Let’s try this

It’s been a while between updates unfortunately. However, the news is that the issues I have been having with the F355 failing to start have continued to reoccur somewhat intermittently.

Basically what happens is that I turn the key and the lights on dash display but the car does not crank. Since the starter motor has been reconditioned, I can eventually get the car to start by turning the car off and on a couple of times. Sometimes, if I hold the key in the starting position for a few seconds the car does crank.

Having a car that is unreliable at starting is not something that I’m comfortable with, so the best recommendation was the change the whole starter motor for a new unit. The thinking is that the fault lies with the solenoid and unfortunately, there is no way to change just that.

So, the car now has a new starter motor and we’ll have to see if that does fix the issues. stay tuned for more updates.

Ready for a New Year

It’s been a few months since my last update, but life has been busy. However, here’s the latest.

In my last post I mentioned how the F355 wouldn’t crank and I initially thought it might have been something to do with the immobilizer. Being static, Sal DiMauro from Racing Red had to attend and troubleshoot the issues for me.

After some diagnostics, the fault was isolated to the starter motor. That meant that it needed to be removed for re-conditioning. There was some concern that this wouldn’t be easy given where the car was, but after removing enough parts, Sal was able to extract the starter motor and take it away for a service.

About two weeks later, Sal returned with the re-conditioned starter motor and re-installed it. The car then fired right up and I took it out for a long drive immediately as the battery was beginning to run down.

With the run complete, I tucked the car away in the hope that everything was now fixed.

Over the next few weekends the car started ok but I felt that there was still a delay upon turning the key before the car fired up. This was more likely my imagination than anything, but it wasn’t serious enough to warrant another visit from Sal. That could wait until the major service in December.

One of the things that freaks people out about the F355 is that every three years the engine needs to be dropped out of the car to change the timings belts. This is purely and simply because of the way the engine is mounted, these belts are effectively just behind the driver, hard up against the firewall. So the only way to change them is to drop the engine out.

The belts need to be changed every three years or so and this was to be the second time that I had it done. You can read about the first time here:

My car has no engine

There were a few other items that needed to be done at the same time including:

– Registration

– 2 x new back tyres

– Rear bumper repair

– Check the starter motor

– Check the oil pressure gauge

One of the things you notice very quickly in the F355 in the wet, is when there needs to be more tread on the tyres. A few weeks before the service I was driving along the freeway in the belting rain when the car decided to do some aquaplaning. No fun at those speeds. Thus, time for 2 new rear tyres. The front two where still in good nick luckily, with lots of tread.

About 3 years ago I carelessly reversed the car into a street sign and cracked the bumper:

Look before reversing

I’d attempted to fix the issue myself and had some initial success:

Final coat

However, over the years the paint that I had applied had changed colour and started to really stand out. I then decided to machine polish the area to remove/blend this disparity but that had revealed the initial scar. I left the scar knowing that I would deal with it at the next major service, however seeing the mark every time I drove the car really sent me bonkers I’ll tell you. I honestly couldn’t wait to get it fixed.

The oil pressure gauge had also been jumping around of late. One week it was high, the next low. So I added that to the list of things to get Sal to check for me.

So with the appointment booked I drove the car through suburban traffic in the middle of the day to Sal’s new location. No dramas ,but it is so frustrating to be seemly constantly stuck in traffic but I arrived in good order and handed over to the doctor.

Such a major service, combined with the other items was going to take about a week to complete and when I checked in with Sal he said all was going well but that ceramic lining of my catalytic converters was on the way out and would need to be replaced at some time in the near future. Not immediately, but somewhere down the track.

So, new “genuine” Ferrari catalytic converters would cost about $6,000 or the pair but “after market” high flow ones would not be more than $3,000. At this stage I’m leaning to the “after market” versions but I don;t need to make a decision just now, although I think I probably look at getting these changed at the next major service in 12 months.

I’ll know when the existing converters start to fail because pieces of the ceramic will break off and I’ll hear a rattling in the exhaust. Interestingly, the new converters are all metal, so once updated, this problem should disappear.

