Ferrari California transmission, is this normal?

Normal. - sport mode can slam the gears. - U will get a red trans cell light come on if there is a problem with gear box - usual problem is a failed speed sensor when u can only engage the 1, 3, 5 and 7th gear. - I believe speed sensor failure can happen on all the NA Cali's and even 458's but mainly on the early 09, 10 models


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Is it a bang coming from engine or the exhaust? Or, somewhere else?

I've gotten a bang out of my Cali (literally; figuratively, all the time!) most often when accelerating from a standstill to 80+ m.p.h. as fast as I can (for testing purposes only, mind you. [emoji6]) on a little stretch of highway 51, which has a stop sign at the intersection with FM 455, and a 75 mph speed limit. In that case, the bang is exhaust, and the car does jolt a bit. I've done this in auto & in manual mode. Usually in Sport, but once in Comfort (wife was with me, so this little exercise is now banned. [emoji34]).

T

 

I think you may be a novice Fcar owner falling prey to unfounded paranoia. How long have you owned your 2012 Cali? Have you driven sporty cars with traditional stick-shift manual transmissions like a 6-speed manual before? Most drivers with manual transmission experience strive to shift smoothly, especially with cars that have big sporty engines. They try to mimic the smoothness of automatic transmissions. This situation is completely reversed with the modern dual-clutch automatic transmissions; and many drivers want them to feel abrupt, not smooth.

With the Cali it's completely normal for it to go bang especially upon hard acceleration. In fact, many 458 and Cali owners love to have abrupt gear changes accompanied by a bang. It is ironic but many Fcar owners do not like or want smooth-shifting "sports cars" because they don't want sedate cars with automatic transmissions - it would completely spoil the Italian sports car experience. They want cars that shift gears with gnarly behaviour, as if they are rowing gears through a traditional stick-shift transmissions.

My car does it all the time manually shifting through high gears and even in AUTO mode in low gears. It just came back from extensive inspection after annual service. The car is perfect.

 

Try uploading a recording of the sound. Then we can put all ears on it...

SV

 

If it's making a sound like a rifle crack on the upshifts -- "kaPOW!" -- and making guys working on their lawns by the road drop to the ground in fear -- that's normal behavior.

Of course you are going to feel the car shift when you are driving it hard, that is also normal. Under light RPMs the shifts can almost "slip" into place and you can barely feel it.

If it feels like someone is slamming into the car from behind on the upshift, that's indicative of a potential problem.

 

The bang isn't a good premonition and I just say that not to upset you but because I've heard it before on my Cali and know which were the consequences.

The first question I have to ask is, do you have an extension warranty or a dealer warranty which covers the transmission ?

 

I understand how you feel but you haven't described your problem very well so far.

First you said you were worry about the noise WHEN you shift manually, "WHEN it goes into gear at high revs" but now you seem to say you're (also?) worried about the noise BETWEEN shifts. Frankly-speaking, I don't know what you mean by "...it doesn't feel normal when it makes the noise between shifts...". What exactly do you mean by BETWEEN SHIFTS??? you mean the split, 1/30th second, that the DCT takes to shift or the variable amount of time between your manually clicking the shift paddles. Also, do you mean DOWNSHIFT or UPSHIFT? My downshifts are very loud and visceral, upshifts are much less so, except for 1st-2nd in AUTO mode. I hope you realize those are potentially very different things.

We also don't know what speed your car was at when you shifted. Were you going 1st to 2nd gear at around 60 kph or from 5th to 6th gear while going 120 to 130 kph? Depending on how you made the gear shift, a bang from the exhaust is usually fine and desirable when shifting up or down. Banging from the transmission in between shifts while you are not shifting gears is NOT okay.

Otherwise, Porsches are completely different cars to Ferraris. Pcars are very predictable, very consistent, generally smooth and produces a lot less noise for entertainment. OTOH, the Cali is a lot more complicated car than a Porsche, say a 991 Carrera. IMO, the Cali is designed to be less predictable, more raw and noisy than current 911s. These qualities make Fcar less like a robot. They are more entertaining than Porsches, which are efficient and quick, but rather dull and predictable by comparison. My Cali30 behaves somewhat differently every time I drive it.

Earlier on I asked you a number of questions to get a sense of where your concerns were coming from but you haven't answered them yet so I am left guessing at a lot of things that would matter if you wanted some suggestions or advice.

Have you spoken to your dealer yet? That's probably your best source of advice.

 

Too many variables - throttle load, when you're shifting, etc. My customer recently thought this same thing and wound up being normal. On the other hand, I had another one recently hold off on getting this looked at at the dealership and wound up having to stick a new transmission in the car.

 

Interesting.

IMO, it's best to let the dealer make the call... without delay; especially if the OP had just bought the car from them.

 

Hi, sorry to resurrect this chat but I just purchased a 2010 Cali. I noticed a frequent but not consistent “bang” from 3-4th (and 4-5th on occasion) at 6-7000 RPM using the paddle shifters. However in auto, under the same conditions it is a smooth transition. Also manually changing from 3-4 at lower RPM (4-5000RPM) eliminates the “bang”. Wondering if there was any further prognosis from the original chat?

 

Take your car to a shop and get it checked out. Known issues exist in 2010s kalis. It could be nothing or something. Better not to guess and wait until it gets worse.

 

Good advise, the good news is the transmission is shifting perfectly, it was the transmission mounts. New mounts on being shipped as we speak. No cost to me, dealer is stepping up. Glad I bought from reputable dealer.


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Right on, Colin. Good to hear that the dealer is taking good care of you. Enjoy your kali!!!

Let's say that transmission and motor mounts aren't exactly Ferrari's forte.

 

Ferrari changed the original engine mount to a newer design.

Some time ago I posted a message and photos showing the differences in appearance. It was a Ferrari-trained mechanic at my indie tuner who noticed a slight shakiness on the steering wheel at idle. I hadn't noticed it as it had developed gradually.

I think Ferrari made the mistake of setting up the original Cali suspension too soft and probably picked a soft (insulating) engine mount that was essentially too weak to bear the weight and torque of the engine, leading to premature failure. IMO, all owners of cars with the original engine mounts should have them changed to the new design because the original ones are guaranteed to fail prematurely. Why continue to drive on crappy engine mounts when you will be changing them anyway? Don't do it for the next owner.

The 4.3L F136 IB and F136 IH engines of the Cali are IMO, jewels of an engine, a well-developed mature design now at its pinnacle. OTOH, the 7DCL750 is by comparison the first iteration of a fantastic piece of engineering. I suspect Ferrari wanted to learn it on the Cali because it was the only dual clutch that was ideal for mid-engine deployment at the power levels needed. The 7DCL750 is actually way over-spec'd for the Cali. Despite teething problems, it's still a stellar "piece of gear" because the problems are not mechanical but due to insufficient cooling setup, problematic routing of electrical wiring, bad choice of tie-wraps and sensor failures. The transmission and differential appear to be mechanically very reliable. Such teething problems are not uncommon and is why Ferrari is sticking with the 7DCL750 - they have learned from their experiences with the Cali and 458 and now reap the rewards of having shaken down the design of the 7DCL750.

The Ford GT also uses the 7DCL750.

 

great to hear about good treatment from a dealer, the usual is when we hear about their mistakes and shortcomings! They sound like a good firm to do business with