My poor neglected 360 is in a very bad mood:(

My extremely neglected 2004 360 Spyder has been parked for 2 years without moving. I have been on a work trip overseas and simply not able to drive the car at all for this long.

I had paid for someone to look after the car ( start it up once a month for couple minutes and make sure all is well) only to find today, not ONCE they went to look at the car or start it, and that the cover had been taken out (or stolen) and I was never told! I am so furious. The condition of the car is beyond deplorable, cant describe. I really cant believe it.

Anyway, added to that, 2 extra big surprises. First there is mold inside everywhere (I think I can clean-up somehow with proper products and effort though I have no idea how this happened). Secondly, to my absolute shock and disbelief, just about EVERYWHERE, all the parts inside are sticky. Some literally "melting" if touched.. inside body panels, all plastics, most of the trim, door knobs, even electric buttons, ashtray cover and small things.. all of it. Its an absolute horror! I honestly CAN'T believe after all these years, with similar problems on most of the 80's and 90's Ferraris before, that Ferrari NEVER changed the stupid materials and formulation of these plastics and coatings and this happens yet again on the 360 car to such a horrifying extent. I am so at awe I honestly don't even know where to begin on how to fix all of it.

Anyway, this is actually the "good" news. Now the "bad" news. The car doesn't work because of an issue with the immobilizer.. (I think)..

Here are the chain of events this morning: I had left the battery (new one) disconnected for all the time the car was parked. When I reconnected the battery today, things came back to life, alarm chirp sounded, all lights good, all clear and OK on the dash, I could successfully arm/disarm the immobilizer and open/close remotely the doors.. all good. But when I tried start the car, as I expected the battery didn't have enough juice. It was enough to give the starter initially a couple very slow cranks but then got disengaged and just doing the "click click click" sound as all the lights in the dash dim. MY STUPID MISTAKE, I insisted this a few times knowing perfectly the battery was dead and that this procedure can fry electric parts, relays and fuses.

After this, I just decided to go buy a new battery and not even deal with trying to charge this older battery that probably was already in poor health. I turned off the master battery switch in the luggage compartment, removed the old battery, installed the new battery, then turned on the master battery switch again. To my worry I immediately noticed it seemed my remote was not actuating on and off the immobilizer or remotely opening/closing the doors as before. Then I tried to start-up the car (now the starter fired up in full force and healthy sound), but of course the engine doesn't start. I disconnected the battery again and waited about an hour and reconnected it. Same problem. No alarm chirp sound, no communication between the remote and the immobilizer.. nothing. All was working perfectly before I forced-tried to start the car with the low battery, but clearly something happened in the process.

I have tried all the basic things I know like replacing the battery on the remote, then trying to re-set communication between the immobilizer and the remote by pressing it 3 times quickly, and several times connecting and disconnecting the battery. All useless.

I know most of you guys are awesome at knowing these issues and have lots of more knowledge and experience that I don't have. Id be super appreciative of your advice and suggestions as to what I should do.. and I am also curious to know how and why this has happened..

And as for the whole car inside being a super-glue swamp, I don't even know where to begin. I am so frustrated and upset that I cant think straight at this point. Anyway.. first of all, the car needs to get running again.

Thanks again very much in advance for your advice on all this!
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Thanks for the encouragement, Cyt! Keeping the spirits high as always in hopes for a solution for this one

 

FerRrari, thanks for the tip.. yeah not in the US now and around here no one with solutions for sticky parts except telling me to replace the parts.. which is too heavy of a thought

haha I hear you GuyIncognito.. well, the detail is the last of my concerns. First I need to get the car running

The issue I had before had to do with the transmission and the car not getting into gear, nothing to do with the issue now of the immobilizer in any way. I wish was the same problem as I know how to solve the F1 getting stuck

My best bet at this point is that this sounds the immobiliser is armed and that the remote isn't communicating with it by some reason.. or that the immobilizer itself got fried while I was trying to unsuccessfully crank-up the car with the low battery and the momentary spikes and fluctuations in voltage during the process. I am really worried and frustrated

 

Thanks much Enzojr. I will follow your suggestions as far as getting the car prepped up, but first of all I really wanted to get started and get this issue with the immobilizer solved. I am currently in Hong Kong, where the car has been basically stuck for the past couple years. The Ferrari community here is fairly large, but not as accessible as in the US and a bit hard to reach. And there is only one Ferrari dealer here that charges absurd costs for anything and is typically not up to par with the helpfulness and courtesy of some US and European dealers.. That is one of my dilemmas.

 

Hi vrsurgeon, thanks much for the tips. OK, Ill recap:

- I replaced the battery in the remote first thing when I noticed the system wasn't working properly, even though the light was turning red and the remote was working before.

- I did pressed the remote several times after disconnecting the battery equally several times after letting it rest a while throughout the day. I didn't do 10 or 20 presses, didn't count, but did a lot.. some short, some longer.. tried all combinations. The red LED in the remote comes on when its pressed, bright and good every time.

- I will try do more presses as you suggest. So far of course the doors don't lock/unlock. If I get them to budge surely Ill try immediately starting the car. Ill surely replace the fluids asap once the car is running again.

- Rubbing alcohol on the sticky parts with a rag? I can try but.. its not a few parts, its everywhere! ..from door knobs to electric buttons to the steering column covers.. its a mess.. all of it everywhere.

- ..and Ill wash the damned car.. bath of the century

 

Robz328 thanks much for the reply and tips Ill do the gas mixing, you have a very good point about that.. have less 1/4 of a tank now. Maybe mix some extra fresh couple gallons.

The only way to check the fuses is taking them out one by one and looking at them. I took the cover behind the drivers seat and there are a ton of them. I have no idea what I am looking for, so, Ill need to do it one by one. As for the relays, I can only plug and unplug them to make sure good contacts between the pins and the base. I really cant check if they are OK by looking at them. B y the way how they come out?.. just pull them out? I tried earlier to take a couple out and they are very well stuck in their sockets and I gave up worrying I would break something else..

Once I can get the car running I plan to wash it off starting off with water housing at medium pressure and slowly increasing it to get it all out without touching the car with anything else. the dust on it is like sand paper, scary stuff.

Wash off car in driveway with watering can to drizzle off the dust/dirt. When sorted, have it expertly detailed (the mold will come off).

Im in Hong Kong now, the car was bought originally in San Diego. Its a long shot but Ill contact them if needed.

As for my "friend", my initial anger has turned into disappointment. The hating is useless, the damage is done. So is the trust, gone and buried. Ill write off this episode and learn to trust people less than I already do. Sad but no other way..

 

I did. I have 2. Replaced the battery on both (their previous batteries were still good anyway). No budge no matter the remote used.