Above, you can see all the belts that need to be changed. Due to the orientation of the engine, these sit next to the firewall facing the front of the car. As you can appreciate, an engine out is really the only option to change these.

The F355 has been designed to facilitate an engine out so it isn’t really a huge drama. Having the engine out also make it much easier to work on and get an all around picture of what’s going on and find any issues that might be missed if it remained in the car permanently. So, there are lots of good reasons why an engine out on the F355 is a good thing but it is simply part of the servicing requirements of the car. Thus, if you are going to invest in a F355 keep this in mind. The people that get freaked out are those who but a F355 and don’t do their homework and get a nasty shock when they are told the engine needs to come out every three years during a major service.

So after about a week I made my way back to Sal’s workshop and picked up the car. They’d done such an amazing job on the rear bumper, fixing the crack, that I didn’t even notice it! There was no evidence of the abuse I had inflicted. I had two new rear tyres and the problem with the oil pressure gauge was a loose connection.

Rather than scything through suburbia, I took the long way home via the freeway to stretch the car’s legs. I gotta say that the car now feels really strong, really strong which is very pleasing.

I’ve now had the opportunity to drive the car on a few weekends and it was performed really, really well and I am ecstatic with how it performs. I’ve also taken the opportunity to fully wash, machine polish and details the car which takes quite a few hours to complete but is something I really enjoy.

With that, the car is home, fully serviced, fully detailed and ready for 2018! The next big trip will be in early February to the Bathurst 12 hour. Another happy year with the F355.

The five year anniversary

It’s been a while between now so it is time to do an update and share the latest news with the F355.

Let’s deal with the bad news first, which means there will probably be more regular updates now. After many months for running flawlessly the F355 now won’t start! The ignition comes on but the engine won’t crank. This problem started to develop over the past few weeks where I’d turn the key and nothing would happen. However, after a few moments the car would fire. Over time, the delays to it actually cranking were becoming longer and longer, until today when no matter what I tried the car wouldn’t fire up.

At first I thought that maybe it was the immobilizer but after a brief email chat with Sal DiMauro from Racing Red it seems it maybe the starter solenoid. Either way, not being able to fire the car up could be a real pain as where it is currently parked is not the most accessible location. However, as always, the situation could have been worse if I stop and think about it. Imagine if I had stopped for petrol somewhere and then the car refused to fire up there? So having it not fire up at home is a small mercy I suppose.

I’ll have to wait and see what Sal DiMauro from Racing Red suggest to get the car at least drivable so it can be looked at closer.

So with the bad news out of the way let’s turn the annual update.

The car recently passed its five year anniversary with me. If you want to review the previous anniversaries then check them out here:

One Year Anniversary

Two Year Anniversary

Three Year Anniversary

Four Year Anniversary

The fifth year anniversary is wood so they say.

Costs

The only major component that needed replacing this was another thermocouple ECU for around $440. The car had started to get the annoying 5-8 Slow Down light on a more regular basis, so after it became almost constant I replaced the ECU and the problem went away. I had replaced the actual thermocouple last year but clearly the ECU also needed to be changed. So now both the thermocouples and ECUs have been changed out and hopefully will be good for at leats another 20 years!

The biggest percentage cost increase for the year was for a green slip. This jumped a whopping 55%. I did some comparisons, and it turns out that I am still paying the average for these cars. I could however, get no acceptable answer from the insurance company as to why the costs had jumped so dramatically. Let’s hope it is a once off hike. Time will tell.

Travel

With a low incidence of repairs, I managed to lift the distance driven by the car this year to over 7,300 kilometres which was a 23% increase over last year which was about what I’ve averaged annual over the past five years. However, all that driving did take me across a major milestone. Around the 67,000 kilometre mark I crossed the point at which I have put more kilometres on the car than ALL the previous owners combined. Thus, in the last 5 years I have done more kilometres in the car than car did in its previous 16!.

