Mondial 3.2 issue - need help please ;) | FerrariChat
Buy

Mondial 3.2 issue - need help please ;)

Discussion in 'Mondial' started by lizard1, Dec 20, 2009.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

  1. lizard1

    lizard1 Formula Junior

    Dec 8, 2004
    421
    West TX
    Full Name:
    Frank
    #1 lizard1, Dec 20, 2009
    Background - Purchased an 88 Mondial for Dad that required about 18mos of restoration at Norwoods in Dallas. Get it back but don't drive it then Dad comes up for Thanksgiving and drives it around town. Suddenly the car won't hold an idle and of course dies. He notices the "Slow Down" light come on and a horrid smell with some smoke. Says the smell was not a fluid(oil or transmission) smell nor a burnt rubber smell. Said it was a peculiar smell that he couldn't quite put his finger on. Of course, by the time I get to the car, the smell is gone but I move it into the driveway and have to hold pressure on the pedal to keep it running or else it will just die. Starts up perfectly fine. He said he noticed a drop in power trying to limp it back home but I haven't driven it to see if this is true.

    I don't know Mondial engines but didn't see any obvious hoses disconnected or notice the smell when I moved it from one garage to the other. I have discovered that the throttle cable has excessive slack in it but don't know if this is normal or not. So before I started undoing the throttle cable, I wanted to check here first.

    Any ideas???
     
  2. JoeZaff

    JoeZaff F1 Veteran
    Owner

    Aug 5, 2007
    5,459
    Philly suburbs
    Full Name:
    Joe
    #2 JoeZaff, Dec 20, 2009
    I would rule out the throttle cable as the cause. The cable normally has a little slack in it. I am more curious as to what was done in an 18 month restoration. Also, how long has the car been sitting since the restoration? weeks, months, year?
     
  3. davebdave

    davebdave Formula 3
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Mar 18, 2007
    2,381
    Northern VA
    Full Name:
    Dave W
    #3 davebdave, Dec 20, 2009
    Last edited: Dec 20, 2009
    Our Mondial t did something similar to us when we first got it. A slow down light would come and go (sometimes both), you could smell fuel, and I had to work the pedal to keep it from quitting at a light. Turned out to dirty electrical connections and a bad O2 sensor.

    Our Mondial has a similar but different engine than the 3.2. With the 3.4 the engine banks are completely independent of each other with the exception of the air filter and the crank sensor. I think Ferrari V8s idle fairly smoothly on a single bank of 4 cylinders. So, I would look for something common to both banks.

    I noticed the slack throttle cable on our car also but I think it is normal. To check it just have someone push the pedal down and make sure the throttle fully opens.

    Dave
     
  4. David Lind

    David Lind Formula 3

    Nov 19, 2008
    2,248
    Full Name:
    David Lind
    #4 David Lind, Dec 21, 2009
    This is just a guess, but it may be the catalytic converter dying. It's an old car that sat for awhile and it needs, in essence, "too much" fuel to keep running? When it ran earlier, did it run well?
    My '88 had the check engine light on, and when I installed a test pipe bypassing the cat, the light went out. Just a guess. These pipes are all over e-bay for ~ $200, and you can easily install it in 2 hours. (If you take this route, be certain to get all springs, bolts, the soft gasket, etc from one of the usual sources.)
    Good luck.
     

Share This Page