Hi All, First posting but it seems theres a lot of help on hand!!! I have a problem with a 348 that I am working with as a track day car. All started when after 3 laps on track it was spitting out oil from the airbox and breather pipes. The white creamy stuff that most owners dread!! So, I cleaned out the airbox, pipes, etc. But no idea where the oil had come from. Suspected a block breather. Does this sound possible? Once we got the car clean up and back together, it restarted, all be it with a lot of some from the exhust system. This burnt out after a while. Then over the weekend the wife decided that it looked dirty and washed it. Engine bay included!!!!! So I have done the contact cleaner on just about every joint that I can find. Took it for a quick drive and it was fine. Thank god!!! Then today, went to do a track day and it has a misfire again. Only when going around left hand corners!? So I thought that as I have had the MAF and TPS un-plugged I maybe should have reset the ECU. So I tried that. 15 mins off, 10 mins idle. Fine and dandy!!! Rolling down the pit lane. All of a sudden it drops a couple of cylinder!! And now it sounds like it idling on about 4 cylinders and struggles to maintain an idle. I'm very stumped and would be greatful of any info that may help out!!
Without even thinking much, my first question is: How much oil was in the car? How did you check the level and fill it? Could you have overfilled it by checking the level when the engine was cold/off ?
Welcome to F-chat. Okay you have done some pretty good work so far. I reguard to the oil in the air box. You could have over filled the oil tank. The reason is because the 348 is a dry sump set up. Since you had oil in the air box, it most likely got in there from the vent tubes that are at the top of the oil tank. The engine holds 11.9 quarts of oil. So you may want to drain it and then refill with the proper amount. When you check the oil in your car the owners manual recommends that you check it when the engine is warm and just after shut off. I have checked the oil when the engine is warm and idling. Both ways I have gotten the same reading. Usually what I do is check the oil while it is running, then shut the engine off and check it again. As I said I always get the same reading. Now for the misfire. Your wife was being nice by washing your car for you. But, what you need to have her understand is that water and Ferrari electrics DO NOT MIX. The bank shut down you are having is probably the catalytic converter ecu's shutting down the bank. I thinking that some water got inside the cat ecu when the engine was washed, causing a short inside the ecu box. So see if you can dry out the cat ecu's. Before the car shuts down a bank you should get a "slow down" warning light. Do you remember what side you got the light on, or if you got one at all? This will help you find what cat ecu is giving you grief. Make sure that the connection for the thermocouples going to the cat ecu's is also dry. You may need to go back again and blow out ALL the connections with some compressed air to help dry things out. You could try spraying some WD40 on the connection before you hit it with the air. The MAFS should have 383 ohms of resistance.
Thanks guys. Oil was just below low max mark after the engine had warmed up. That is what has stumped me!! I had no warning lights come up. Should have mentioned that it is an ex-challenge cup car. Got it idling outside at the moment after a reset. It will have a clean idle for about 10 secs then run rough for about 3 or 4 secs then clean up again.
Almost there!! Have just done restart and seems to be runniing normally apart from the mis fire on left hand turns!!! Any chance it could be a fuel pump prob?
It could be that your a running low on fuel. Try filling the gas tank up and then see if it does the same thing.
Glad you track the 348. I do so exclusively. Here are some tips. Dump any unneccessary systems and wiring they will cause future problems. Ferrari electronics will always let you down at some point. To reduce this problem I have done this... Check for wires chafing or bundles pulling on connector areas. You could have a problem with connections anywhere but I would start by using contact cleaner on the ignition modules and ignitor and the injector plugs by the oil filter. I also, spliced in fuel pressure guages just downstream of the fuel filters. This helps me to diagnosis spark vs fuel problems. The valve covers have a blowby gas system that repipes into the intake stream. I would convert this to open breathers to help avoid the oil bath in the intake. Also, watch your oil levels as too much can back flow from the top of the oil tank. The crap that leaves the tank should never be white creamy. That worries me and I think water! If you are getting that kind of blowby you may have a bigger problem and also foul your MAF sensor hotwire. Water only comes from early condensation as your car heats up or from your water jacket cooling system. That could be very bad. I would presurrize the cooling system with a pressure testor via the filler cap to make sure your system holds pressure. You can clean out the maf sensor but be very careful the hot wire is delicate! A qtip and brake cleaner gently will do it. I would dump the oil in a clean bucket to inspect it for water. You can and should learn to pull the ECU trouble codes but I have to admit Ferrari's electronics and obd1 are so worky that I never use it to diagnoise anything. I use old ol billybob techniques. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Currently has 3/4 of a tank of fuel but I'll give the fuel tip ago! All the excess wires are out as the old own used to race it. But I'm planning on spending the morning going over for any wear marks. Another clue which dawned on me late on Saturday night. It seems to only be misfire on the left turns once the engine temp is warm.
yeah like you got wires moving and shorting out. When you totally give up if you can find a shop with an SD2 tester you can plug into the ecu's and dirve the car and duplicate the problem and the SD2 will finger your area of trouble alot quicker than you can guess.
A friend had a similar prob with a 911 a few years back. White smoke on hard lefts. I suggested broken oil control rings on the right bank and sure enough it was. If you also had 1 or 2 failed compression rings it may be presurising the sump and pehaps fouling plugs. Worn ring lands and over reving are common causes of ring failure. As always, exhaust the simple things first. How did the plugs look? Good luck, mike D.
Sorted!!!!!! Plugs are fine by the way but we dicided to replace them as a precaution anyway. Found a broken connector for Cranksenor. Fitted a new one and she seems right as rain now. Big test later today!!! Thanks for all you help guys. Still amazes me how good these forums are for problem solving!