Overall, total costs were down about 25% to around $7,500 from last year and probably the cheapest they have been since I have owned the car. Aside from the current non-starting issue I have at the moment, this year’s maintenance bill will be higher because it is once again time to have the major service done and get the belts changed. I’m also going to need some new tyres. While the engine is out for the belts I’m going to take the opportunity to have the rear bumper fixed after I cracked it a few years ago. All of that is probably going to add up to a fair investment. Hopefully I can roll all that together with getting the car running again in one hit. I’ll report back and let you know when I have more information about the current situation.

This year’s learnings

1. As always, you can’t continue to own, and more importantly enjoy, a car like this without good back up. As always Sal DiMauro from Racing Red has solved any problem or concern I had with the car. Even now, with the current issues, I’m 100% confident he’ll get this solved and car will be back on the road real soon. If you need help he’s your man.

2. Cheap double sided tape doesn’t last forever! I returned home after a drive and noticed something on ground in the car’s parking spot. Turned out to be the front number plate, which I must have flicked off when I removed the car’s cover. Upon examination I could see that it was in fact only held in place by some cheap double sided tape that was now well past its use by date. I therefore reinstated the number plate in position using screws and premium double sided take for extra insurance. Getting all those points to align during application was challenging but now the front plate is much more securely fastened.

Low points

Aside from the current non starting situation, I’ve been somewhat stressed by the oil pressure gauge remaining higher that it should be at times. Now Sal tells me it may just be a bad connection to the gauge but there have been drives when the gauge goes to the maximum of 10+ PSI and stays there for the whole trip, even at idle.

I did check the oil and water levels and they seemed good. Of late, the pressure gauge has stayed within normal operating limits but it still catch my eye when I’m driving.

The good ol’ 5-8 slow down warning and cut out is always a pain. The worse occurrence happened early in the morning on my way to the Bathurst 12 hour. It happened because I got caught in a traffic jam on the freeway at 6am! Go figure. I put up with the cut outs for a little while longer before I decided that they weren’t going away and replaced the part. The good thing is with the replacement is that if there is one things I’ve had a lot of experience with on this car, it is fixing thermocouple ECU issues!

I’ve also had the usual bangs and scrapes of the nose which is annoying. Speed bumps and steep driveways are generally the culprits, most of which you can’t spot readily from the drivers seat. It always sounds much worse than it is, but it is still like a dagger in the back when it happens.

Another annoying thing is that the screws that hold in the roof clips regularly work their way loose. This is no doubt because of all the bumps and jarring suffered by the car on the poor local roads. You just need to remember to tighten the screws regularly or else they drop out while you are driving along, which can be very distracting when you try and find where they have gone in the cabin.

High points

A largely maintenance free year, with lower ownership costs. That has mean I’ve got a lot of driving in for the year which is why I bought the car in the first place. There is nothing like taking the car out early on a Sunday, doing a complete drive, no stops and returning before most people are even awake. Makes a great way to kick off a week.

All in all a great year for driving the car. Although this is currently tainted somewhat with the current non-starting issues I will admit.

Value

I will admit that I haven’t kept an eye on prices that much in the last twelve months. Doing so takes a lot of time and effort, unfortunately I haven’t had a lot spare to devote to the tasks.

However, as I look at the market today I feel that the car at worst, has retained it’s value and at best has increased maybe 10 – 20%. I think once I sort out a few issues with my car, like the cracked bumper, I would expect the value to increase. There are still things that need to be done to the car to continue to improve its value but they aren’t that major. So all in all, once the belt service has been done, the cracked bumper fixed, new tyres and the current non starting issue solved the car would be at its current peak resale value I feel. Not that I’m contemplating selling, but at that point all the major issues have been taken car of.

Summary

So at the moment the car is as broken as it’s ever been unfortunately. In short, it won’t crank which is frustrating and in someway taints this trip down the memory lane. However, that aside, the last 12 months have been very enjoyable F355 motoring. Driving time was up and costs were down so I really can’t complain at all.

The next 12 months will see a major service with the belts being changed, new tyres and hopefully the cracked bumper finally properly repaired. With all that done and the car back on the road, I’ll be a happy camper.

There may also be another opportunity for a trip to the land of Ferrari coming in 2018 but I’ll share more details on that as it gets close.

