355 gearbox issues?

Is your car the one with 19 inch HRE's that was being sold at Specialty Sales in San Carlos. If so, you have a great car that I've seen a few times out at local meets. The shifting that you describe, from what I understand is perfectly normal. Always shift from 1st to 3rd when the car hasn't warmed up yet. As the car warms up, it should shift pretty easily into 2nd. Not too sure about how hard a time you are getting into 3rd or 4th as you've described. I never have any problems shifting into these gears even when the car is cold.

 

Yep, perfectly normal but very irritating. So normal in fact that it's mentioned in the owner's manual.

 

Yup normal as normal get..

 

I was told by a well respected mechanic (in my city) that this is not a good idea because then the syncro's will get used to it....he said simply force it into 2nd if you have to, but not a good idea to go from 1st to 3rd on a regular basis.....I am not an expert, just some advice I was given.

 

Mine usually takes about a quarter mile of nursing before it'll go into 2nd (without some serious muscle or grinding). After that it's smooth sailing. I count myself lucky I guess.

1 solution: Drive it more...

I swear that when I fire it up every day or two for a drive, the problem seems much more diminished.

 

+1

 

Not normal at all for me. My 1995 berlinetta shifts flawlessly into first, 2nd, or any other gear when cold. It has 24,000 miles.

The 355 was designed with a water/oil heat exchanger precisely to alleviate the 2nd gear problem experienced in all previous Ferraris. My opinion is that if you are experiencing "grinding," then someone was pretty rough with the transmission previously. Your syncros may be on their way out.

 

The cold shifting characteristic you mention is not normal for a low milage car, and becomes more normal as the miles accumulate.

When I first got my F355 (at 22K miles), it shifted perfectly even when cold. Now with another 45K miles (58K total) on the clock and 5K race miles, when cold it will take more force to shift into 3rd and 4th. 1st and 2nd are still easy even when cold. This is not a force into gear (shynchro), but a force between the gears. This tells me the dog gear has become scuffed over the race miles.

I deal with this by driving around the block before heading out to the freeway.

Double declutching can be used to help synchro problems but does little good with dog-gear issues.

 

My car shifts perfectly when cold, never had to force it into any gear.

So perhaps 'normal' is a loose term?

Same gearbox internals with the F1 system, can't imigane the F1 system liking a stiff cold shift to second gear...

I have never had a gear change grind.

 

Mine has trouble getting into 2nd when the car's cold. Mechanic informed me that the car has a weak 2nd gear, and to skip from 1st to 3rd until the oil temperature needs starts moving off the minimum value. Been skip-shifting ever since.

*shrug*

 

Mine is also hard to get into 2nd when cold, my ferrari mech. told me just go from 1st to 3rd until warm (as stated above) then I have no problem

 

As a follow-up, he told me, "If you want to buy yourself a new gearbox, go ahead and use 2nd before the car's warmed up. Otherwise, skip 2nd until then..."

As he's an owner of two of 'em, I'll take his word for it.

 

I have an F1 and have no problems with any gear shifting (24,978 miles). Since the internals are the same does anyone have this problem with their F1 355?

 

I have a '96 355 Berlinetta, 25,000 miles, NO Problem shifting when cold !!!!

 

To emphasize the point, as mentioned previously, cold shifting difficulty into 2nd is mentioned as a normal idiosynchrocy in the F355 owner's manual. Just as you should let the car warm-up before pushing the RPM's, let the car warm-up before shifting into 2nd. This has become such a normal routine for me, I've found myself doing it in other non F-car manuals.

 

Agreed. Thats my point, my old F1 car never had problems getting into second and the 3 manual 355's I have driven have all shifted good when cold. If 'stiff into second when cold' is a characteristic of the 355 gearbox then what is different about the 355F1 system? Super high-pressure hydraulic shift means it just shifts regardless of resistance?

Could be technique or difference in manufacturing.

Gear oil could weigh in here as well.

By the way, idling a car till it is warm means the car is sitting in a 'choke on' situation and the engine is over fueling, is rare cases this can cause the spark plugs to become fouled and often owners manuals recommend against idling a cold engine, rather the recommended driving the car below a certin rpm till the coolant and oil reach operating temp.