Loss of Power

I would guess ignition failure. It could be a coil or flywheel sensor. It sounds like one bank is shutting down and raw fuel is heading towards the cat and causing the light to come on. Don't drive it until you fix it as you could have a fuel fire from raw fuel getting into a hot cat. You can test the flywheel sensors, check resist. values. Also you can run the car long enough to put a timing light on it and confirm 5-8 has lost spark. HTHs.

 

How do you test for "lose of spark" with a timing light??? Can you please explain??

My car has the "Check engine 5-8" light always on but I have NO CATS on my car (were pluged up so I removed them)...The exhaust ECUs are also unplugged.
I replaced my O2 sensors and the newer O2 sensor on the 5/8 bank. The old sensors were totally BLACK (see photo)....If I'm not mistaken the tip of the O2 sensor should be gray, like in the photo, if the car runs well and burns the fuel correctly....So I suspect my car is running rich on fuel....Occasionally I see a few black puffs of smoke from the left exhaust bank upon start up and warming up. The right side seems fine.

Can I swap the left side coil with the right side coil since the 1-4 bank appears to be running okay??? Are both coils the same??

I have not yet checked the crank sensors as others have suggested to make sure the wiring is okay there...That will be next weekend...I'll take photos for reference.

Regards - VK

 

The timing light flashes each time the spark plug it's attached to fires. If the plug doesn't fire, the light doesn't flash. If you've already got a timing light, then it's the best way to check, but there are other ways.

For example you can take the spark plug out, connect it to the plug lead again and hold it to the metal of the engine (using something well insulated!) and you should be able to see it sparking. I wouldn't reccomend this though.

You can also buy a flashing cap that goes between the spark plug and the plug lead, but it may not be easy to see with the Ferrari plugs going quite deep into the head.

 

Using a timing light is the safest, fastest way to tell. You can remove the wires and watch for spark but that is a pain plus unless you have a remote starter you need 2 people.

Hook the timing light up to a 12V source, spare battery, or at the coils, and put the clip around one coil wire. It should flash very quickly. It shows you the pulses. If it flashes you have spark if not then no spark.

If this is unclear you may want to consider taking your car somewhere as it gets more difficult after this.

 

Thanks for the explanation on the timing light, guys.....I'll go borrow one and check back with the results.

VK

 

Goyal what kind of are you working on?
With no cats and your slow down ECUs unplugged your lights should be off.

Are you working on a Motronic equipped car, 348, 512TR? If so there are many factors that can cause a rich mixture.
IMO your 02 sensor is quite dark. Anyway, let us know.

 

Your discussion is starting to intermix "check engine light" issues with "slowdown warning light" issues -- so keep that difference in mind.

Goyal99 -- Your OM may give some instructions on how to get more information about the cause of your check engine light -- for example, see:

http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16859&highlight=348+ECU

(but I don't know if all flavors of 348 are this way.)

 

Sorry if I've caused confusion by posting my problem here as well

I have a '93 348 and working on geting rid of the "Check Engine 5-8" light, NOT the "Slow Down xx" light (as sjmst started the thread)...Clearly the two are not related as the glowing "Slow Down xx" lights are almost always related to Catalyst problems.

I don't have Cats on my car for that same reason...and where I live there's no emissions testing during annual inspection.

91TR - thanks for pointing out the thread on how to retreive the ECU codes; I will check those as well....

SJMST - if your Mondial has thermocoupler connections to the CATs, I would suggest to disconnect them for testing and I bet your "Slow Down" light will go away...However check to see if your CATs are still good or plugged. Mine were in sorry shape with a lot of loose pieces inside rattling around...I took them off.

VK