Until then, thanks for following along and roll on year six of ownership.

The four year anniversary

Another twelve months have shot past and it is once again time to pause and reflect on a further year’s ownership of a Ferrari F355. You can review the previous anniversaries here:

One Year Anniversary

Two Year Anniversary

Three Year Anniversary

So with the fourth anniversary done with a celebration of fruit and flowers, let’s review.

Costs

The major costs this year where the replacement of the high tension leads that were causing stuttering (after initially thinking it was the angular sensors). Half the leads were replaced early in the year and half later in the year when the spluttering reoccurred. I also replaced the thermocouple on the 5-8 side of the engine (passenger side) because that warning light was starting to appear.

This resulted in a lower kilometres travelled this year (only about 6,000 which is a about a 33% drop compared to last year). This also resulted in a 33% drop in the annual fuel bill. There was also a handy 12% drop in annual insurance. The repairs costs were also about 24% lower compared to last year but remember that I had the engine out for a major service that year.

Thus, the total costs were around $10,000 for the year which is about a 20% drop over last year. The car also pass the 60,000 total kilometres travelled mark which averages out now to about 3,000 kilometres per year over its 20 year life span. The next major milestone is passing the 66,000 kilometres mark. At that point, I will have driven the car further than all previous owners combined! Hopefully, I should pass that mark before we reconvene for the next annual update.

So, some unexpected repairs this year but necessary given the age of the components (high tension leads, 20 years plus). That resulted in lower overall travel when compared to previous years.

Travel

The car has now done about 27,000 kilometres since purchase, completing around 6,000 kilometres this year which was a 33% drop compared to last year (mainly due to time off the road for repairs). That averages out to 116 kilometres per week versus 170 last year.

This year’s learning’s

1. As always, a car like this is only as good and enjoyable as the person who maintains it. For that, there no one better than Sal DiMauro from Racing Red. He was good enough to come out when the initial spluttering started and perform some onsite diagnosis. When the issue proved not to be the angular sensors, he squeezed me in to get the car fixed. Once again, I can’t stress how important it is to have someone knowledgeable and experienced to look after the car and for my money that is Sal DiMauro from Racing Red and I recommend him unreservedly.

2. I learned how to drive my car onto a tilt tray. Never done that in any vehicle before. I had to do this to get the car across the Sal twice this year. You read more about one of those experiences here:

I knew this day would come

Luckily, I now also have a good contact in case I need further vehicle towing. Again, I highly recommend Carlingford Towing who responded very quickly, were easy to deal with and whose rates were also very reasonable. Another important contact to have.

3. Most importantly, I learned that you MUST wear long pants when you visit the Ferrari factory for a tour, even in the blazing heat of an Italian summer!

Low points

The biggest frustration this year was troubleshooting the stuttering issues. It started out as something very small but became quite a major during a drive day. Having the car conked out on the freeway on the way back after cutting the day short. Then having to limp it home was quite stressful. That was the worst the car has really been to drive. It really felt that it was going to cut out at any point and that is not a good feeling in traffic.

It was frustrating changing the angular sensors and then finding that the problem was not in fact that.

Having to send the car via a tilt tray for the first time was also not the greatest feeling. However, it made to Sal without issues (which was much better than having to nurse it across town in the traffic honestly).

Of course, it was also frustrating for the same stuttering problem to resurface about 6 months later with the remaining leads. However, this time it was clear what the problem was so the fix was much quicker but the car, once again, had to be loaded onto a tilt tray (this time in the rain) which is never the most pleasant experience for any car owner.

However, all in all, I don’t have anything to complain about here. Twenty year old cars have issues with their 20 year old parts (i.e. the leads) and these parts have perform well over the years and will always need to be changed at some point. Again, I have nothing to complain about, honestly.

