Ferrari is Purring Again

"SPAMBot - Horse Doctor" (spambot2002)
06/21/2020 at 21:01 • Filed to: More than I can afford pal, Ferrari, 348, Fixed, Italian Cars

I’ve mended something!

Last week , I went out for a drive that ended in limping the Ferrari home. The car was misfiring on the right bank pretty badly and barely idling. Based on my previous experience with a terrible misfire on the left bank last year, I had a sneaking suspicion the culprit was the same as last time. Corrosion on the ECU pins.

Yesterday, I pulled the ecu for bank 1-4, and sure as shit, corrosion in the same spot. The other side was much, much worse, which was good to see since the misfire was much more serious last time.

I used the same process as last time. Contact cleaner, brushes, and some fine sand paper. Much less swearing this time, though.

Bonus #savethemanuals

I had the ecu out, cleaned, and back in the car in about an hour. I let everything sit over night BC I had other things to do. After some persuasion from capt dale, I decided to give it a go today. Fired it up and the engine idled right where it should. So I took it for a quick little spin. Ran smooth, pulled strong, sounded fine, and loved the WOT redline shifts I threw into the Italian tune-up.

Idling right at 1k

Now that the car is back in the garage, I’m calling this issue fixed. Next engine out, I will most likely repin the wiring harness. That will be a big job, but luckily I have a few years to think about it.

I hope you all had a good weekend, first day of summer, and a happy father’s day to all the dad’s out there. Take care of yourselves.

DISCUSSION (27)

dogisbadob > SPAMBot - Horse Doctor
06/21/2020 at 21:06

did the burning computer at least smell good? Throw in some charcoal and make some good hot dogs!

Brickman > SPAMBot - Horse Doctor
06/21/2020 at 21:07

Would some dielectric grease help with the corrosion?

SPAMBot - Horse Doctor > Brickman
06/21/2020 at 21:10

Yes, and it is on my to do list. There is a type all the 348 owners use, I need to order some

SPAMBot - Horse Doctor > dogisbadob
06/21/2020 at 21:11

No fire this time!

atfsgeoff > SPAMBot - Horse Doctor
06/21/2020 at 22:00

Slather it on baby

https://www.amazon.com/Mission-Automotive-Dielectric-Silicone-Waterproof/dp/B016E5E59G

zipfuel > SPAMBot - Horse Doctor
06/21/2020 at 22:07

I love that your fix for a misfiring Ferrari is the exact same as mine for non-functional N64 games!

Maxima Speed > SPAMBot - Horse Doctor
06/21/2020 at 22:19

Nice! As a toyota owner I do have to laugh at “next engine out”.

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > SPAMBot - Horse Doctor
06/21/2020 at 22:23

Aww yisss

When I had mine the idle was strong, but I did hear that some people re-pinned all the connectors with a new gold connector kit. $$$$$

nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul > SPAMBot - Horse Doctor
06/21/2020 at 22:46

This is why I love Oppo. We have bonafide shitboxes full of love, shitboxes full of hate, restorations, oh God why would you's , every flavor of engine and body, and a Ferrari that’s being troubleshot and worked on by the owner.

My bird IS the word > SPAMBot - Horse Doctor
06/21/2020 at 22:54

Damn, thats an odd problem to have that is reoccurring. Hope there is a more permanent solution.

SPAMBot - Horse Doctor > My bird IS the word
06/21/2020 at 23:08

It’s technically not reoccurring, but dielectric grease is the prevention. The car has two ecu’s. One for 1-4 and one for 5-8. The engine management system basically works as two inline 4's sharing a crank. There is two sets of every sensor which helps diagnose issues bc you can swap things side to side. In this case, the corrosion caused a misfire on 5-8 last year, and now 1-4. I should have cleaned the pins on the 1-4 ecu last year but I never did (shame on me). Now it just got bad enough on this side to cause an issue. Car is 30 years old and not perfectly water tight so I need to use the grease ASAP

SPAMBot - Horse Doctor > Maxima Speed
06/21/2020 at 23:11

My perception of maintenance costs are completely ruined. Anything under 500, I do not even think twice anymore. This may be a problem

Depending on what my space is looking like, I may do the service myself. I have a huge technical support network in SoCal if I get in over my head lol

SPAMBot - Horse Doctor > zipfuel
06/21/2020 at 23:12

The N64 probably has more computing power than these old chips! That is hilarious, though. I am stealing this for future conversations

SPAMBot - Horse Doctor > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever
06/21/2020 at 23:15

That damn gold kit is the second most highly debated thing on F chat it seems. Ernie replaced his with standard tin, I will probably go that route, in part, because I’m cheap. But I do like the idea of taking a picture and captioning it “I love goooolllddd” with the gold kit haha

SPAMBot - Horse Doctor > nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul
06/21/2020 at 23:28

I love it here all for the same reasons. Passion and enthusiasm for all things. I had a few shit boxes so I’m used to troubleshooting. Luckily, electronics in the early 90's were very simple and easy enough to understand for someone who is bad with electronics haha

SPAMBot - Horse Doctor > atfsgeoff
06/21/2020 at 23:28

Yesss

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > SPAMBot - Horse Doctor
06/21/2020 at 23:34

“next engine out service" lol only Ferrari things.

SPAMBot - Horse Doctor > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
06/21/2020 at 23:40

It will be due by the time you need to do head gaskets

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > SPAMBot - Horse Doctor
06/21/2020 at 23:49

Don't worry my miata definitely needs engine out service before either of those things happen, assuming I want to pass smog at least.

SPAMBot - Horse Doctor > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
06/21/2020 at 23:57

You still have your other engine, right?

We just need to butter up our smog guy to look the other way lol

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > SPAMBot - Horse Doctor
06/22/2020 at 00:53

Well yeah I have another actually broken engine. Still have to fully rebuild that one after removing it eventually from the rusty car. Would be far easier to fix this one since it’s not actually full rebuild work required and has less miles on it. But if it's gotta come out there's no sense in not fixing everything to like new status.

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > SPAMBot - Horse Doctor
06/22/2020 at 01:08

I’d argue that replacing the connectors with standard materials and sealing up the connector shells better is really a more sensible thing to do, but the extra $2-3k is really on the border of “might as well” in exotic car territory.

It’s all the engine-out design’s fault, having to actually disconnect these things to begin with.

My bird IS the word > SPAMBot - Horse Doctor
06/22/2020 at 07:25

Well that certainly makes more sense

CalzoneGolem > SPAMBot - Horse Doctor
06/22/2020 at 11:37

What about slathering on some dielectric grease?

SPAMBot - Horse Doctor > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever
06/22/2020 at 17:09

Totally agree. An extra grand here and there does not even make me blink. Happy this mend was free, though.

I’mblaming the completely exposed engine for the moisture making it to the harness in the first place. It has some type of protection, but not much, so I still always wash the car with plastic sheeting over the engine.

SPAMBot - Horse Doctor > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
06/22/2020 at 17:10

I totally forgot that was the final straw for the old miata. Agreed, if the engine is coming out, might as well do everything

SPAMBot - Horse Doctor > CalzoneGolem
06/22/2020 at 17:10

That is the plan. I had none on hand so that had to move to my to do list haha