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360 spider door won't close

Discussion in 'Technical Q&A' started by solly, Dec 15, 2004.

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  1. solly

    solly Formula 3

    Jun 2, 2001
    1,148
    Westchester NY
    Full Name:
    Dr. Steven S.
    #1 solly, Dec 15, 2004
    Driver side door worked fine all day today. Just came back from the store, opened the door, got in, closed the door-it would not latch. Searched for all kinds of foreign objects that may be stopping it from closing fully-none.

    Tried to wiggle the internal mechanism, but it is not spring loaded like on many other cars where it sometimes get stuck closed and you can pop it to the open position and be on your way. Had to hold the door closed with my hand the whole way home. Checked the passenger side door which works fine but could not see any noticeable difference.

    Only difference I saw was that on the passenger side after you pull up on the outside door catch it pops down next to the door again. On the driver's side (the broken one) the external latch does not pop back down on its own. Seems to have no spring pulling it down.

    Anyone experience this before? Any solutions?
     
  2. vanimal

    vanimal Formula Junior

    Mar 19, 2003
    380
    UK
    Full Name:
    Vaughan
    #2 vanimal, Dec 16, 2004
    I have read about 360 outside door latches breaking before, in the old fchat archives I think there were a few owners who had this happen, this could have jammed the opening mechanism in the open position. The same thing happened to my daily driver (Golf - dont shoot me) the otside door handles broke free from the actual door, I dint see it happen, got in closed door and drive off, until I turned left and the door swung wide open, got out pushed mechanism back through hole in door and hey presto its fine.

    I think your problem sounds similar, especially as you say there is no spring action now on the handle.
     
  3. Carnut

    Carnut F1 Rookie

    Nov 3, 2003
    3,797
    Gladwyne PA
    Full Name:
    Morrie
    #3 Carnut, Dec 16, 2004
    Chech to see if the window goes down if it does to it might be a bad switch. You can try rolling the window up and down. I had a similar problem in my 575
     
  4. solly

    solly Formula 3

    Jun 2, 2001
    1,148
    Westchester NY
    Full Name:
    Dr. Steven S.
    #4 solly, Dec 16, 2004
    After a night in a heated garage the problem miraculously cured itself. Maybe a few more nights in the garage will result in brand new cam belts.
     
  5. Rifledriver

    Rifledriver Three Time F1 World Champ

    Apr 29, 2004
    37,089
    Cowboy Capitol of the World
    Full Name:
    Brian Crall
    #5 Rifledriver, Dec 16, 2004
    Can I rent your garage?
     
  6. fatbillybob

    fatbillybob Two Time F1 World Champ
    Consultant Owner

    Aug 10, 2002
    28,989
    socal
    #6 fatbillybob, Dec 17, 2004
    Sounds like a safety issue. See if they will fix under warantee or file a NTSA report. After many are filed the Company gets a friendly letter and even if they refuse to pay today they have to if NSTA forces a recall...so keep your receipts. I love 360's stories like this just make me want to run out and buy one. Solly this is the stupidest thing I ever heard. Ferrari is getting rediculous with "consumer acceptable". 360's can be purchased with optional battery charger. No other car in the world needs that. What are you supposed to do now carry Ferrari body colored duct tape?
     
  7. don_xvi

    don_xvi F1 Rookie

    Nov 1, 2003
    2,934
    Outside Detroit
    Full Name:
    Don the 16th
    #7 don_xvi, Dec 17, 2004
    It's pretty cold there in New York this week, isn't it?
    I'd suggest the problem may be door mechanism lubricant-related. Spray something like Slick 50 One Lube or Tri-Flow (like WD40 but with Teflon) generously in the latch mechanism. A second possibility could be the seals getting too stiff in the cold, but that's a lot harder to deal with!

    FYI, this can just "slip through" the system, it's not just a Ferrari thing. Brand new Cadillac SRX's are doing the EXACT SAME thing by the dozens!
     
  8. Diablo

    Diablo Formula Junior

    Jan 6, 2004
    443
    In front of the comp
    #8 Diablo, Dec 18, 2004
    Yes, I had moisture in the door that had happened to cling to the cable for the lock and had frozen during the day.
    After driving to the dealership(30 miles) with the heat on (live in the Northeast)
    The damn thing worked. The guys at the shop took apart the inner door and lubricated the cables and hopefully got all of the water out of it.
    It never happened after that.
     
  9. solly

    solly Formula 3

    Jun 2, 2001
    1,148
    Westchester NY
    Full Name:
    Dr. Steven S.
    #9 solly, Dec 20, 2004
    Yes, it's been very cold here this week. Today snow and 9 degrees F. The day I had the problem I got caught in rain early in the day, but it was still pretty warm (over 40). At night temp went to 20. Possibly water froze in mechanism. But I leave my Suburban and my Impreza WRX outside all winter and never have any problems with them other than having to shovel off the snow. You'd think for 200k you'd get good engineering throughout the ENTIRE car.

    I really am getting disgusted with Ferrari's nonchalance about these "minor" items which cost major $$$ to fix, especially after my wonderful experience with the 360 CH which ate alternators for breakfast (mounted too close to exhaust with no heat shield) and various bits and pieces that would just stop working when they chose, and you needed a $20,000 computer to bleed the brakes.

    I may be getting over my whole Ferrari phase (except the Dino, which I love and which is really very reliable if you take care of it, and you can take care of it yourself without a 20k computer). Might be time to try something else built by a company to whom customer satisfaction is still important. Maybe something by Lee Noble, Ted Marlow or Peter Brock.
     

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