High points

The major high point this year was of course travelling to Italy, attending the Coso Pilota and visit Ferrari, Lamborghini, etc. You can read all about my adventures in great detail here:

Touch Down Modena

Pilgrimage – doing the Ferrari ‘stuff’

Alien Territory – doing the non-Ferrari ‘stuff’ like visiting Lamborghini

Corso Pilota Day 1 – Part 1 – experiences on the Ferrari test track

Corso Pilota Day 1 – Part 2 – experiences on the Ferrari test track

Corso Pilota Day 2 – experiences on the Ferrari test track

Reflections – recommendations and reflections

What I learned doing Corso Pilota – improving my driving skills

This was by no means a cheap exercise but I’d certainly do it again and am in fact already planning to return and do it all over again. If you are planning on doing the Corso Pilota or simply just visit all the Ferrari and other car sites in the region I suggest you have a read through all my articles because there is huge amount of information there that is pretty helpful.

I didn’t get to go on as many drives with the Ferrari Club this year due to the car being out of order for longer than expected. However, I thoroughly enjoyed those that I did go on (where the car didn’t have issues obviously).

Value

All of this again is totally subjective but I think it is still a good indicator. Part of the rationale for purchasing the F355 specifically was the belief that it’s value would increase over time as it became a ‘future classic’. Not the main reason for purchase but certainly a justification for the capital investment. That capital investment requires maintenance (such as the belts being changed) to retain its resale value, like any capital investment.

The average asking price for a F355 last year = $154,000

The average asking price for a F355 this year = $200,267

that’s an increase of 30% from last year. Not a bad ROI eh? Add to that a 20% increase from the year prior and I’d estimate that my car’s value is at least 50% above what I purchased it for.

That could of course change tomorrow as prices readily fluctuate I agree. However, over time you can see a general trend of the F355 asking price being on the rise.

I reckon the price is going to keep rising over the foreseeable future. Fingers crossed.

Again, for me it is about the emotion side rather than the pure financial numbers, but hey, healthy dollar values don’t hurt any do they now?

Summary

Overall it has been a frustrating year sorting out the stutter issue with the car. However, it has also been a unbelievably memorable year after visiting Italy, the Ferrari factory and doing the Corso Pilota. The importance of this is the fact that owning an F355 isn’t just about the car itself I believe, it is about being part of the Ferrari family and taking advantage of everything that has to offer.

I hope regular readers enjoyed the information I posted last year. Things have been busy so I haven’t posted as much as I’d have liked to but I do try and get my weekly price updates out regularly. Don’t forget to visit my YouTube Channel where you’ll find all the videos from my time at Fiorano posted.

I’m looking forward to another year of ownership and unique experiences that bring and I thank you for reading along with my journey.

The F355 passes the 60K mark

My F355 has recently just passed the 60,000 kms mark. Now many people believe that lots of kilometres are not good for a supercar. All my research indicates that it is not in fact the amount of kilometres the car has done, it’s more down to it being serviced regularly.

Cars that are ‘garage queens’ (i.e. never driven) always experience more issues than cars that are driven regularly. You also know what? Car are designed to be driven, not tucked away unseen under a cover. They are deigned to be enjoyed in their native environment, the road!

Sure, cars that are used more experience wear and tear but they have far less issues than cars that deteriorate away unseen and then massively fail when they are finally driven somewhere.

That’s why I have no hesitation in taking my car out regularly, not only for enjoyment but also for its own health!

A while back I started getting the same spluttering I was getting previously. Not quite as bad as before but it was still noticeable. Once again, the issue was more prevalent when the car was warm.

Normally, I take the the car out early in the morning and in the cool at this time the problem really didn’t surface. However, a while back I went on a club run during the day and I got the stuttering plus the 1-4 Slow Down light. This now meant the car needed to go in for a check up.

I packed it up onto the flat bed and sent it off to Racing Red for some tender loving care.

The diagnosis was that one of the leads not changed last time, which tested ok still, was failing under heat. This was failing to operate the spark plug causing it to become all charred. This explained why everything had started out ok and was gradually getting worse over time. It also explained why, under speed, the car was fine while at low speeds it was stuttery.

Anyway, I now have a full set of replacement high tension leads in place and new spark plug on the cylinder that was a problem. Fingers crossed that this solves the remainder of the issues and I can get back to putting another 60,000 kms on the car!

I’m lead to believe

The report on the F355 is that a number of HT leads are faulty and need to be replaced. The parts have been ordered and are on their way.

