Hood open light remains on...Car wont go into gear

Someone had a similar issue a couple of weeks ago - sorry I cannot recall where it was posted - probably in technical or 360 sections

 

I recall that a 360 owner at one of our meets had a similar problem and it was the hood latch. You say the wiring is correct. Have you seperated and cleaned the connections? I'm not familiar with the 360 wiring but is there a relay in the hood locking system that connects to the main ecu to indicate the hood is closed? Is the latch actually operating the switch? Possibly put a test meter across the latch switch wiring?

 

The engine compartment & trunk both have a micro switch that contact the respective latches when closed. If the arm on the micro switch is damaged or bent it won’t "close" & you will get a light. On F1 cars it won’t let you go into gear.

There is an access pnl on front of the support for the engine compartment with the latch inside. Remove that & inspect the two cables to operate the latch (door jamb & gas door). See if they both have slack. One of mine was always under tension & would unlatch the lid when it got hot.

You should see the micro switch at the base of the latch. You can unplug the connector & use a meter to check its operation. Some people bypass it & delete it. While it eliminates further problems, it defeats the lid open warning system.

 

Would it be impolite to say that when a car is deliberately made so that this could happen - then that is when the car is too damn complicated with electronics.

 

I have the same problem right now! The "Engine compartment lid" lamp went on two days ago but I managed to turned it of at a redlight by open and close it again. Now that doesn't work and even though the lid is completely closed it remains on. I have removed the microswitches both on the lid and chassi, cleaned and check the connectors but it didn't help. I didn't have any instrument though so I have not measured the wiring. I tried to bypass it by an external wire but it didn't help either. It is quite tricky because I can't close the rooftop because of the signal and the car is staying outdoor 60 km from my garage. And it's likely it will start to rain any day... Any help would be highly appreciated!

I forgot to add that the car is a 360 Spider 2002.

 

I think could be at least one of three things,

Contacts for rear lid are dirty or bad. Clean or replace.

F1 pump system not coming up to threshold pressure. Have it checked with SD2.

Brake light switch is bad. Switch senses posirion of brake pedal. Replace switch or check that is correctly set

Regards

Steve

 

Thanks Steve,

I have cleaned the contacts and they seems ok. I've also cleaned the ground contact at the lid and it seems ok to so I believe those are ok. I also tried different ways of bypassing the switch by an external cable but with the same negative result.

Please explain how the F1 pump system can light up the "open hood" warning if not coming up to threshold or the Brake light switch, I don't understand how that is linked to the "open hood" issue.

 

The rear deck open light is tied to the F1 pump. If the F1 pump does not come up to prescribed pressure, the rear deck lid open light illuminates. You can test this. Leave car off for an hour or so. Now, without opening the driver door, turn on ignition. The rear deck light should come on and stay on. On my car, the F1 pump starts when I turn on ignition. If yours does not, then open the driver door. The F1 pump will start and prime the system. When fully primed, the rear deck light should go out ... assuming the rear deck lid is not open.

If at rest, the brake pedal switch will not allow you to shift unless it senses that your foot is on the brake. If under motion and the brake pedal switch is bad, it too can illuminate the rear deck open light. I don't know why.

I don't know how all these things are tied together. But, I was experiencing problem with that light illuminating at odd times when driving. Also, a few times, could not shift out of neutral at stop light. A local Ferrari tech at dealer suggested to change the switch ... cost about $40 or so. He says very common problem and very cheap fix. He suggested that if that did not cure it, then move on to other potential reasons. It fixed things for me.

Regards,

Steve

 

Thanks Steve for taking the time to explain (even though if feels like Ferrari complicates things more than necessary...).
I'll will give it another try tomorrow and if it doesn't work out I'll close the roof manually and call the towing guy...

 

Solved!!
I didn't realize that the microswitch detecting one hood was located directly on the latch, I thought it was the connector located directly to the right of the latch but that seems to only be the plus-feed for the center brake light. To my poor defense I was partly mislead by another thread.
Anyway, solution was to bend the metal tongue to make sure that it will press the switch in the closed position, see attached images. So now I'll go for a quick ride to make sure that everything is fine!
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Thanks for these pics, mate. I know there is another thread around here on the subject, but your pics gave me enough context to see that sensor. My car had the exact same problem. Bent the contact a bit and now the sensor engages correctly when the engine bay is closed. Cheers!

 

You are welcome!

 

Thanks for the pic. Is there a way to bend it without having to get access to it? I have a 360 F1 01 with the challenge grill so i do not see how to quickly access those bolts.

thanks

 

Is there a way to force the transmisison into drive? I need to move the car in the next few days.

 

I ended up taking it apart and and cleaned it - works perfect now.