Hi guys, Me again! Happy Memorial Day. Remember how my gas filler cap wasn't working? Well it stopped working again. I was at a light yesterday and a person in the car next to me pointed out that I have no brake lights. I checked the manual and the gas filler cap, brake lights, and wipers are on the same circuit. The wipers work, and the fuse is OK. (BTW: the turn signals and reverse lights work fine.) Any thoughts? Thanks, as always. Rob Oh....and the CEL is on again...but I have come to just ignoring that it is so frequent.
The brake lights not working may or may not be a related problem. My advice is to resist the temptation to assume they must be interrelated. As far as the gas cap being stuck, when the key is in the on position and you work the toggle switch on the dash, do you hear a clunking sound (back by the gas cap) or not? If yes, then your release mechanism is working but it is somehow jammed. Probably the rubber flap again. To fix, have some one sit in the car and work the toggle switch every few seconds or so and, from the outside of the car, gently poke and pry on the edges of the gas cap using a semi-soft thin tool. Often this will result in the gas cap popping open. If it does, look at the position of the rubber flap at that moment to try to figure out what made it jam the last time the cap was closed. If no clunking sound when the toggle switch is worked, then you probably have some sort of electrical problem. Trouble shoot the fuse first. Good luck.
Thanks. Fuse is OK. There is no sound when working the gas filler toggle switch. Both gas filler and brake lights on same circuit, though so is wiper and that is working. I wonder if there is a sub-relay that does just the gas filler and brake lights. I doubt it is much money to fix, just annoying becasue I can't drive the car without brake lights (even though it is an Italian supercar and I never brake! ).
Rob- I would tend to suspect the brake light switch on your brakes. You should be able to adjust the height on the switch, IIRC. Away from my manuals, but check the switch and see. There have been multiple threads in several forums on fixes for the gas door, including rough plastic bits, rubber flap interference, etc. A short taking out two of several systems on the same circuit seems like long odds to me. Back later today. Taz Terry Phillips
The factory wiring diagrams for the 550 are the worst and most inaccurate Ferrari ever produced. Fixing electrical problems just needs to be done the old fashioned way. Find a Ferrari mechanic good with electrical. That is the rarest kind BTW. Few mechanics are really all that good at electrical.
If you really don't want to spend time finding the brake light issue just wire up new ones. Brake lights are stupid simple. Make sure the switch at the pedal works then just wire it up.
I had a similar problem with my gas cap, and after reading the threads and making sure I was in the right condition to test it, I discovered the switch itself was intermittent. I replaced the switch and it worked fine. before ordering the new switch I pulled the existing switch out and checked it for continuity and found it was inconsistent. Worth a try.
These might just turn out to be some really easy fixes, DIR. The fact that his wipers are working means that perhaps this is just a matter of a faulty stop light and gas lid switch. A fellow 550 owner I know had an intermittent CEL which turned out to be a loose harness connection. So take heart, Rob. You might not look like this......when all is said and done. Barry
Alas....the 550 is gone, as is the Maserati GranSport. I picked up my new Porsche Panamera Turbo today...Basalt Black on Black with Carbon Fiber package, Ceramic Brakes, and a few other goodies. The car is deceptively fast. The light turns green, stomp on it, no drama, smooth, shoved back in seat, after about 3.8-4sec look down and going 60 and all the other cars have faded into the distance.....I'm gonna have to be careful about my license! 550 was a gem, and I lost a lot of money over the last 18 months...perhaps the hemorraghing of money was about to stop, perhaps it would have picked up into a full on exsanguination. The Maserati never gave me trouble, but off warranty and 30K miles I could smell smoke on the horizon. Thanks all. I'll continue to restore my 1959 Maserati 3500GT...and who knows.....may have a Ferrari again some day.
Well, I guess you won't be needing that parts diagram. But Porsches are like Energizer batteries..... They... Image Unavailable, Please Login
Got followed home by a gentleman who informed me my brake lights were not working. Unscrewed switch, which should make the lights stay on from what I understand. Then pulled offswitch and opened it up. Looked to have some black corrosion on the inside. I sanded it off and replaced---no brake lights. Then I took a piece of speaker wire and put both ends in to the female ends of the connecting wire which I believe would complete the circuit (as Rifledriver recommended) and cause the lights to iluminate--no luck. BTW, I already checked the fuse, and the wipers work which are on the same fuse. Anything I missed or something I did wrong to diagnose? I did just replace a dead battery, and recently received a jump start when the old battery was dead. Thanks for any help
Are you doing this testing with the ignition on? Can you test with a test light or meter whither or not you have power at the switch?