The leads, like the spark plugs, are something you never know how old they are when you buy a car. Are they original? Or maybe they were replaced at some stage, but when? Something interesting to consider if you are buying any car.

I did have a car many, many years ago that exhibited similar problems to the current stuttering problems on the F355. It got so bad that I have driving up hills using the choke (yes, it was that old it had a manual choke).

The day that it was scheduled to go in for repair it wouldn’t start, So I had to get towed being another car across town, which as an experience and a half. The funniest thing, only on reflection now of course, was that upon arrival we parked the cars outside the location to work out where we needed to go. Upon returning to the car to move it, I failed to insert the ignition key into the steering column and unlock the steering. As soon as I turned the wheel the steering lock kicked in and I began spearing across the road like a sling shot at maximum velocity.

I jammed the brakes on and luckily didn’t hit anything but I certainly gave the driver of the towing car a severe case of whiplash and no doubt made their car a few centimetres longer! Talk about panic stations.

So, fingers crossed that the leads resolve the problem and in any case it is about time that they are changed given the distance I have travelled since purchase. I can’t wait to get back behind the wheel.

I knew this day would come

I think many people have had the experience of spying an unfortunate soul by the side of the road having their car being towed. A smaller percentage have had the experience of seeing a supercar being towed. Well today I added a few points to those percentages by having the F355 loaded on a trailer to be dispatched to Racing Red for repairs.

Unfortunately, the stuttering issues have turned out not be to resolved by the replacement of the crank sensors. The problem materialises when the engine gets hot, typically after about 30 minutes of driving. So, rather than attempt to get the car across town to Racing Red and risk an embarrassing break down in a strategic location (read the harbour tunnel) I decided that the best thing was to get it transported there instead.

A contact in the Club referred me to a Carlingford Towing who responded very quickly to my request via email. I arranged for the pick up to be a short distance away to allow enough space to manoeuvre the car onto the tilt tray. Interestingly, I got to drive the car onto the truck, which is another first for me!

With the car secured, I waved farewell as it headed off to see the doctor and I await an update on its condition.

I had always known that somewhere down the track, after buying the F355, that it would end up on a tilt tray being trucked somewhere because of mechanical issues. Overall, I think I’ve been pretty lucky to avoid that situation until now and I will also say that this virgin experience was a lot better that I feared it was going to be. I didn’t cop any abuse, nasty or sarcastic remarks or rubber necks. Just a normal day in the city with a car being towed I suppose, which I’m totally fine with.

I’m sure the F355 will enjoy the ride atop the tilt tray, taking it easy on the journey across town to see the doctor. I suppose that a trip in the first class seats is warranted now and then eh? When someone else does the driving while you sit back and watch the world go by from high above the traffic. What novel concept that is eh?

Next option?

So after a few weeks waiting for replacement crank sensors and a time to have them installed Sal came over and did the honours. It was a little challenging to change one of the sensors but in about two hours it was all done.

I took the car out for an early morning run the next day but unfortunately about 30 minutes into the run the car started to develop the same issues. I pulled off at the next exit, turned the car around and headed for home.

The car wasn’t as undriveable as it was before but that could have been because it was relatively cool. However, I arrived back safe and sound.

With no warning lights or indications of problems this is a hard one to track down. It only seems to manifest itself when the engine gets hot (about 30 minutes) and then it feel like the engine is getting starved of fuel. The engine feels ok to me, just feel like it isn’t get fed right.

So it’s now we’ll just have to try and work out what to do next to attempt to isolate the issue. Frustrating, but I assure you, things could be much worse.

Angular speed sensor gone bad

After recently experiencing really bad stuttering with F355 as I had mentioned previously, Sal from Racing Red was good enough to come out and give the car the once over.

Plugging the diagnostic computer into the ECU didn’t reveal any issues with the engine. Also, at start up the car performed without fault. This was not unexpected as the issue only manifests itself when the engine gets hot. Thus, the car was allowed to stand and warm up but again the computer did not highlight any faults, there was are little bit of a ‘burble’ but it seemed clear that the only way the problem that the full extent of the problem returning was going to be taking the car out for a run.

