[Barry]

Dear all
Decided to take the 360 to a couple of client meetings today, total round trip of approx 300km. About 20km into the trip I get a warning message in the screen under the RPM needle saying "Slow Down".

At first it started to flash on and off then stayed on permanently. At the same time the "Check Engine" light came on. Shortly afterwards there was a distinct loss of power, and in 6th gear I could not get the engine to rev above 4,000 rpm or approx 70 mph.

Pulled in engine off and on, battery off and on, but to no avail. Engine sounded VERY rough, like it was running off 4 cylinders instead of 8. Started off again, "Slow Down" coming on and off intermittantly and serious lack of power and "Check Engine" on permanently.

Finally I limped to my first meeting. Parked outside and 5 hours later came out with fingers crossed. To my delight, she started up fine and drove fine, full power back, engine sounded right, but a few miles down the road the "Slow Down" came back on along with "Check Engine". Instead of following the advice, I dropped 2 gears and floored it, and the "Slow Down" went off, but "Check Engine" stayed on.

After my second meeting it drove home perfectly, kept it at a good pace (80 - 90 mph) all the way and drove it up and down the gears with the engine reving smoothly and power as per normal. But the "Check Engine " light was still on all the way home.

Once at home, switched battery off for about 10 minutes. Fired her back up and all the warning lights gone. Short spin, everything is fine, no warning lights of any kind.

Can anyone shed any light on what could have possibly caused the problem? Symptoms of a serious impending issue, something I can just hope doesnt happen again, or something in between???

Thanks in advance

[Granucci]

1. what color was the slow down light: Amber or red
IF Amber I would expect the issue to resolve with a bit of warmup and running.

IF red it'll need to have a reading

2. how long has the car not been run before this run. Somehow I would be expecting it to have sat for a long period as in Winter etc..... When a car sits, it needs to 'clean out' some of those sensor issues, and that may be the issue.
3. IF it is the same bank [is there a bank reading?] then I would either expect an errant sensor for that bank or such. IF both banks, then I'll defer this to someone with a OBD reader.

However, you said you disconnected the battery which may have wiped out the codes and/or reset the ECUs which could be good/bad in terms of diagnostics.

When resetting the ECUs what I've been lead to believe is
a. turn key to on, but not to ignition for 30-60 seconds
b. turn key to on, starting the engine.
c. let it run for about 5min+ to 20 min. at less than 3,000RPM to get sorted again.

this is my experience on the 456/348 items....perhaps the 360 is a bit different as in newer scenarios.

there are some great members here who know this much better than I, and one that comes to mind is Greg Calo gcalo who was just on today about an hour ago.

not to mention the regulars.

rik

[Barry]

Originally Posted by Granucci

1. what color was the slow down light: Amber or red
IF Amber I would expect the issue to resolve with a bit of warmup and running.

IF red it'll need to have a reading

2. how long has the car not been run before this run. Somehow I would be expecting it to have sat for a long period as in Winter etc..... When a car sits, it needs to 'clean out' some of those sensor issues, and that may be the issue.
3. IF it is the same bank [is there a bank reading?] then I would either expect an errant sensor for that bank or such. IF both banks, then I'll defer this to someone with a OBD reader.

However, you said you disconnected the battery which may have wiped out the codes and/or reset the ECUs which could be good/bad in terms of diagnostics.

When resetting the ECUs what I've been lead to believe is
a. turn key to on, but not to ignition for 30-60 seconds
b. turn key to on, starting the engine.
c. let it run for about 5min+ to 20 min. at less than 3,000RPM to get sorted again.

this is my experience on the 456/348 items....perhaps the 360 is a bit different as in newer scenarios.

there are some great members here who know this much better than I, and one that comes to mind is Greg Calo gcalo who was just on today about an hour ago.

not to mention the regulars.

rik

Thanks for the advice Rik.
To answer some of your Qs...

1. I think the Slow Down warning was amber - the Check Engine was definitely amber.

2. Yes - you're right about it being laid up. Today was the 360s first run in at least 2 months - probably more.

[Granucci]

Originally Posted by Barry

Thanks for the advice Rik.
To answer some of your Qs...

1. I think the Slow Down warning was amber - the Check Engine was definitely amber.

2. Yes - you're right about it being laid up. Today was the 360s first run in at least 2 months - probably more.

then, in better response to your reply, I would state you have not much to worry about.

next time you leave it laid up, do a nice warm up of about 20 min, before taking above the 3K mark, and then drive it for about what it's worth.

Amber is a warning and while not to be ignored, in this case was just that "caution, I'm not up to your requirements...slow me down till I am".

RED, pull over and sit it out and it might require more investigation.

These cars need to be driven almost regularly. Mine are a min of every week if not daily. They are typically good to go unless a sensor is faulty or wiring or connector.

then again, that is the 80% scenario.

[Barry]

Thanks again Rik.
Hopefully the 360's way of saying "you've been ignoring me"....

[Granucci]

'love tickles' can be annoying if not appreciated a bit better after the fact.

Purring is always appreciated.

[wetpet]

probably had unburnt gas built up in one cat. so much so that it shut down that bank. probably not to worry. I wouldn't have unhooked the battery, now the ecu will have to re-learn. Good old italian tune up is in order.

[Barry]

Time for a service in any case. Which means time for a trip across the Irish sea and a weekend in the UK. The joys of living in a country with only one Ferrari dealer (that I would not go to) Still, worse ways to spend a weekend...

[il Capolino]

Yep, fuel is meant to be burnt, particularly today's bad fuel which couldn't out-age room temperature milk. The electronics are bound to go apesh1t if either combustion, or battery power are under optimum. Take care of both by always trickle charging and by leaving little petrol in the tank and by starting and warming up at least once a week.

I am not a Ferrari mechanic by any means but since I've started to diligently respect those simple routines I have never, ever had a problem related to what you describe. But I used to have those exact problems

[Barry]

Thanks Capo. Think I'm guilty of taking my eye off the ball. Forgot to mention that I had forgotten the trickle charge in the same 2 month lay up. So had to charge up the battery a few days ago in advance of today run. Probably didn't help matters either.

[ferraricyprus]

hate to say it but if you had been driving the car twenty minutes before the lights came up I doubt the battery was the issue. 360 alternators are pretty beefy. I suspect a failed cat ecu is more likely, these switch off a bank if over temp is detected. Unfortunately the cat ecu won't log a fault in the motronic, it only shows as a "present" fault if it actually stops working, and this fault is erased as soon as the ignition is switched off, so it might take your dealer a while to find it. The check engine fault will be logged though, and will most likely an "engine bank shut down down due to...." code.