Doug, You must have bought the black spider they had. Jack has been there for many years. 30 or so I think. I would caution you though, they are no longer a ferrari dealer and have to send out to the dealer for this waranty stuff. My 98 was not covered and that is where my battle began. They sent my car to the dealer, withought notifying me first. Nobody seemed to know where my engine bay cover and junction block cover went. It is the one that covers the battery jumper juction block. I think another 355 is now running around with my part's on it. My wife did not like Jack, fact she felt insulted and wanted to leave. If I knew of another yellow 355GTS F1 elsewhere I probably would have left then. On a positive note - when I told them my past experience and qualifications, provided a completed complaint form for both DMV and BAR, they agreed to fix the car at no cost. Prior to that they had offered me an 8k repair bill.
Yes that was me. I had it parked along the blvd while we had a meal and then went gambling. LOL, I drove with my scanner hooked up all the way to Tahoe, it didn't trip any pending codes or the CEL! BTW, the yellow color on your 355 looks awesome.
Oh yeah, when the weather turns we should all go for a drive. Regarding the cats, it is a common problem but it can be rectifed for around $2,500 if you get the Hyperflows. They sound better than stock as well. My car was placed into service in 1998 in Texas so it fell under the 8 year 80,000 mile Federal Warranty. If it is a Cali car then the 7 year/70,000 mile warranty applies (so I was told). In any event I got a set of OEM cats under warranty. Let us know what happens with your car. For me., besides the cats and the header problem, all is well and the car is awesome!
Mine is actually a red (Rosso Corsa) 1999 GTS. The car is definitely a CA car, sold originally by SF Ferrari in Mill Valley. I'm surprised the CA emissions warranty would be less than the Fed's...7/70k rather than 8/80K. can you explain this?
Well, the Innova Code Reader finally arrived! After a cursory review of the manual, I couldn't wait to check out the car. My first reading was done with ignition key on but engine off, per the manual's instructions. After about 30 seconds of cycling, it came up with 00 codes and a green LED. Whew! Following the comments from you guys, I then reset the CEL and started the engine with the reader attached. After another minute or two of reading, it again came up with 00 codes and a green LED. Tomorrow, I'll go out for a longer drive with the wife so she can monitor the Innova on the road. Perhaps my CEL truly is operating in "nuisance" mode? Any thoughts or comments? Coincident with this afternoon's exercise, my car started doing something else which I think I've read about in various posts... when I hit the fob to mobilize the engine, the directionals flashed twice but without the usual "beeps". Then, once the car was started, the red LED for the alarm remained lit. Did I read somewhere that this might be a battery for the 355's alarm system? Anyhow, I appreciate all the help you folks have provided and I'm interested in hearing any additional thoughts you might have. Thanks again!
I start the car first and then do the scan. The "nuisance" mode hat you refer to is an actual code that you will see in your scanner if there is a porblem. If after 3 internal scans of the OBDII it sees the same error it wil trip the CEL and store the code. Here is the thing: ANY code that you see scanner could be an issue. Meaning if the OBDII (ie, you car's computer) sees it once you will be able to see it your scanner as a Pending code. To me that Pending code is an actual problem, it may not be 3 consecutive times that would trigger the CEL, but it is still a problem. A proper running car and functioning emission controls should not even throw any pending codes. The only exception to that is if you leave your gas cap a litle too loose it could throw a code that in time would correct itself.
When Ca went 7/70 it was the longest but the Feds actually caught up and passed us for once. It is partially because we have been wrangling with the political process of going to 10/100 for so long.
Actually Ferrari and for that matter all Bosch cars have had since the inception of OBD2, a problem making the cars meet the federally mandated parameters for setting codes. Roque codes without CEL's have been a fact of life on those cars and Ferrari's particularly, since then. Non symptomatic codes are in fact the norm. Down loading the codes with the SD1 or 2 which shows all Fed codes and proprietary codes will often give quite a list. One of the tricks to making a diagnosis and repair is to seperate the real codes that have set a light from the ones that have not. Also Bosch memory actually has 2 levels and only one is read by a scanner. The second is a list of previously erased codes that are put on a higher level of scruitiny and will allow the CEL to be reset more easily (for some predetermined amount of time) by continued failure of that system to stay within established parameters.
Brian - It sounds like you're saying the Innova won't actually pick up all the codes that might indicate a malfunction? If this is true, is my checking with the scanner an exercise in futility? As mentioned in an earlier post, the CEL went on twice when the car was at the dealer's... once at the sales office when I was buying it, and once on a subsequent visit to their shop for some minor work (eg, getting new fobs and having them programmed into the engine computers and alarm system). In each of these instances, they scanned and confirmed no codes while (hopefully) using a more sophisticated device than the Innova, so I'm still a bit perplexed...
The Ferrari equipment can access many more operational parameters than a generic scanner. There are many propietary codes and the combination makes it easier to diagnose. Also glitches do happen that a CEL will light with out an error shown. The nightmare scenario is when you have a light that happens so intermittantly, without pattern, and infrequently that either getting a diagnosis or confirming a repair is almost impossible. You have the opposite of that. Seems to me narrowing it down would not be a great big problem. I have never used a generic scanner, I have no use for one, but I will say with the Ferrari equipment I have never seen a CEL without an error more than once per problem and while we see new things every day with these cars, with the amount of time I have with the SD's in diagnostic use I would have to experience it first hand to believe there is nothing wrong with the process being used.
If your CEL comes on you will be able to pull the codes with the Innova 3100. The P....Zero codes are generic and you have the list with your manual. The P...1 codes are Manufacturer specifc and you will have a hard time getting a list to decipcher those codes. Once you reset the CEL the OBDII only has 2 continual sensors. The other sensors look for a specific driving condition before completeting the "drive cycle). This could take 200 miles. Some manufacturers have a process that is readily available to force your car in to completing the drive cycle (ie, all of your OBII systems have completed their test). The best thing to do on your car to get it to complete a drive cycle is do not accelrate at full throttle. Find an open strech of road and slowly accelerate from 15 to 60 MPH, cruise, and then decelerate with hitting the brakes down to 20 MPH. After you have reset your CEL you will notice some blinking lights on the top of the screen of the Innova if you are driving with the scanner plugged in. The blinking lights are the OBDII systems are the systems that have not completed their test. As you drive the lights will slowly become solid or will throw a pending code P... Zero P...1, etc. Those are the codes that if seen by the OBII (3 times in most cases) will trip the CEL.
Thanks for the additional info. I'll give the car a good drive with the scanner connected. BTW, I noticed in one of your previous post that you had Hyperflow cats installed for about $2,500... is that the price for each or for the pair? Does the car still pass CA smog testing without problem? I'm considering switching from my Tubi exhaust to a Capristo system and I'm thinking that might be the perfect time to do the cats as well, thereby having one less future problem to deal with.
I actually have the OEM cats on mine. I recall the pair going for around $2,500 which isn't too bad. The Hyperflows should pass Cal smog no problem. Drive around for a while and see if you get any codes and then you will have an idea of what your dealing with. The cats and headers are a huge problem on the 355 but once addressed it is good for a long time. I have the QV London rebuilt headers and OEM cats. So far so good. The sound on the Hyperflows with a Tubi is awesome!
The regulations pertaining to OBDII require the manufacturer to have an accessible connection port and have the abiility to scan the sysytem with a non-propietery (generic) scanner if your CEL is illuminated. States such as California will plug in to your OBDII connection as part of the smog test as their test equiptment and their equiptment does not contain any manufacturer specific test equiptment. If the CEL is on by regulation and design a generic scanner will work.
