1997 F355 Will not start. Calling all Ferrari doctors

Rob, My car will sit all winter long, but I would start it every 2-3 weeks and let her run for about 20 minutes and put her back in the garage. Once the end of March comes along after the road crew sweeps up all the cinders in the road from all the winter's snow fall, I will drive her at least once a week. If I'm busy with work I may let a week or two go by without starting it.

Interestingly enough when I knew I was going to take the car out today after letting sit idle for about 4 days, I put the tender on her for about an hour before starting it up. I had trouble again. I tried starting it a second time and fortunately it started, but with a rough barely faint heartbeat of a sound as it struggled to run. Letting it idle at this weak level and putting my foot on the gas pedal once or twice to rev it along, it slowly began to build its running strength and after about 5 minutes it seemed to build up its normal running strength. I let it run for another 20 minutes, drove it for about 30 minutes put it in the garage. Decided to let it sit for 2 hours without battery tender and it started right up. I will heed your advice and not rely on the battery tender during the summer as maybe my electrical Gremlins may be caused by my faulty CTEK battery tender? If I avoid the tender all together and let her sit for a week and the car starts without issue, I would strongly believe the tender could be the culprit. Thanks, Charles

 

Sounds like a plan, let us know how you progress.


I've let my F355 sit for about a month without a tender and without switching off the battery and it starts right up when I'm ready to gonfor a drive. It's a '97 as well, not that that matters.


Rob

 

Did anyone ever answer this, I want to install an aftermarket alarm and would like to do away with the OEM alarm and bypass the OEM immobilizer.

 

I'm having a similar issue!

What symptoms can you have from a failed alarm battery?? Will the alarm still sound (mine does)? Will you still be able to arm and disarm the car (mine does with the proper beeps)? Could everything seem normal, but when disarming, the car won't start as if it's still armed (this is happening to me)?

This morning, I started the car an let it warm up. I backed out of my garage, and coincidentally, when I pressed the button to close my garage door, the car shut off at the exact same moment. I tried to restart, but it just turns over. I tried to arm and disarm, but for a while it wouldn't arm... just lock the doors for a second then unlock the doors with 3 beeps. A few times after the 3 beeps, the alarm would set off, but not with either door, but rather with just one of the doors.

Please help!

 

Solved.

My Ferraris have such complex issues sometimes, I've become conditioned to NOT check the simplest of possibilities.

Blown 15a fuel pump fuse :/

 

I have a virtually new Ferrari 355 spider with only 10k. She has been very reliable actually and until last weekend. I do, however, maintain her weekly. Nonethless, two week ago she would not turn over. However, she wanted to turn over. The engine sounds crisp and ready to start but will not. True to form, eventually the battery died and jumped the Car with my Audi SUV - no battery issues. Magically, she started! And then last weekend was the same occurrence. The engine sounds great ... she does want to start. Sounds crisp a. However, this time she's not staring but turning over wanting to start. I reset the ODI - all good with that. Could it be the plugs are fouled, the starter finally died? Oddly, only the day before this occurred, she started right-up and she went for great ride only for this to happened 12 hours later - so very odd. Has anyone had a similar experience, and if so, please share your thoughts or information. Thus far, the baby has been top-notch. With the 355 hitting almost 100 MPH the day before, and then the next day turning-over but not starting this leaves me clueless. I took a good look around the engine but see nothing patent to indicates an issue. Could I have fouled the plugs by way of attempting to start the engine too often. Thanks ...

 

Dear F355 owners who have had that frustrating problem of unreliable starting, I too suffered from that and followed all the standard tactics referred to in the threads on my 1997 Berlinetta manual with 78,000 km on the odometer.

None worked!

What has worked for me may help you as well.

I determined that the fuel pump relay on the fuse board located in the passenger footwell was getting very warm, especially the pins and that indicated to me that there was a high resistance problem there.

I removed the board, quite a simple job. Once out of the car, i undid the small bolt at one end of the board and opened up the fuse board to reveal the underside of a flexible printed circuit board. Examining the soldered points with a magnifying glass revealed some dull and cracked solder joints where the fuel relay was located.

Rather than trust my soldering skills, I took the board to a company who repairs printed circuit boards and had them resolder all the spots, not just the ones I thought looked bad. $95 for the job!

Since I have done that the car has been 100% reliable, and my hair is starting to grow back.

It would seem that there maybe a couple of reasons for the problem occurring in the first place.

With the fuse board location and design not allowing any cooling of components, over time heat buildup may be creating the problem. To reduce the load on the fuel pump relay on the fuse board, a simple solution would be to put another relay near the fuel pumps and have a decent sized wire feed that and just use the existing relay circuit to trigger the new fuel pump relay.

Because I am an Economist and not an auto electrician, the foregoing may be aboslute baloney. You decide.

Regards

Corpus

 

Gents -

I had a similar problem. Car ran fine. Let it sit for a week or so, then it would not start. Checked many of the suggestions presented here including the fuel pump fuse. All were fine. Then I saw the fuel pump relay by the other fuses. I tested it by applying 12v to the opposing terminals and heard nothing. (I should have hear the relay click (engage))

I ordered a new relay from Rockauto PN 1490332019151 $8.64 each. Plugged in the new relay. Turned the key and the car started immediately.

