Ferrari FF - Could a PTU failure be avoided by staying in Sport/Corsa?

I think there was a misconception that it was indeed disabled in Sport (no Corsa on an FF). It is definitely very much engaged when in Sport.

 

There is a seal in the PTU, that can degrade. Once it's done, the fluid can migrate toward the engine. I do not know if there is a real risk of contaminating the engine oil, as it would still need to go pass the crankshaft seal.

 

If the PTU seals fail and leak the hydraulic fluid actually migrates over to the other side of the PTU which houses the gears and gear oil, I don't believe it can go into the engine. The PTU gears and hydraulics are separate compartments with different fluids inside the PTU.

The FF goes into RWD only mode when in 5th gear or higher, the manettino drive setting doesn't change anything.
If you drive in Comfort/Rain/Snow mode it would regularly go into 5th gear (RWD mode) more often. Which "theoretically" may put less stress on the PTU.
Sport modes will stay in lower gears longer, which means staying in 4WD mode longer and at higher rpm's.
It seems logical that the easier you drive the car the less stress you'll put on the PTU, therefore have lower risk of a PTU failure. But as I'm sure you've read there hasn't been any documented rhyme or reason for PTU failures yet.

If you want to check an FF for a potential PTU leak, you need to remove the drivers side engine cover. Underneath the drivers headlight you will see the PTU hydraulic fluid tank. The top filler tank should be mostly empty, but the lower tank should be full to the top, if it's low then there's a good chance there's a leak somewhere that could mean a failure down the road.

 

I honestly wouldn't worry about it so much. There is a lot of expert knowledge nowadays of the inherent fault with the PTU and how to fix it - for good. In the UK, this is about a £10k fix. Do what I did, make sure you have that money spare, and just buy the car you like and enjoy it. Life's too short.

 

I think, like most cars, the FF just needs to be used regularly. Mines been faultless for almost three years.

If I ever to have to do the PTU fix (not with Ferrari btw, I'd only do the specialist indy repair that fixes it for good) then I've got myself a proper keepers car with very little to worry about outside general maintenance and consumables.

At some point in the future, I think some of these specialist repaired cars will start popping up for sale and I wonder if they will command a.small premium? The same happened with 911 997 Carrera S bore scoring. Cars that were fixed by a well.known indy here in the UK always command a premium when they come up for sale.

 

The rubber seal does not decompose, it dries out due to lack of regular use! And yes, this is not a Tesla, you need to manually open the hood regularly and check the oil, coolant, brake and steering fluid levels and the PTU oil level (reservoir under the left trim). All this is done by hand and only by the owner, dealers do not care about your car, this is not a Porsche, so leakage or breakdowns due to lack of fluid is only your problem.

 

While I agree the car should be driven, lack of use is not the reason a PTU fails. There are plenty of examples of people with 50k+ plus miles and daily drivers (including Lussos) with failures.