Based on my reported symptoms, Sal believes that issues lie with the angular speed sensors that basically tell the engine management what position the cylinders are in so it can manage the fuel delivery. It is suspected that when the car gets warm one or both (there are two) are faulty. So, the solution is to get two new sensors and replace the existing ones. That will mean a delay of a few weeks while the parts are sourced and then a return trip for the change over.

I offered to take the car to his workshop but there is a good chance the car will start stuttering badly again as it warms up on the trip across down town. There is also a good chance that car would breakdown, which wouldn’t be fun at all. There is also a good chance that the fault could cause additional damage to the engine, which would be even worse. So the decision was to leave the car as is and repair in place when the parts arrive. Makes it a little tough on Sal to work on the car in place rather than in the workshop, but he is willing to do that for me and for that I again can’t say thanks enough.

Not much more that can be done for now so I thanked Sal, told him to order the replacement parts and bade him farewell. I then started doing some research.

The sensors in question are the ones shown above (162916 – Angular Speed Sensor). Item 1 is the Tooth Wheel, item 2 is the sensor for cylinder bank 1-4 and item 3 is the sensor for cylinder bank 5-8. Given the fact that the ‘Slow Down 5-8’ warning light came on last time I’d be putting my money on item 3 being the one that is faulty, however both should be replaced as suggested.

You can just make out item 3 from the above photo I took from the front of my engine when it was out for service a while back.

You can also just make out the tooth wheel and timing teeth in the above shot.

Here’s the exploded view of the tooth wheel that lives in the drive shaft.

Here’s what the sensor does according to the F355 Workshop Manual

This a variable reluctance type sensor which generates an electrical signal to show the movement of the teeth of a 60 teeth – 2 teeth gear wheel fitted to the drive shaft.

The absence of two teeth on the toothed wheel allows the top dead centre of the cylinders to be detected.

The ECU counts the number of pulses corresponding to the teeth on the wheel to establish the next instant when the half frequency signal will be expected, in order to recognise any interference.

The ECU recognises the timing by analysing the two signals and injects fuel with a certain advance with regard to the opening of the inlet valve of cylinder number 1.

Once the system has recognised the TDC (top dead centre) corresponding to the intake stroke of cylinder number 1 the ECU injects fuel into the other cylinders in accordance with the pre-set firing order.

The timing sensor is therefore no longer analysed unless the ECU loses its synchronization after interference etc.

If the ECU loses it synchronization it analyses the timing sensor signal again in order to re-establish the correct fuel injection in order in relation to the intake phases of the various cylinders.

The last paragraph made me stop and think a bit. Basically, it is saying once the ECU is synchronised it doesn’t refer back to the sensor. So, as my car starts and runs fine initially wouldn’t that mean the ECU is synchronised? Wouldn’t that means that the ECU would never have to refer back to the senor once the engine is running, even when hot? This makes the assumption that the ECU maintains synchronisation adequately after an initial reading which is probably incorrect. It may well be the case that once the engine warms up the ECU need to resynchronise with the sensor again, but at temperature the sensor currently provides a faulty reading that causes the ECU to feed the fuel incorrectly into the cylinders.

I’ll have to see if I can find out how often the ECU does need to synchronise with the sensor but this is my guess as to what is happening. Basically, the hotter the engine gets the ‘faultier’ the reading from the angular speed sensor becomes. Thus, when the ECU does need a reading from the sensor to re-synchronise, it gets a faulty reading, feeds fuel into the engine incorrectly and causes it to stutter. This is what the problem really ‘feels’ like from behind the wheel. It certainly ‘feels’ more about fuel than anything else.

So, the above shots show what the angular speed sensor looks like in close up. I’ll be needing two of these which will hopefully fix the problem. The only issue now is I have to wait for the actual parts to come in.

I’m going to try my sources and see what the cost of new sensors are and how quickly they can be delivered. There is of course the option of using second hand parts or equivalent (apparently KIA has ones that work just as well according to this), however Sal’s advice has always been “if you are going to replace something electrical or a senor, then it is best to get new parts” and I agree, so that’s going to be the course of action at this stage.

