Major Service question?

I have a 1991 Mondialt, I bought it last april with 5,500 miles, I was told all service was done. Now I have 9,700 miles trouble free,and only had an oil change at the Ferrari dealer ($327). Recently I've had the "slow down 5/8 light come on and stalled the engine, but started up and continues to drive find, this happen three times within the last 2 weeks, once the engine stalled without any notice, I started it up and run fine with just a bit of power lost for the first few minutes. The only other problem I have is no dash lights, after several months of the flickering on & off, dimming from bright to dim.

I am now thinking of selling it, althought my 7 year old son, & 9 year old daughter & I are heart broken thinking about not having the Mondial t to drive.

My question is, is there anyone who might have had any problems like this? and would it be something with having a major service, and what would that major serivce consist of and might cost?

Any information, greatly appreciated!

 

Unfortunately, electrical and engine management gremlins are common on cars with teh 3.4 motor. There are lots of independents on LI. I would start checking around, asking questions about experience with these and see who you may feel comfortable with.

Good luck,
Dave

 

Thanks Dave, I found a few shops here locally that I plan on stopping by to talk with before dropping off the Mondial to get a feel for what they do, and see what kind of cars are in thier shops. I also have the Ferrari dealer on the Ilsand as well, That's where I bought the Mondial from, it came from thier New England store.

Best regards, Malcolm.

 

It sounds like you have a bad Cat ECU. There is a simple fix, just unplug them. You can swap them from one side to the other to see if the slow down light pops up on the other side. Then you will know if it is the ecu, or if your cats are on the way out. It could also be a bad thermocoupler. What ever the case it's an easy fix. No need to sell the Ferrari for a problem as small as this.

Do a search of the archives. There is loads of info on the slow down lights.

 

Hi Erine,

Thanks for the reply, I will do as you recommeded. My wife & kids really love this car, I we drive it all the time, we put over 4,000 miles on it the first year we had it. The Mondialt cab. is a car I wanted for so many years and finanlly bought one used for more then I ever spent for a new car ($63k) I would only buy one from a Ferrari dealer, which I did, thinking that the car would serviced before it was sold. The dealer did warranty the car for almost a year with changing, a starter, ignition swicth, and finally found out it was the after market alarm system causing the problem along. They never charged me. I'm so use to having cars that are always under warranty, now I need to get use to atuo repair bills, which I don't mind, as long I know what to expect. Would you happen to know what It might cost for a major service?

Thanks for the info, Malcolm.

 

Okay have a seat.







Are you sitting down?







The dealers quote around $6,000 for the engine out major.





Now don't let that scare you. I did my own major. For ALL the tools I needed, and ALL the parts, it cost me about $2,500. The next time it will only be a few hundred, as I now have the tools and will only need to pay for the parts.

 

I'm starting to feel a bit better about owning & servicing a Ferrari. My thought was that I would always have to service my Mondialt with a dealer, not tinking that it is just a car like many others, and I could perhaps learn more about the car and service on my own when possible, at the very least I surpose I could also find independent shops that service Ferrari's as well, that may cost less then the dealer.
Ernie, Thanks for sharing with me.

Best regards, Malcolm

 

Hey no problem. Us Ferrari owners have to help each other out.

 

I'm very late to this thread, but will toss in a few comments. The issues you have are minor and unrelated to the famous "major service". For the slow down light, it could be the Cat ECU or some tuning problem causing unburned gas to make it into the cat (in which case you want to fix it ASAP). Switching the ECU's, as mentioned earlier, will help isolate the cause. In my experience, Wide World of Cars is very proficient and reasonable in fixing these types of problems (slow down, dash lights). Talk to Justin in service. They just replaced my cat ECU and the labor was 1 hour -- the ECU was about $600, but that's the going rate. It also had a problem with the fuel delivery, and it was 1 hour labor plus about $150 for the part.

As far as the major service is concerned, what you really want to know is when the timing belts were changed because if the timing belts break, it requires an engine rebuild. You paid top dollar for your car, so if the belts weren't changed, you should have a word with the dealer. If the belts were changed, you won't need the major service for 3-5 years (some say 7 years) or 30k miles since the last change date.

 

Hello peterp, Thank you for the response. I've been away (work related) and haven't been online for awhile.So thanks for the encouraging advise. Is Wide World of Cars in NJ?
Best regards, Malcolm.

 

It is in NY, but only about 20 minutes from North NJ or NYC. Website is below, ask for Justin or Kevin in Ferrari service:

http://www.wideworldofcars.com/directions.htm

They will give you a full estimate before doing any work.