360 F1 clutch wear question

I recently bought a 2002 with about 6800 miles, and in the process of researching this I spent *hours* with the techs up at Ferrari of Denver. Their statement to me was that a clutch is good "until you first start feeling it slip," which is a little nebulous. What's *awesome* is that the F1 gear box will give you a readout of clutch wear to multiple digits (example 48.971%)

The techs at FoD suggested that beyond 50% clutch wear the clutch rapidly deteriorates. It was a "critical mass" argument -- ie, after 50% wear, the clutch does not have the mass to withstand the 600 psi shifts the F1 box demands of it, and so it abrades much more quickly.

 

I bought an '02 360 with 5,300 miles and zero left on the clutch. When I sold the car it had about 18,700 miles on it with 13% wear. Btw, 50% is way more than half gone.

 

for this amount of miles.

 

I currently own a CS with 18900 miles on it. Recent 15k and 30k services complete. Clutch wear at 48% which I consider normal. I am no expert but was a tech for 15 years and changed many clutches. I am not an expert on EH clutch systems but I dont think how the clutch is shifted is relevent but I personally would think that Ferrari's electrohydraulic clutch system lengthens the life of the clutch disc by reducing shift times and thereby reducing slippage which is ultimately why clutches eventually fail...no more disc left from thousands of engagements and disengagements. I also would not think that the thinner the disc gets the faster it wears out. A clutch disc is not that massive to begin with and it is basically friction material just like brakes. Brakes need to be fairly thick because one of the functions of the friction material is to dissipate heat. A clutch does not have to dissipate heat nearly as much as a brake lining so it doesnt need to be massive. Finally, and I may be wrong about this also, but I do believe any vehicle sold in the US must be covered by a basic 3 year, 36,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty where any defects (aside from tires) must be repaired free of charge. Therefore, Ferrari more than likely makes a clutch that easily lasts beyond the warranty period. Anyone feel free to correct me if I am in error.

 

I just bought a 2003 360 with 9,200 miles on it and 41% clutch wear (according to the F1 report), meaning that the clutch theoretically has 59% of its life remaining. However, the mechanic that did my PPI (a very experienced guy), said that realistically the shifts start getting rough somewhere around 80-85% wear and that usually his clients want them changed when they get to around that point....

 

Under parameters with engine running:

New closed clutch position
Self calibrated closed clutch

If these two readings are 4.5 mm to 5.5 mm worn (difference between both readings)your clutch is going to fail very soon, possibly start dropping gears into neutral while driving.

The wear percentage is not very accurate in the sd2.

 

I agree... I bought my F1 360 in Boston. I drove it down to Texas 33hours by the time i arrived home the gears started dropping into neutral. SDII gave 50% wear, but when removed, it was totally messed up with micro cracks... so as mentioned in another thread, 50% means clutch is gone. So unless you are reading less than 20% and above, the clutch might be in danger. Personal opinion... cheers

 

I just change the clutch on my 1999 Modena. The car is 19k+ miles and the original clutch was 89.21% of wear. I change it because some times when I shift to a up gear the transmision put itself on neutral that is when I took the car to the dealer to be scaned. My Advice is to try to install the original bearing unit, do not replace it with some other aftermarket units after all Ferrari don't manufacture any parts they only use the best of the best of manufactures can offer to their cars!

 

From personal experience with my '02 F1 coupe and everything I've read, it appears F1 clutch life can vary from 800 miles to nearly 40K depending mostly on driver style (proper expert installation and adjustment being the other big factor). It also appears the computer readout of estimated wear percentage is an exceptionally vague approximation at best.

There's just no reliable way to know how the one you're looking at was driven or how many miles it's got left. But don’t let that put you off! It's a great car in every way so if the rest of the car is good, get the thing and drive the crap out of it and put a clutch in it as needed. Best of luck!

 

new closed clutch position can't only be considered when assesing wear, although i agee with your figures.This variable is adjustable, indeed, you use it in conjunction with pis to get the clutch bite set. There are variables in the manual for this. When you fit a new clutch you often have to alter it if the wear index is less than 3% with the pis set to stop it dragging. It's better to look at clutch over pis and overheat time when assesing wear.

 

I purchased an 01 Modena with 12,800 miles and had 9.1% clutch used.

 

If you were looking at clutch over PIS, it is already dropping out. We are trying to see what to look for before you are dead on the road.

 

Get a 6 speed manual gear box.

Ray

 

didn't know that was possible. wonder how much that would cost...