'll be putting one in. So if the voltage regulator went bad and hit the car with higher than acceptable voltage that would cause electrical failures and bring the car to a halt. The sulfur smell was probably the battery boiling under the higher voltage. Inspection and dissection on Monday.
My bet - your battery was at least half dry (water level half-way down the plates or more), battery cells shorted out (the pop), and there's now no continuity through the battery at all. A low battery or alternator failure will not stop the car from running instantly, but an open circuit from a shorted out battery will kill the engine instantly (I've had that happen once). May have also had a voltage spike when the battery shorted, which might have taken out a few fuses? A jump box bypasses the open circuit battery, which is why the engine can turn over with the jump box, but doesn't explain why it won't start.
Thanks GordonC. That sounds plausible. It turns out the V1 didn't just pop a fuse the detector is now toast. My biggest concern now is how many other components in the car are toast or at least on their way to being toastthe Jetronic, etc. The thing is the battery never let me down in the two weeks I had to drive the car. In fact the 308 started instantly and every time. Any other time in the last 41 yeast that I've had a failing battery with a car, UTV, ATV, generator, etc I saw clear symptoms and warnings. Not so here. I'll know more in a few hours. I hope these posts help out others in the future.
Were you turning or changing lanes when it happened? I had a similar shutdown of all electrical power on a non-Ferrari. The battery in my Celica GT-Four was about a foot from the hot turbo. I'd had a couple of electrical glitches, then, on one turn, everything shut down. The internal structure of the battery had melted, and all the plates fell over on one turn, shorting the electrics. But it didn't have a lot of secondary failures. I put in a new battery and it was fine. (But I learned that a "die hard" should be kept away from heat. They worked fine in the trunk of the Alfa, but I now use Interstate batteries where there's heat.) From the impact to your V1, it sounds like you had a voltage spike. The loss of the alternator ground *might* have created that, as the regulator would be floating. (I haven't checked, but I suspect the alternator is grounded from the engine ground strap.)
