Sorting the F40 and My New Life as a Speed Junkie

Just a note to get you too laugh.

About a month ago I collected a recently purchased F40 from Joe Sackey in Cali that we brought to FOA (Ferrari of Atlanta) for service. Got to FOA and collected the car. Headed south on 400 to get on 285 to head west on 20. Things going pretty good; a 3.5 hour trip. About half way home it starts to rain. No big deal. Heck the car doesn’t even leak; not a drop. First Ferrari I ever owned that did not drip water somewhere.



How in the heck do you defrost the windshield? Open the top dash vents but there is no air coming from them. (Turns out the material FOA used to make a filter was too thick). After wiping the interior of the windshield it stops raining enough that I can roll the window partially down. Still OK. Stop for gas. Decide to nail it on the entrance ramp. Whoosh and flash, flash, flash 4-8 cat ECU. Now its raining hard, windshield is fogging up and I have this flashing ECU light staring me in the face; maybe there was a reason why the cat ECUs were disconnected.



I can do this. Stop at an abandoned weight station on the AL side. It’s almost stopped raining. Raise the rear hood and check things out. Cats not burning up so probably OK. Call FOA and their opinion is that it’s probably a bad cat ECU but keep checking. Make it back to Tuscaloosa, with light flashing then stopping then flashing. These things always take a while to sort out but I’m home and it’s in the garage.



Its rains all the next week. During the week I have time to remove a few of the layers of the defrosted vent filter material that FOA used. Read the manual and realize that the front windscreen is electrically defrosted. Go over the cat ECU connectors and switch ECU from side to side to see if the problem follows. 4-8 cat thermocouple seems a little loose so tighten it about 1/16 turn. Learn the car.



Wife is out of town next weekend. Take the car and start heading north for open roads. Starts to rain. This time I’m ready, dash vents open, air flowing and the electric defroster is doing its job. Rain stops. Get to the point where if I head north I’m going to use the car. I’m at the intersection, no rain but roads are wet. No, I’m not going to kill myself today. Turn back for home. Park the car and go see a movie. (Take him to the Greek – really funny).



Out of town next weekend.



Finally last weekend its dry and I’m ready. Get the car pointed straight, dry pavement and warm tires. Wow, this thing really goes. Find myself shifting way before red line, maybe 6,000 as the tack moves up very fast and the acceleration takes some time to get use to.



Fast forward to this weekend. It’s hot and dry and the car is well sorted. Idle has evened out as car has been driven – maybe the fuel injector cleaner did its job. Still suspect a cat ECU but so far so good.



Take the car out, getting use to her. Drive below 3000RPM until I hit my distance point and all temps are up. Head up north from Tuscaloosa I go. I’m a speed junkie!



Find myself looking for any stretch of straight pavement I can find with good visibility. Even better yet if a couple of cars are in front of me. Down to third, up to 7,000, grab fourth. Up to maybe 6,000 – crap out of road. Again and again and again – never gets old. Feel like the guy in the movies with his face getting pealed back due to the speed.



Get home after driving a couple of hours. Dripping wet. Put the car to bed. Get up the next morning and do it again. Heck I have 800 recent miles on the car, 225 from Atlanta, and the rest for my playing around. I love this dam thing.

Can't wait for the weekend. The grass, painting and house projects can wait.

Drew