Mixed start to ownership, this winter I fixed tire vibration, cam belts, service, brakes etc this winter. Only driven 200km so far. This morning, all was fine, except A/C not working. Drove to shop, had only 70g out of 1300g R134A, so took 2 hours to get filled, of course engine off. Started in idle, A/C worked now, compressor and fans probably ran for the first time in years. So now all was working. But not for long, after driving 50 m I got red on/off Slow Down light. Read the manual, was pretty sure this must be a mistake, there's no way anything can get too hot after 5 min idle and 50m driving. Is there? Reading about it on this forum, the Catalyst Temperature Control Stations often fail? I tried to test with code reader, but my Foxwell reader, despite having my car in the menus, said no connection, so I can't do the "switch sides and learn if one is faulty". What code reader works with these cars? In searching in here, I also read about gold kit. Are our cars so bad that we have to improve basic wiring?? And are these kits plug and play or does one have to crimp each wire in the right sequence, or what? Where are those plugs, they may need to be exercised a bit? Thanks
The infamous "slow down" is so common that there was a business case to propose a replacement for the flawed Ferrari system... https://technistrada.com/ferrari-slow-down-light-explained-and-solved---technistrada (I have no idea whether it's a good solution, but I know for a fact that the Ferrari system is crap).
Does your car have a factory immobiliser? (i.e. 5.2 car?). Did you turn off the immobiliser when doing your fault scan?
I started it on the lift this morning, Slow Down came after a few minutes, but both cats showed at that time only 70-90 degrees Celcius, so I'm leaning towards the Converter Control Unit(s), and have ordered two, we'll see if that solves it... "Did you turn off the immobiliser when doing your fault scan?" Tried the immobilizer thing, still my Foxwell says no connection :-( Thanks so far
I bought two used green bottom CCUs from a Polish breaker. I understand that they may not work, but the cars are taken apart after accidents and major engine damage, not after CCU failures. So a good chance at least one of them works. It didn't help. Status right now: -SLOW DOWN comes on after 1 minute after starting the car cold -Cats are after 5 minutes only 70-100C, both of them -I've tried almost every combination of my two current CCUs and the two new (used) ones, same result -Also tried disconnecting both wires, both sides, same result Any thoughts on next steps?
I have had 2 550s do that from faulty Motronic ECUs. In both cases they were not able to be repaired and required replacement. The voltage signal that is supposed to be sent to the Motronic by the cat control unit was being generated by the Motronic internally. It was independently creating an overheat signal.
OK, that would do it... I live in the country quite far from any Ferrari shop, but my local nice owner workshop/garage is a Bosch certified garage, can they read the Motronic 5.2 and see this? I guess there are 4 options: hot cat/faulty thermocouple/faulty CCU/faulty Motronic ECU?
Its too bad the 456 uses a size different bung at the Cats for the probes, that you can't use the Technistrada ones. If you (or anyone reading this in the future) replaces or works on their Cats, consider changing the bung to the larger diameter bung.
Are the OEM thermocouples NLA or are they hideously expensive? Does the 456GT (5.2) have a digital warning system on the instrument cluster? I can't find a picture of the dash. The 456 WSM shows two old fashioned SD lights, but is this only the 2.7 version? The M car, for sure, has a digital warning display.
Part 153111 I would say a bit tougher to find, and while more expensive than the Technistrada ones not the worst part to have to replace. It's just a smaller bung and probe than the 550 uses, for an otherwise exact same part. I remember talking to Wayne at Technistrada and he said he wasn't able to find that size for his parts.
Qavion, I have a digital display in the middle, saying a lot of things, but not telling me which side unfortunately Aerosurfer, the bung is available and if my Motronic read out doesn't clarify, I can try replacing one at a time.
It's weird that your scanner isn't working. Do you have an OBD2 port or do you have to plug it into an inline 3 pin plug near the ECUs?
If you have an OBD2 port, have you had the Ferrari Tech Bulletin modification done to your OBD2 port? See attachment. You should have continuity between pins 4 & 5. There may not even be a pin in slot 4 if the modification hasn't been done. I know some folks were having problems on their F355's, reading the ECUs before this modification was done.
I'm trialing a pattern fit 456 sized thermocouple for reliability now. Will be ready in a few weeks if the trials go well.
Trying to think ahead a little(!). I'm going to local Bosch specialist shop soon. If he can read via OBD, and tells that it's e.g. the left side, can I then: -turn battery disconnect -take out the ECUs (they sit left of my feet, right?) -switch them and replace -battery on and then see if problem also switched sides? Or should I leave ECus in place of face potentially worse problems?
Have you tried reading the codes with the engine running? Did you check to see if OBD2 pins 4 and 5 were linked? Is the workshop familiar with Ferrari codes? Sometimes Ferrari get creative assigning their own codes to particular problems. Do you have an immobiliser pin code if anything goes wrong with the swap?
No will do They're not, will work on that No they're not, isn't a code a code a code, thought they were OBDII consistent? Don't know what that is, sounds important, is it in the manuals or somewhere on the car or?
Depends on the code range. P00xx codes are generic. After that, they might be completely different and lead to a lot of confusion if you believe what your (generic) scanner is telling you. It should be included with your vehicle documentation. If you don't have a piece of paper showing the code, you can send components to the experts on the forum to be interrogated.
The immobiliser pin code, when I bought it I got an extra set of keys with a remote that doesn't work, and two metal plates attached where it says "Kxxxx", "xxxx" are digits, is that it?
I believe that the number on the tags is just for having new keys cut. The immo code is something different. You can contact FChatter Gobble and he will confirm the Kxxxx number is accurate by comparing it to a good photo of your key. The spare remote may not work because it is an old fashioned clone (you may have to push the button hundreds of times to get the clone to resync). Nowadays, Gobble can produce a legitmate fob copy. There may be someone in Europe who can do the same job.
