Just sharing my recent 360 issue..... Aldous Voice and Ratarossa vids are invaluable. Observation - last 3 drives "slow-down" flashes after 30 mins of driving...... at first it was just a screen flash sooo fast you could not perceive the msg. It was happening after long decel off of interstate. Also heard possible alternator whine at same time...... Got home restart - no slow-down flash or on steady. No engine noise or whine at all. I have headers with no cats, and stock cats. Orig 2001 thermocouples and cat ECU's. Today's drive: no issues until 30 mins into drive..... same spot at offramp of interstate..... on long decel quick flash of slow-down..... noticed it would flicker on with a stab of the brakes...... starting to think battery. The battery is a very cheap 650 cca autozone special put in upon purchase by the seller. Diagnosis - went for a spirited drive after read up on rat-a-rossa and voicy. 1st step - rule out actual glowing HOT cats...... took my fluke temp gun...... could not get the slow-down light to flash....... but pulled over anyway and checked each cat..... each ready 490-485 Deg F. 2nd step - figured I was due a new battery after 2.5 yrs...... bought a 750 cca AGM battery..... installed it. Will see if these glitch was a battery issue. If flashy flash .... slow-down continues will install those aftermarket cat ecu's...... and thermocouples...... Just sharing my scenario... in hopes others might find this experience useful. Cheers from Unbearable Houston, TX. 120% humidity, always 100+ heat index.
Once you have ruled out actual cat overheating, the symptoms you describe are almost always due to one or both cat ECUs being bad. They won’t throw codes but the intermittent flashing most likely will go away after you put in new ones. This happened when I first got my car (used in 2010) and the state of knowledge about this car’s quirks was less well-developed then so it wasn’t easy to diagnose at the time. Sent from my iPad using FerrariChat
Need4-rapido' - thx man. Was going to put some miles with the new battery and hope fairy dust and hopes and dreams make it go away...... knowing in my gut a parts order is in my future!!!!!!! Glad there is an aftermarket option.
I’m not so sure the Aerospace Logic unit is still available. The links for that are all broken. If you find it, please post. The newer OEM green epoxy ECUs seem to be ok, though. Sent from my iPad using FerrariChat
I have developed a replacement for part number 179278. This is the aftermarket unit people are mentioning. 0% failure rate so far. Image Unavailable, Please Login
I saw them online for $180 each. But can’t find the link. Update on my car —- after new battery no flash “slow down”. will do some more drive cycles and post up results. not sure if it’s just the battery switch off on cycle or the new battery. will see if glitch returns
Tuesday update—- 2 more drive cycles and no slow down light. I’m going to chalk this up to a bad battery. will post up if this problem returns. btw— the starter spins soo much faster w the new battery. I got used to the old dying unit. additionally—. Car stays on tender Battery held charge All appeared normal But battery was on its way out. keep this in mind when diagnosing
low battery causes all kinds of issues on a 360, very sensitive to voltage can also be a legit warning due a bad spark coil, drive it a night and it the main cat glows red, you have a bad coil, probably.
Monday update—- many more drive cycles and no slow down light. so appears I had a bad battery this battery is 2.5 yrs old, car is kept on a tender.
So I'm back with my flashing random slow-down light. What I'm experiencing - if I drive slow and easy no slow down light. If I roll on to redline in 4th and 5th..... on long decel after I get intermittant "slow down".... does not stay on.... just flashes almost so fast you can't read it. So far I've swapped the battery, and in the process turned the car power off and back on. Car drove without any slow down for several days. Then today spirited drive..... same thing on decel... flash slow-down. Got home, the o2 bung on the cat is red.... all else is not red.... not red like on the voicy website... he shows the complete exit of the cat glowing.. mine is not doing this. it's just the o2 bung..... very faint pink... So today: * swapped my slovenian coils back to my old OEM coils.... car seems to run better with the oem coils... could be in my head. * swapped my recently installed "rebuilt/cleaned" factory inj from inj clinic.... back to my old oem f inj...... seems to idle smoother..... * removed my recently install gruppe-M intake..... thinking perhaps this is affecting the MAS readings.... Test drive results - * No slow down light. * pull into shop.... in total darkness there is a very faint pink ring around each back cat o2 bung.... the exit of the cat is NOT red. temp guns shows outer cat is 450-550 deg G..... and O2 bung is 750-780 Deg F. I've got a smoke machine coming.... just for good measure I'll check the intake system for any leaks..... I did the upper intake gasket last spring..... I'll drive this for a few days and post up any changes results. Question - if the cat ECU is not detecting over temp..... can I assume the slight pink ring in total darkness of the rear cat O2 bung... is normal? Can someone else bring their car home from a drive and pull into total darkness and check if the rear cat O2 bung slightly glows pink.....??? thx guys.
You can see the very red cat in the voicy link...... Mine does not look like this.... so I'm going to call it good. https://aldousvoice.com/2012/12/27/ferrari-360-slow-down/
Have you checked the fuel trims (long term and short term)? This sounds like you are overly rich and it really is hot.
I'll check fuel trims. Good call. Also I notice voicy says the slow down will come on @ 1000C... to protect the cats...... My temp gun shows nothing near this. I show 450-550F on the cat..... and 750F on the o2 bung (upstream to rear cat). The rear bung on the cat exit is not pink at all.... I also have a smoke machine coming from amazon... will smoke test the intake system.... I did pull the upper intake last spring..... I'm generally perfect... but there is always a first time for a fubar.
Another thought..... I reused my stock header to rear cat donut gaskets...... could a leak between the headers and rear cat cause the rear cat to over-heat???? If so, I can try installing some new gaskets here.... it is a rather funny fit there with those spring bolts. Another thought is my cats are already bad or going bad...... I read bad cats can cause excess heat and back pressure. I have some aftermarket cats with 200 cel cats... I can test.
Scanned my ecu and at idle reading cat temp of 770 deg F. Will test drive while reading cat temps... handy scanner allows me to graph this data. Had a couple beers...... so no test drive tonight.
I have one input for the glowing red exhaust. (around o2 area) I've tested drove 2 cars with no "slow down" problems. I tested them in the dark back to back. And yes, I drove like I stole it---------------gear 1-2-3 each to red line then brake with abs activated, then immediately gear 1-2-3, each to red line, rince and repeat this for about 3 miles. 1. my all-OEM CS, glowing red around o2 area. 2. friend's 430 spider, s-line exhaust, glowing red AT ALL AREAS OF THE WHOLE S-LINE SYSTEM, except the tip outside the car. in both cases, there's no slow down light. Later I bing.com'ed that the metal will glow red at about maybe 500 celcius, which is well within the designed temperature range. So glowing or non-glowing, doesn't really necessarily related to the "slow down". I have one case that, in my CS, I removed the thermocouple from the exhaust and started the car cold. It will give you a slow down in a few minutes when drive normally. This means that the "slow down" doesn't necessarily mean it is too hot. It might mean the temperature the ECU "expects" you to have is different than the actual temperature read from the thermocouple. ( in 360 at least, because late production 430 doesn't have thermocouples)
I had a 360 that has intermittent slow down problem that I chased but failed to find any problem. all coils are new oem. all plugs are new oem both cat ecus are new, oem It does not glow red if driven normally. it glows red a little just like my CS if driven like hell. I never tried to replace the thermocouples so that could be the problem. Alas , I no longer have the car so I'd never know what's the true issue.
24000rpm- big thanks! Just what I needed! I’ll still do a smoke test and data log cat temps w my handy scanner tool on each bank to finish this exercise in wild goose chasing.
