355 - F355 Stuttering | Page 7 | FerrariChat

355 F355 Stuttering

Discussion in '348/355' started by goodcoffeecode, Dec 18, 2021.

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  1. Ferrari Fanatic

    Ferrari Fanatic Formula 3

    Apr 2, 2003
    1,317
    SoCal
    The legal strategy ( I am not Lawyer or offer legal advice, but experienced on both sides of this ) is: you ask for everything related (ie, the cam seals, parts and labor were installed by shop A). When shop B examined the car they noted: 1) Leaking Cam Seals. The cam seals caused the the brand new belts to be saturated in oil and regardless, if the seals are replaced again engine in or out, the engine must be removed again to replace the belts.

    The plugs, coil, etc are non-related items. The bulk of the bill to rectify this, isn’t in the coil and plugs, it’s those leaking cam seals and the quality of the first engine out service As we know those leaking cam seals can wreak havoc.

    Anyway, in our litigious society, sadly that’s how it works.
     
  2. Ferrarium

    Ferrarium F1 Veteran
    Rossa Subscribed

    Jul 28, 2018
    5,624
    Central NJ
    Full Name:
    Eric
    Odd, never heard of leaky seals or o-rings saturate a belt. Mine were leaking badly, belt was bone dry. Super common thing. Many shops simply do it wrong or lack technique. The seals leak when engine is static and sitting. Perhaps they actually installed the seals wrong backward or something then who knows. Anyhow how, wish the best for this!
     
  3. A348W

    A348W Formula 3

    Jun 28, 2017
    1,741
    North Wiltshire, UK
    Tough call.

    If you let us know who the other garage is we could comment. Some I’d trust others need a barge pole!!!

    But without that information, personably I’d just get Carrs to fix it, take the financial hit and move on. At the end of the day you will be back at Carrs next year for the next service anyway.

    Besides; getting the car their and back isnt going to be cheap; I’d guess £200-300 each way. So you’d need to factor that in.
     
    Ferrari Fanatic likes this.
  4. johnk...

    johnk... F1 World Champ
    Owner

    Jun 11, 2004
    10,628
    CT
    Full Name:
    John Kreskovsky
    Several years ago my 355 developed a misfire upon restart after my wife and I stopped for lunch. SDL came on. Stopped and let it cool down and tried again. Same thing. Figured I'd have to limp it home. Cats never got hot enough to cut fuel off to a bank. Drove a few miles and it started to run perfect again, all the way home. As I pulled into out driveway it started missing again. Ran into the garage and got my little pocket pen ignition tester and found no spark on 2 cylinders on bank 1. Made sense for a wasted spark ignition. Replaced coil. Problems solved.....until out on a ride a couple of months later and misfire.... Cell would flash on but go off as soon as rpm dropped. Dove home and started diagnosing. After a couple of days shaking my head I finally got the the dam thing to duplicate the problem and read codes before they were erased. Crank sensor! Started measuring impedance and testing sensor. OK. Finally, tugging on wires revealed a wire broken internally at the connector. Fixed it. Problem solved....until a few months later. Driving along and car started missing again and running poorly. WTF! CEL flashed on and off. Nursed it home again. This time MAF problem. Some new chatter who just bought a 348 and happened to get a 355 MAF along with the car was kind enough to donate it to my cause. ;);)

    As you say, Eric, these are old cars. Parts wear out. And in many cases different problems manifest themselves with similar symptoms.
     
    Ferrari Fanatic likes this.
  5. Ferrari Fanatic

    Ferrari Fanatic Formula 3

    Apr 2, 2003
    1,317
    SoCal
    As I stated above. We will never be able to convince people that 25 year old 355’s are either inexpensive or simple to maintain.
     
    26street likes this.
  6. goodcoffeecode

    goodcoffeecode Karting

    Dec 18, 2021
    64
    Devon, UK
    Full Name:
    Chris Arnold
    Silly question... if the garage wants to charge 9 hours to replace both banks, but in 1 cylinder is problematic, any reason i shouldn't ask them just to do 1 bank and halve the cost? All seals are only 5 months old, and none are leaking.
     
  7. goodcoffeecode

    goodcoffeecode Karting

    Dec 18, 2021
    64
    Devon, UK
    Full Name:
    Chris Arnold
    Garage is called Supercar Italia, based at Biggin Hil in England.
     
  8. johnk...

    johnk... F1 World Champ
    Owner

    Jun 11, 2004
    10,628
    CT
    Full Name:
    John Kreskovsky
    I am not advising you this. It is what I would do. Make your own decision. But me, I would have them fix the leak on the bad bank. After all, 5 months ago the shop that did both sides screwed one side up. Who's to say it can't happen again? But I am a strict follower of the "don't fix what ain't broke" philosophy. Other will disagree.
     
  9. A348W

    A348W Formula 3

    Jun 28, 2017
    1,741
    North Wiltshire, UK
    not familiar with them, so couldn’t comment.
     
  10. 26street

    26street Formula Junior

    Jan 30, 2021
    343
    Westchester New York
    Full Name:
    Mark k
    The call on what to do is on you
    1) send the car back to the first shop paying the shipping and possibly more and not be able to check it before taking it back —- that’s a lot of trust,time and money ——

    2) have the local shop go through the car and repair items that will get you back on the road with piece of mind ——- we all know that paying for something twice sucks but in this situation it might be worth it ——

    Like so many have said here these are 20 plus year old cars things are going to happen and unless you a diy guy who can tackle the bigger jobs (such as what is needed now) having a local shop with a good reputation is needed
    But in the end it’s your call, money and time
    Hope all works out for you please keep us posted


    Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat.com mobile app
     
  11. goodcoffeecode

    goodcoffeecode Karting

    Dec 18, 2021
    64
    Devon, UK
    Full Name:
    Chris Arnold
    Major Update

    Well, the good news is that I now have the car back, and it's purring like a (slightly angry) kitten. My local Ferrari dealer did a great job including all the timings and a deep polish for free, and I now feel that I have a very well sorted 355. So, what was done...
    • Engine out
    • Full cambelt service
    • New coil pack
    • New spark plugs
    • New gaskets and cylinder o-rings
    Why did we have to do so much work when it had a major service less than 6 months ago?

    The first discovery was the oil leak into the top of cylinder #4. This was caused by an incorrectly fitted O-ring during the July '21 major service. Once the head was off, it was clear that the #3 O-ring was also fitted incorrectly. The second major discovery was that one of the cambelt tensioners had been incorrectly fitted during the service. We evidenced measuring it with the digital torque wrench at only 10NM, rather than the necessary 49NM :eek:. Basically, the last major service was shoddy. Gets a bit scary when the garage starts using words like "catastrophic".

    Thanks for all your help.
     
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  12. kenneyd

    kenneyd Formula 3
    Silver Subscribed

    Sep 30, 2014
    1,944
    NE FL
    Full Name:
    Ken
    That's disheartening, but I'm glad you found a good shop that was able to get it sorted out. Hope all is well now.
    Hearing things like your un seated o-rings go and untorqued bolts make me glad I diy. I'm not saying shops are bad or anything, but inherently they are there to make money, which simply put, they can't spend a gazillion extra hours double checking everything like my diy OCD self does lol.
     
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  13. 26street

    26street Formula Junior

    Jan 30, 2021
    343
    Westchester New York
    Full Name:
    Mark k
    This is great news you have the right answers and know what you have as far as the car goes

    Most of not all the problems are pretty much sorted out and you have a local shop that now knows your car which is big for you

    Don’t remember where you are hopefully the weather is good to put some much deserve driving time


    Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat.com mobile app
     

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