My Ferrari experiment going badly--" Engine Control System Failure"

+1, have not heard one of my pals that has a 458 have an issue to date. As a matter of fact, no issues with 430's either. Check engine line came on twice in my 360 Spider, but it was due to a bad seal on the gas cap. New one and voila no more issues. Great cars just getting better!

 

I've done 20,000 miles in 18 months with zero issues. I can only speak from experience.

 

Nice job!

 

Same thing has happened to me - twice. The service guys could not tell what the exact problem was, just "software problems". Both times it happened in a garage in a high-rise and the car had to be pushed out since it would not even start. Extremely frustrating! Now I don't even dare to take it if I am in a hurry or going out of town.
Anyone else?

 

If you take it back to the dealer you might want to check to see if they did the service update on the master fuse. I have a 2011 as well and when I took it in for it's yearly "blood transfusion" my service advisor told me that they had two service updates that needed to be done. Once had to do with replacement of hyd fluid and the other was a replacement of the master fuse. I don't know if that had anything to do with your issue, but I figured it would not hurt to see if your's had the update or is in need of it.

 

Henryenzo does own a Ferrari. A 458 11....I own a 430 spider and no real issues have had it for years. My 458 has just over 1000 miles and I do have a loose driver tail light. No dealer where I live so my Ferrari mechanics are going to fix it. My point is cars in general will have issues. We just hope they are minor. No drama here, we just all want help from our fellow f chat members.

 

++

My 2013 F448 has been flawless. Only issues are driver/user error on Audio menus and Windshield Washer usage.

 

6,000 miles and flawless over here.


Onno

 

Whatever you write here, I LOVE MY 458 ITALIA !!!

Even if there would be the one or the other issue! But there isn't.

Ciao - Webber45

 

Personally i am sick of failure report posts. If you look at the Corvette forum such posts almost dont exist.

 

No major problems with mine except for changing out the master fuse...

Most of my problems come from not driving the car enough

 

my ac never seemed to work properly either

 

Our 458 and FF have been bombproof since new. One glitch (bad 458 battery on Day 1) other than normal upgrade campaigns and such.

I would be curious to get more fact, but my understanding is that direct injection engines are susceptible to carbon buildup on the valves. Hard/hot running apparently can reduce or delay it, but it is increasingly common.

I think (but cannot confirm) BMW has had recurring injector-related and carbon buildup issues; my friend's M engine is on 3rd set of injectors and had carbon buildup issues enough to create running issues. (would be great for an engine guru to offer their opinion/knowledge).

 

Did anyone figure this out 3 years later in November of 2016.
Best.
John

 

There is no doubt that given enough miles the 458 will develop GDI related intake valve deposits. Mine has 55K miles and I had to clean the backsides using walnut shells as a blast media. My injectors faired a bit better but still needed cleaning. I had some minor drivability and performance issues which were solved. Considering the amount of buildup on the valves I was surprised that the engine performed as well as it did! Here's a shot of one valve before and after cleaning.
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Thanks Mark, that is really amazing.

 

Did you, or someone else, try motor cleaners, before a "proper" valves blasting?
No doubt which is the correct way to go, but valves blasting is a very expensive procedure, so I was wondering if you (or someone else) moved to that after not being successful with cleaners, or what...

Thanks

 

Obviously using some kind of chemical cleaner would have been preferable (cheaper) but in my research they have limitations and drawbacks.

For example, to be remotely effective any chemical cleaner needs to be introduced directly into the intake manifold while the engine is running. In addition, the system needs to sufficiently atomize the cleaner so that it'll be distributed evenly between all the intake runners. Very tricky to do correctly.

Having said that, there are at least 3 or 4 manufactures of such systems that claim the ability to clean GDI intake valve deposits in this manner. However, based on my research these cleaners can only do so much and are more of a preventive measure to be done on a regular (every 10k miles?) basis. In this capacity they are probably very effective. On the other hand I would worry about cumulative damage to the Catalytic Converters, O2 sensors and sparkplugs both from the process itself and all the gunk that'll find its way downstream. Not a very good trade in my opinion.

Most F car owners don't even put 10k miles on their cars so it's kinda academic.

 

Thanks Mark, your input is very valuable.

Injectors in the 458 may clog over time due to urban traffic and slow speeds. The downside of direct fuel injection.

Wonder if the 488 will suffer from the same problem or worse, once turbos reintroduce dirty air into the admission.

Kind regards,

Nuno.

 

Did the problem get resolved ?.

My UK November 2013 458 Spider as the same fault coming up.

Car as done 14,000 miles.

Going to the dealer on Saturday morning. I purchased the car in May 2016 with 10100 miles on the clock I love this car. I have had no faults car as been good as gold until Today.
I always keep car on charge using a CTEK MXS 10 charger on AGM mode, I have checked and it is an AGM battery even though car DOES NOT have stop start system.

I have a full warranty until November 2018 so guess its nothing to be to worried about.
(I Hope)

 

'14 spider has been bullet proof. minor issue with the flux capacitor but was resolved quickly.....

 

Probably meanwhile you found out, but yes it will work on a 430

 

Fwiw I always use 100% 100 or 101 aki octane unleaded fuel which I
am told helps keep the injectors clean: is there any truth to that?
Entropy? Maxvonauto?

 

Dear 458trofeo,
I don't know if that fuel keeps injectors clean, as I have no experience of that, but unfortunately the big issue with GDI engines is the carbon buildup on the "back" of the intake valves, and there's nothing that can help via the fuel, as the problem comes exactly because the valves are flushed by just air and oil vapors, while the cleaning action of vaporized fuel that is in ported-injected engines is missing... The fact is that in GDI engines the fuel is injected directly into the combustion chamber, i.e. downstream of the valves.
On the other hand I don't see reasons why GDI injectors should get dirtier or clog faster than in ported-injected engines, so that shouldn't be a too big concern for us...

(by the way: I believe we are a bit OT here - electronic gremlins - and it's my fault, I then realized this matter has been talked in different topics, so apologize for that)

 

Thanks for the info Corrado.

Fwiw my DD is a 95 BMW e36 M3 coupe, she has almost 200K miles and runs amazing:
I have never had the fuel injectors or intake valves professionally cleaned.

However I have been running her on 100% 100aki octane for the past few years and
regularly add fuel injection system fuel additive.

That being said, I am not sure the inline 6 of the 95 M3 is a GDI engine LOL

very best