I also had an issue about a month ago where it took about 10 trys to actually start the car. I'll bet the relay was going bad, but eventually worked.

Try this if you're having this same problem.

I will try to post a picture of the relay location if I can learn how...
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I believe you do have a fuel pump issue. Seems strange that it blew a fuse???? Possibly drawing extra current required as it's getting worn out. Happy to be proven wrong but I have had a car that would blow a pump fuse for a while and then the pump gave out

 

Good day to everyone,

I have the same issue that PA Charles was describing at the beginning of this thread :

When turning the key on, the air pump switches on continuously (high pitch vacuum sound), which is not normal, and the fuel pump does not switch on.

I even got the problem while driving : the car suddenly slowed down as the fuel pump switched off and I could hear the high pitch sound of the air pump...

This is not a relay issue. They are new.
This doesn't seem to be a relay board issue. The board was entirely checked.

Still searching for the cause of this frustrating issue...

 

I'm a Ferrari-owning doctor. Someone paged? Oh, never mind.

 

more background please. What was recently done to the car and by whom?

 

Stefab, I've been told that the fuel pump should not switch on with the key just in ON. The engine has to be started (or at least cranking).
Although the fuel and the air pump are both activated by the engine ECU, the fuel pump and air pump have different fuses and relays and I suspect the problems are unrelated. The fuel pump is a possibility (unless it has been changed recently).

 

My issues were as above 96 car. What I found was loose fitting relays in the fuse/Relay block. I replaced all fuses and main relays but before installing gave the male pins on the relays a slight twist which I believe helped them being tighter in the block. my car now starts instantly. I can concur that the fuel pump will not operate until it senses eng cranking

 

Issue solved : Defective connector on a wire from the ECU to the engine.

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Wow, good find. I don’t have the patience to track something like that down. I end up just rolling the car outside, dousing it in gasoline, and setting it ablaze first.

 

That's one solution (the final solution actually...)

When you're stuck, you don't have other choice but to find the original of the problem.
In my case,
- The wiring below the dashboard was completely checked
- both fuse boxes dismounted and checked
- the alarm was dismounted and cleaned up

The problem was finally the connector..

There's always something on a 20 year old car..

 

That's fantastic. I would still be concerned about the fuel pump fuse or relay getting hot. I had a similar intermittent starting issue with my 96 355. 1 issue with the relay and fuse getting hot was the fuel pump trying to pump broken down support gasket material. The other issue was that I replaced the crank angle sensor but and here is the BUT. It's very important to check the air gap. I just replaced the sensor with the factory shim that was there without measuring the air gap. The new Ferrari sensor was shorter than the original putting the air gap out of spec. Removed the shim and measure. No more issues.

 

Stefab...where exactly was the connector that loose from the ECU to the engine?

 

Stefab's last post on FerrariChat was on April 24th, 2018. I doubt you'll get a response... and I doubt the same pin on your car is responsible for your issue.

What car do you have and what is your issue? Year, Motronic 2.7 or 5.2, Euro or USA? Engine codes?

 

96’ 5.2 US 6spd, starter engages but isn’t cranking. 12.6v battery. Just replaced the key fob battery. Hit fob for 2 beeps and turn key to position 2, wait for dash to clear and security light to be lit, then try to start. Check engine light on at position 2, does this have any impact?

 

This sentence does not make sense: starter engages but isn’t cranking

What is a security light in a 355? as in security light to be lit.

 

Are you saying that the starter solenoid is clicking, but the engine isn't turning?

What is position 2? There is only one check engine light on the 5.2 car.

 

The Key position when waiting for all lights on dash (cluster) to go out. There is a check engine light lit before turning key in last position to start.

The engine is cranking but not sure if I am getting fuel. Fuel pump fuses are good. Possible fuel pump relay? Still not convinced the security system is fully disarming. (I do get the solid light prior to attempting start). This has happened multiple times over the last few months. I was able to get the car started after turning the battery isolator off, let car sit and turn back on a few times but now nothing.

Will failing siren battery cause no start?
Where is the code reader plug located?
Faulty fob?
Which relays can I swap to see if the fuel pump relay is faulty?

 

This is normal. It will extinguish after start.

Possibly. When you crank the engine, the crank sensor tells the ECU when the rpms have reached 30rpm. This triggers the pump relay and injection system (assuming the immobiliser allows it).

Crank sensors are a common cause of this issue. The wiring is easily damaged and oil drips onto the plug.

The 5.2 ECU does prime the pump before cranking the engine, but it only happens once (and not even a battery reset will reset the priming circuit). Engine rotation must be seen before the pump operates again.

On the USA car, it's under the dash near the steering column. Use the fob to unlock the ECU before you scan for codes.

Not usually, at least not on a 355. On a 360, the siren can blow a fuse causing immobiliser issues. The 355 doesn't have a fuse