Stay tuned for further updates on getting the F355 back on the road.

A little problem that is now a big problem

Just when you thought this blog was getting boring! Unfortunately, the news isn’t positive so let me share with you what’s transpired.

After the recent annual service, a few months back, I started to notice a slight stutter in the car. It was most noticeable when the car was warm, travelling at low speeds 60 – 80 kms and under load (i.e. climbing). It was kind a like a ‘cough’ and a slight (hiccup) loss of power.

I also noticed the issue at high speed (110kms) and again under load but here it was a very slight loss but no major issue. However, it did happen recurringly.

I took the car out to the Bathurt 12 Hour last week, which is about a 5 hr return drive and back in a single day. The stutter was still there and seemed a little worse but again nothing major.

Today, after refueling I headed down south as part of a Club run to Kiama along the Ocean Road. As we travelled through the Royal National Park I could feel the stuttering was worse. This may have been because of the slow speeds along the twisty road but it certainly seemed worse.

As we emerged from the National Park into the normal coastal road, with its stops and start along with different speed zone there was definitely something wrong. I began to feel that I’d need to abandon the run and return. This was confirmed when I travelled up Bulli Pass were the car really lacked power and was becoming very rough at speed.

As I rounded Mount Bulli and headed down towards Wollongong I decided it was time to head home. I turned off onto the Appin Way to take the Hume Highway back north. Here along the largely flat road at high speed the engine performed smoothly but the cut out was definitely still there as it had been previously. As I did a slow turn onto the Hume Highway, the significant loss of power was still there.

It was still only mid morning but the day was heating up. The car was still spluttering a bit a high speed but nothing major until I was on the M2. Now, the 5-8 Slow Down light started to flash and the engine started to sound really ‘hollow’ and the power was right down.

I pulled over and turned the car off and on to reset it and then continued on. Unfortunately, the issue returned so I pulled over, opened the engine cover and called Sal. He suggested I let it cool and perhaps turn the battery off for five minutes to allow the engine management system to reset.

After five or so minutes, I turned the battery back on and the car fired up and I continued on. Unfortunately, once again the issue continued. I pulled over again, with idea that here would be a good spot for a tilt tray to come and pick me up.

Being only about 15 minutes from home I decided to be brave and continue on in normal suburban traffic. Luckily, the lights were with me and I managed to get with about 10 minutes of home when I hit a bank up. Rather than standing the stationery traffic I turned off and pulled over, once again thinking that this would be the location for the tilt tray to come.

I phoned the tilt tray contact that had been recommended but given in was a Sunday they unsurprisingly didn’t answer. I called Sal again and he offered to try them to see if they would at least respond to him.

Ten or so minutes later Sal called me back and said that he too had had no luck making contact. We discussed options and decided that the best was for me to try and nurse the car home. My main concern was if I parked in the underground carpark where I lived it may not have the power to get out if needed. Sal said that he’d arrange to come out and have a look and see what the issue was. Phew.

Now all I needed to do was get the car home. I fired it up and looped back onto the main road. Luckily, the lights were with me and I didn’t need to sit in traffic for too long for it was really starting to get hot now.

A few minutes later I had the car back in its parking spot in the shade of the underground car park.

So, now I just need to wait to arrange with Sal to come out and see what the issue is. I don’t think it will be too major and maybe something to do with the plugs (which were changed) last service but I won’t know until it gets the once over, which doesn’t have to be immediately now that it is home.

On a side note, I gotta say that I have never been jeered at more that the times I was standing on the side of the road with the engine cover up. I also copped some verbal abuse as well from a passersby which is sad. You come to expect that when your drive a supercar. You also expect an extra dose if the car has a problem. But I really didn’t expect the volume I received today. Maybe it was because of the hot weather.

Like I said, I expect that sort of attitude but feel sad that it is so prevalent for others to take joy in the misfortune of others. Anyway, main thing is the car is home and is now awaiting an appointment with the ‘doctor’. More news when it comes to hand.