430 Engine lost power, pedal limp, odd cluster behavior

I have a new to me 2008 F430 coupe I purchased less than a month ago (manual conversion). When I got it, I took it to Ferrari mechanic to get the ride heigh adjusted, new tires and alignment. In that process he found the bushings were shot so those were replaced too. He did check my battery and he said it is in great condition (Adelco AGM).

I noticed after some spirited driving last weekend I had some issues getting it to shift into 4th from 3rd. Throughout this week I was playing with the shift gate (with Dr. S's help) to fix that issue. At first it got worse (had issues shifting into other gears) but by Thursday's attempt at a very careful alignment of the gate on the tower everything was working again. Nothing was touched elsewhere. During this process, on Tuesday I left the dome light on in the car accidentally for about an hour before I remembered and went and shut it off. Just mentioning this because I know the batteries in this car are sensitive. I didn't drive the car again until yesterday.

So yesterday when I did go for a drive to check the shifting, when I started driving, probably the first 30 seconds, I heard some odd noise from the engine behind me - almost like a video game type "wop wop" a few times and then never again. No idea what that was. I drove for about 10-15 minutes testing out the shifting, and after about halfway through that time driving, it seemed like the engine just lost a lot of power in all gears. At first it was very noticeable in 1st gear and then the other gears too. Basically, kind of operating at half power. I could still drive and was able to get home, but it definitely was not providing the regular power. Also, the revs seemed to raise very quickly when I pushed on the gas but the power would not come. It was odd. Finally, I'm not sure about this but I think the oil pressure gauge was fluctuating a bit. I was a little flustered so it is all a blur.

Drove home and shut it down. No odd smells whatsoever, no CELs or other warning lights, no SLOW DOWN, and engine sounded fine (other than that one time WOP WOP mentioned above). I had to leave for a few days so haven't been able to check anything yet. Ordered the Autel AP200 so I can pull codes again tomorrow or Sunday when I'm back.

Any thoughts on what this may be? My plan was to pull the codes, then kill the battery switch for 30 minutes and then try starting it up again. I have an appointment with the mechanic to get my exhaust swapped out, so I could also have him check things too (assuming my car is driveable to get there). But I don't want to pay him for stuff unnecessarily. I don't have a tender yet, but I've been driving the car every 3 days or so for about 10-15 minutes.

 

I think you must have been running on 1 bank or limp mode due to not wating for "ok" or just a low battery
As you stated check codes, disconnect battery and recharge / test battery , do ECU relearn after battery reconnect , always wait for "oK"
report back

PS.. when you charge battery up - to test ..do this .. check standing voltage with multimeter at battery terms , cranking voltage, and then engine running voltage - that will be a good way to test battery

 

Exactly as Dominick described. Also, check the date on the battery to see how old it is. Do you leave it on a tender when not being used?

If it is battery related, consider getting a bluetooth monitor from antigravity so you can have a better idea of battery health. Lithium is always a great upgrade as well if you want to drop more money.

 

Will do. Time to start buying some tools. Will need the multimeter. Does a CTEK maintainer do enough to charge a battery? Going to have to look into that.

No tender yet, was going to order a CTEK MXS 5 soon.

 

If the battery is in good condition and since it has power to start the car..the ctek you mentioned should charge over 24 to 48 hours

The adapter for the Ferrari is a nice expensive touch for the ctek

You can pick up a decent multi meter on Amazon for 30ish dollars

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The CTEK should be tool number one. These cars have all kinds of weird issues with low batteries that no other vehicle would have. Yes, it can recondition and charge a battery, although slower than a standard charger but you don't really want high currents. Most people will plug their car in after every single drive even if they take it out regularly.

If your battery is old, look to buy either a new interstate battery or an antigravity if you have more funds.

 

Thanks. My plan was to order the adapter for the passenger footwell plug, but looks like I'll have to expedite things. I'll connect it to the back of the driver's area for now.

 

I had same thing on my scud. I nearly cried when it happened thinking it was major ... it was battery.

I'd get the higher amp CTEK if you can, I got mine on amazon for a great deal

well worth getting the adapter, even if it's extortionate, it's so straightforward to use then

 

Thanks, and that makes me feel a lot better that it turned out to be the battery for you. I do want to get the adapter, but it seems here in the US I have to order it on ebay and wait for delivery from the UK. Just trying to see what I can do for now as I can get the CTEK overnight from Amazon, so I would have to hook it up either behind the driver's seat or in the passenger footwell.

 

Just buy the CTEK from amazon and put the new connection on if it doesn't match what came with Ferrari. It's easy peasy

 

Maybe one of these would be more user-friendly:

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/295930153447?

This is the part I don't understand. Does slowdown mode create this effect? On a basic level, it sounds like a drivetrain issue. Did you disable anything (other than the F1 TCU) as part of your manual swap? What causes slowdown mode, but doesn't cause the SLOW DOWN light to illuminate?

Clutch slipping? Tires slipping?

 

You’re running as a 4 cylinder, so the revs go up but there’s no power

I had exactly this on my scud when I started it with a low battery

 

Probably going to be an obvious answer, but should I try driving it again after I get the codes, or first let it charge on the tender for a day and then try?

And if charging the battery is the first step, I first disconnect it using the switch in the frunk?

 

Wait for the check ok light and tender juice up and try again.

 

get codes take note of them and erase them , then charge .. do not drive until you have a good charged and tested battery

 

Are you charging the battery using a direct connection to the battery terminals?

If you're using a tender wired into the terminals behind the seat, do not use the battery disconnect, otherwise power won't get to the battery.

 

Everything you are describing happened to me once and it was the car on limp mode. I have disconnected master battery switch, and what I didn’t know is that 360/430s need an ÉCU relearn.
Once I followed the proper ECU relearn procedure, no more issues

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Nicolas

 

I can do either, I’m getting back home later today. Which method is preferred? Seems like disconnecting the battery?

 

you can charge with tender from either in passenger side battery compartment or behind seats ..i prefer directly to battery ..once charged .. then turn off switch in frunk for a half hour , turn on and do a throttle body reset - basically bring to operating temp and let idle for 10 mins with any electrically items on (lights, ac ) and don't open doors windows etc
Remember to unlock and roll down windows a bit before turning off battery

 

With a 2008, use the factory tender plug in the passenger side. Get the adapter. It has drive off prevention and is very easy to connect and disconnect.

 

Corey

I believe he is going to get it but doesn't want to wait till he gets it to charge battery



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Thanks all for your help so far. The CTEK cord wasn't long enough to get to the passenger side from my plug so I just did the driver's side for now, I'll probably get the adapter at some point and the CTEK extension cord. I did attach the positive to the middle bolt under the + cover so hopefully that was okay. CTEK is charging right now.

Attached are the codes I pulled from the car just now. Any thoughts on what this may be? I'm going to look around too, but I know you guys know this 100x better than I do. I saw some suspension code, perhaps that may be because the car has H&R springs on it. Not sure.

 

All.look power issue .. low battery etc

One or two are actually created when you do a scan

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Mine used to start up occasionally running on one bank. The dealer flashed the ECU a couple of times. Seems like it wasn't an uncommon issue.

Dealer also replaced my battery once. I didn't drive it that much and I didn't have electrical access to electricity for the tender. Never used it in 2 years.

 

Thank you for all the help and advice. I followed the plan you guys laid out, did the disconnect and ECU reset protocol and drove it after idle and all was well. Hopefully it stays that way. I only had a chance to test the voltage on the battery with the car off and it was 13.03 (AGM battery). Now finally time to enjoy the car!