Climate Control Computer needed for 355 | FerrariChat

Climate Control Computer needed for 355

Discussion in '348/355' started by enzob, Mar 1, 2008.

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  1. enzob

    enzob Rookie

    Jan 31, 2004
    39
    San Diego, Ca
    Full Name:
    Enzo Bertaggia
    My heater doesn't work and the mechanic says that the computer that controls the heater valve is not working. A new one will cost around $2000. Anyone have a used one for sale or know of some place that might have one?

    Thanks,

    Enzo

    P.S. They had a computer out of another car that they put in temporarily to test that the valve was ok and the computer was bad.
     
  2. 285ferrari

    285ferrari Two Time F1 World Champ
    Sponsor

    Sep 11, 2004
    20,958
    MD and NE
    Full Name:
    Robbie
    You talking about the ecu that sits up in the front bonnet?
     
  3. rimoore

    rimoore Formula 3

    Nov 18, 2004
    1,353
    Island in Maine
    Full Name:
    Richard Moore
    Enzo
    I live in San Diego also and have used 355 parts. Send me a picture of the item your describing or the part number.

    Cheers
    Rick
     
  4. JSBMD

    JSBMD Formula Junior

    Mar 17, 2007
    450
    The OC
    Full Name:
    John
    Mine was bad, too. Not quite $2000 to replace, but definitely $1600. Good news is if you can find a used one will probably be half that. Bad news is very difficult to find used ones. When my mechanic told me the diagnosis, like yours after temporarily swapping it with another ECU, he told me he saw some corrosion on the ECU, and that this is the sort of thing that might get a bit wet when a hose is taken to the car frequently, as in weekly washes, automated car washes, etc. Per his advice, I now do most of my car cleaning with spray bottle stuff (Griotts Speed Shine is great), and save the water washes for that rare occasion when the car gets truly dirty. FWIW, my front hood seals appear intact, so I don't know exactly how water got to the ECU. Anyway, good luck locating a used ECU, but even if you have to pay for a new one, it will be worth it once the weather gets hot enough. The swap of the ECU's, by the way, can be done in your garage at home in 20 minutes with simple hand tools.

    John
     
  5. No Doubt

    No Doubt Seven Time F1 World Champ

    May 21, 2005
    72,740
    Vegas+Alabama
    Full Name:
    Mr. Sideways
    If you are convinced that your old unit is bad such that you are about to throw it away, you can easily remove the circuit boards inside. With the circuit boards removed, wrap them inside airtight ziplock baggies and freeze them for several hours in your fridge.

    Six hours in your freezer should give you about 30 minutes to reinstall them and test them in your car while frozen. If they work while frozen, it typically means that a chip on a circuit board is going bad (chip errors manifest first with heat, whereas keeping a chip very cold can cause an error to remain uneventful).

    If they don't work while frozen, it usually means that you have a fried soldering connection (can sometimes be seen as a little brown spot on the circuit board) or a failed component such as a resistor, capacitor, etc.

    Anyway, if the freezing trick works, you can then narrow down the problem to a single circuit board by only freezing one board at a time and re-testing while frozen.

    You'll probably find more than a few companies that will repair such boards if you don't want to replace chips or resolder connections yourself (estimate ~~$300 to $500 for a quality repair). Google ECU repair if you like, for instance.
     

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