355 driving temperature in traffic

Somewhere in the owners manual are some temperature limits quoted. I think as long as you are not in the RED your car should not be harmed.

 

sounds normal

 

i noticed yesterday in stop and go traffic, in neutral my oil pressure dropped way off and the temp went way up (just shy of red)

as i drove off, it seemed that everything went back to normal.

is this cause for concern?

 

The first post on temps sounds normal but your situation is not. 355s never should run near the red zone unless there is a problem. Have you checked the coolant level in the tank between the plenums. Be sure to do this when the engine is cold. The cap on the over flow tank may not be functioning properly allowing coolant to flow out or your fans aren't turning on. I have digital gauges in my 355 so I know exactly what my coolant temp is and I never see over 191 or 192 when its idling. Regards, Vern

 

Yes, it's cause for concern. It could be from a host of potential problems, but is also consistent with the bad combination of wrong grade/type of oil as well as cooling fans not functioning (failed, blown fuse/relay, temp sensor)...which would be my first guess.

 

I never noticed a problem with overheating...but I had a blown fuse on my left hand radiator fan. Installed a new 30amp fuse and it works just fine. Weird what might have caused it to blow.....my buddy is a Ferrari Tech and says to watch it...possible fan motor on the way out (creating a lot of resistance). But it has been a couple weeks now, and is fine. Says it may have just been some sort of fluke, or something temporarily caught in the fan blades that caused it to blow the fuse....

 

355 fan motor fuses are notorious for blowing. Why ..haven't a clue.

Pete

 

http://webpages.charter.net/aircover/348/1994Ferrari348Spider.html#FusesRelays

I use the glowing SmartFuse in my 348...lets you quickly see if you've blown a fuse because it lights up when it blows.

 

Poor build quality.

 

good description/info (write up)

FWIW
mine runs exactly as yours does......i feel confident with it.... that it stays stable even in temps slightly above 100 deg

worst case i've seen it (mine) is almost to the 3/4 mark in a really bad traffic jam in 100 deg weather...didn't overheat....as soon as we got moving....temp's came down to 1/2

 

My 95 355 once had both fuses go. I didnt notice the first one go but when the second one went, it went into the red real fast. I stopped and let it cool off for 30 minutes. I didnt know that it was a fuse problem right away. I was not in traffic and drove it home. If you keep up to 40 mph there is sufficient air moving through to cool tjhe engine. I use mobile 1 oil 15w50 as well.

 

The cooling fans run separate fuses. The right side one is under the passenger side footwell, and the driver side is... well, I don't remember. But anyway, on my car the right side is the one that blows occassionally. I can tell when it has gone simply because the temp range fluctuates more than normal, even in normal (non freeway) driving.

I haven't considered increasing the rating of the fuse as I consider that not only unsafe, but lazy. If there IS an electrical issue somewhere, I am glad the fuse keeps blowing, rather than something more expensive.... One day I might get enthused enough to try and work it out.

Dave

 

They are both in the right side footwell. I wonder if a "slow blow" fuse might help the situation, but don't know if they make such a thing for that style blade fuse. In fact a lower amperage slow blow fuse might make sense...since I doubt it is running anything close to 30amps continuously...but may be running above 30amps when ever it initially starts up. That is where the slow blow type fuse is used.

 

Not much point on the 355 where these particular fuses are located in the passenger footwell...I'm wasting 2 or 3 minutes opening it up...it is only 1 or 2 more minutes to run my continuity tester across all the fuses.

 

it seems that the fans arent turning on when they re supposed to, im bringing it in to the mechanic next week to take a look

 

Sounds normal too me as well. If the temp needle passes the next mark after 190, then you may need to check the coolant. I had a coolant hose split from the reservoir & the temp went to the bar past 190. That is the only time the temp ever went that high on my 355. At idle you should here those fans kicking in around 190 degrees. They aren't the quietest of fans.

 

You might check your fuses first...it is simple and easy...in the passenger foot well. All you need is a big standard blade screwdriver. There is a diagram on the hatch you remove, so you can easily identify the two 30amp fuses and make sure they are not blown. If one is blown, you just saved yourself $$$. Replace and drive on. Not sure why, but they do blow once in a while...seems the fuse should be rated a bit higher. I found a friends car with 40 amp (!) fuses installed. Been like that for several years...he says it came that way. Seems to be fine...and he is not blowing fuses.