95 456 GT Check engine 7-12 light?

Pretty sure you got an obd port which could be a obd1 or obd2. One of the best things you can buy is a cheap obd reader. You can plug in and read codes in 1 minute and erase codes to see if they come back on. Ferrari electricals are suspect and sometimes you throw a code for no good reason like a loose connection. An example of use is plugging in and get a MAF sensor code I got while at the track with a friend. He was worried and thought about going home. I plugged in my tester got a Maf CODE. I pulled the connector on sensor and plugged it back in. erased the code and that was it. Ran the rest of the trackday with no recurring code. These things are lifesavers and put you mind at ease for 50 bucks at the local autoparts store.


I forgot. In boulder is scuderia ramparte. Dave helms is well known on fchat and will treat you well if you bail out and seek pro help.

 

My suggestion is to go through and clean as many electrical connections as you can find in the engine bay and in the passenger compartment (remove the covers where the computers are to get at those connections). Another place to look at is the mass airflow sensor, remove and clean with MAS cleaner. This will help greatly in your quest.

I too am interested in the response to your question abvout OBD 1. Aside from getting the reading (which you can get without the reader, if you look at the flashing light), the really tricky part is understanding what that number it gives you means.

Good luck.

Alberto

 

You can't use a generic scanner on that, i'm afraid. You will need someone with an SD1 to look at it.

 

Not true. If a usa car and obd1 or 2 compliant it will read by generic reader if the plug is the generic plug. There are special codes that can only be read by sd1/2 and reset reprogramed by sd1/2. If it is a euro car then some of the obd1/2 codes may be disabled but there still is some diagnositics to be had from the generic port. But many generic codes can be read like missfire codes, MAF codes, O2 sensor codes etc.... If you want to find out why you have a suspension light and reset that light you need the SD1/2/3 to do it depending on which year car you have.

 

Even if you manage to extract the codes from the three pin port, what would you do with them? Just reading p-codes is looking at effect rather than cause. for example an oxygen sensor would set a p-code, but changing it without checking further for an underlying issue wouldn't be fixing the problem. Unless you can look at real-time data in the form of parameters,those codes are pretty useless.

 

What are you talking about "real-time data in the form of parameters?" makes absolutely no sense at all. I'm not a 456 guy so I can't speak with authority on this car this year. But in general the p code is very specific. Feel free to take you car to the service center but it is so easy to get a general idea of what might be hapening and often times a very specific cause with just the pcode. Sometimes a pcode will help you diagnose but not be very specific. For example I got misfire coded on my mercedes once on just one bank. That and a few other things lead me to believe I had a plugged cat. I was right.
If you get a 02 sensor p code it means the o2 sensor is dead or the wiring to it is dead. Changing that fixes it. Anyone even the newest 430 guy knows that a ferrari can throw a code and have nothing wrong with it. Still in 2008 ferrari electrical connectors etc are poor. I think is was Dave Helms himself who witnessed technical drawings on 355 connectors where internal parts were designed for 10 on/off cycles of removal! Poor indeed. It is common to get a throttle position sensor pcode for example and it either means the tps is dead or the wiring too it. In these cars it is more common that it is wiring. I have on occasion gotten a code and fixed it by no more than reestablishing a good connection cleaning a connector.
This is well within the realm of any owner like checking your oil. Next time you get a code, buy the $50 tester and I'll help you find the problem. You may be surprised at what a genius you are.

 

Hey Keith,

Good to speak to you the other day about the F-car happenings in an around Denver/Boulder.

Big +1 to Dave Helms at Scuderia Rampante, as I mentioned on the call. He is in Boulder, and he/his team do great work.

Hope to see you and your 456 soon.

Keep in touch. John

 

I would also recommend that you do what Alberto has suggested in post # 4.
Disconnect, clean and re-connect all what you can find and it usually does the trick.

 

Right to a degree. An 02 sensor might throw up a code for all manner of reasons, not just because it's failed. An upstream air leak can cause it, without seeing what the sensor is doing, you are looking at effect rather than cause. O.k so some generic gear can look at 02 real time data, it was just an example. I'm not saying you are wrong, i'm just saying that you won't always find the underlying fault using that type of tester.

 

I had the same problem on my 95 456GT. Received lots of advice about the ECU being suspect but it turned out that the catalytic converter was getting too hot due to a couple of dirty sparkplugs. Easy to check. Hope that helps

 

yes I have had that - Workshop said that cats sensors get overheated .... never happened since. Italian Electrics?

 

thought I'd bump this since I have a check engine (7-12) light on my dashboard.

I did the test, where it's supposed to cycle through codes. I get the 1-2-1-2 (Lambda Regulation), but that's it. I've done the 'next code' button press, but after that I just get the four (4) long pauses on the check engine light (end of codes). It will (if I do the 'next code' button push) return to 1-2-1-2.

I thought 1-2-1-2 is supposed to be followed by another code telling me what the problem is. Bad 02 sensor? My engine idles normally, all temperatures are fine, no other lights on. Not sure what the hell the problem is. Thoughts?

 

Hi,
with interest following this thread, and curious if a US code reader/RESET tool works on an European F456M? Anyone with info what the best tool is on the (US) market and very important, is it compatible with a Eu F456M.
Appreciate your feedback, regards Jan

 

Were you able to erase the code and witness it come back on? Sometimes the fault is not a fault but a wiring issue or surge made to look like a fault.

 

If the euro car has the obd connector you should be able to plug an obd tester in. If not you may be able to wire an obd connector. There is a wiring diagram somewhere but for the life of me can't remember where that show what wires to pull to wire up an obd connector. FWIW I have a euro550 federalized for the USA and it has an obd connector that I can plug into a tester and pull codes. Jet-x OTOH has an obd 1 car with the 2.7 motronic like the 348 I had and all you could do was read the dash lite codes unless you had an interface cable that pluged the SD2 between the harness and the motronic brain. I had to resort to that once when martin at international motorsports was kind enough to wire me up SD2 style at the track to help me find a really sticky electrical problem on my 348 racecar.

 

This exact problem happened twice to me as well a while ago.
In both cases (one on each side) it was not the O2 probe, but the ECU to which they are attached.
Very easy to replace and inexpensive to buy.

 

Yep! Erased it, it stayed off for about 10 minutes, then popped back on.

But the bite in the ass is it's giving me "1-2-1-2" and generally is supposed to be followed by another code, but it doesn't. Hmmm....

 

There is no such thing as a standard OBD1 port. None were required and the OBD2 standardized port had not come along yet.

That is why on OBD1 cars they called them "Flash Codes".

 

Yup most Ferraris I have seen in this vintage have buttons. Fords and GM cars have an OBD1 port of sorts or really a connector you "short" to get the flashcodes http://www.extreme-check-engine-light-codes.com/GM%20OBD1%20Decoder.htm

OBD1 cars like the 348 can be read by OBD2 complaint SD2 and look like plug and play and codes will pop up on the SD2 just like plugging into an obd2 ferrari but yeah there is no "obd1" port that was standard. Everyone triggered the flashcodes by different means even ignition key sequences like the Ferrari alarm code BS.

 

What you are thinking of are generically called ALDL for Assembly Line Diagnostic Link. Many companies have them sometimes like Ferrari in addition to OBD2 ports for connecting proprietary testers. Ferrari has had them in one design or another since the fuel injected cars started.