[dwhite]

So went to start the car the other day and ran fine at start-up, then after it was warm it felt like a few cylinders were out drove about 1/4 mile and it was down on power. Brough car back to garage and did not have a chance to really look at anything. 3 days later went back out started car and it was fine around the block a couple times and it was fine, then it had loss of power. Back to garage,

Check fuses and and relays to fuel pumps everything okay, Car getting gas and spark. no time to look further back in garage. Came back yesterday, start car runs fine, head to gas station for fuel and it starts to lose power and it I get on it hard it will pull strong.

So the car starts fine and runs fine until it is warm then it will run, but not smooth from a low RPM under 2500 - slight miss from exhaust on drivers side and it will stumble buck a bit.

So, I know WUR has impact on the entire circuit any way to check it or should I swap one side to the other and see if miss is now on that side. Any advice greatly appreciated. I feel like it is something stupid as the car ran fine for 6 months and was fine on an event i was on 4 weeks ago and just developed an issue. What about AAV? Way to check if it is working.

Also, is there a good service manual avalable for the BBis? The owners manuel has some info, but not enough.

 

[David @ FluentInFerrari]

95% of all fuel injection problems are ignition-related. Top three items on a bbi; spark plug extenders, ignition wires and the carbon button inside of the cap. Once those items are blessed, then I'd consider taking a look-see at the injection system.

Regarding a WSM, none as I recall. I use a 365/512bb WSM with the fuel injection system component coming from the 400i manual.

 

[rovexienus]

So went to start the car the other day and ran fine at start-up, then after it was warm it felt like a few cylinders were out drove about 1/4 mile and it was down on power. Brough car back to garage and did not have a chance to really look at anything. 3 days later went back out started car and it was fine around the block a couple times and it was fine, then it had loss of power. Back to garage,

Check fuses and and relays to fuel pumps everything okay, Car getting gas and spark. no time to look further back in garage. Came back yesterday, start car runs fine, head to gas station for fuel and it starts to lose power and it I get on it hard it will pull strong.

So the car starts fine and runs fine until it is warm then it will run, but not smooth from a low RPM under 2500 - slight miss from exhaust on drivers side and it will stumble buck a bit.

So, I know WUR has impact on the entire circuit any way to check it or should I swap one side to the other and see if miss is now on that side. Any advice greatly appreciated. I feel like it is something stupid as the car ran fine for 6 months and was fine on an event i was on 4 weeks ago and just developed an issue. What about AAV? Way to check if it is working.

Also, is there a good service manual avalable for the BBis? The owners manuel has some info, but not enough.

One version of the workshop/repair manual for 365 GT4 BB, 512 BB and 512 BBi is the translation to English by Angelo Wallace, which can be ordered at e.g. books4cars. For the injection part of the 512 BBi, the manual is Ferrari 400i Iniezione 178/79 which can be obtained as PDF (e.g. maranello-literature), Italian and English language.

 

[tazandjan]

Thanks for the link for Angelo's translations. I loaned him my 365 GT4 BB WSM in exchange for a copy of his Daytona manual around 1978. I knew he passed on and Mary was selling his manuals, but did not know someone else had picked up the ball. His Daytona WSM was a lifesaver when I owned 14009 in Clovis, NM with no Ferrari shop anywhere near.

 

[dwhite]

Thanks for the responses. I will double check extenders and such. Pulled plugs yesterday and they all looked perfect, did not see any sign of extenders being cracked or any sign of pinhole burn points. Will pull cap and look at rotor and button - wish cap was a bit easier to just pull off, but no big deal. What should the wires and extenders show in ohms for being good?

Definitly will get online 400I WS manual thanks.

 

[David @ FluentInFerrari]

Wires I recall are about 600 ohm/ft, although I'd be more concerned with the poor crips than the wire resistance. Hook up your ohm meter to both ends, wiggle the wire and ensure that the resistance remains constant. The extenders were either 5k ohm or zero.

 

[dwhite]

Thanks David. Will give a check and hopefully find something out of spec.

 

[dwhite]

Back to perfect

Finally had some time to really look things over and Mr Feinberg was correct, ignition issue. The distributor cap on the inside had greenish white buildup on every contact. Cleaned them all and she fired right up and took it out for a nice long drive today without any issues at all. Running perfect. Besides moisture what else would cause this. There is an MSD ignition would to much voltage cause this? Thanks for the info guys and look forward to meeting up with some of the Boxer owners here in the Northeast US.

I believe the wires are pretty old, so this winter I may build a new set, is Taylor still the wire to use?

 

[tazandjan]

Dave- I love a happy ending.

 

[dwhite]

I was confident it was going to be something silly and luckily it was.

 

[David @ FluentInFerrari]

Moisture build-up in that horizontally mounted distributor is a common occurrence, hence the "green" stuff. While you're in there, it's always a good idea to take a wiggle on the ignition rotor to ensure that the advance mechanism isn't seized which is another Boxer malady..

I'm glad I was able t help, Dave. Look for info in your mailbox on joining our fan club!

Best,
David

 

[EcurieArgyll]

Good result. Did you happen to check the resistance on the extenders? My originals were goosed:20 Ohms+!! Gave similar symptoms.

 

[dwhite]

Yes, checked resistance on extenders all were in and around 6.5 Ohms. As mentioned earlier, probably going to build a new set of wires over the winter. Is Taylor the wire to use or another. Thanks again.

 

[EcurieArgyll]

I got a new set from a family firm in Italy. I don't know the name as they were supplied via Magnecor. I believe they are the same company that are used by Superformance here in the UK and I would imagine someone in the US would have a commercial relationship as they seem to be the Boxer ignition wire specialists. The wires are white (correct for BB) with all the right loops and brackets. Beautifully made and, once extenders were in place too, the car was transformed.

I've done 1300 miles since and she is running better than ever.

 

[dwhite]

Moisture build-up in that horizontally mounted distributor is a common occurrence, hence the "green" stuff. While you're in there, it's always a good idea to take a wiggle on the ignition rotor to ensure that the advance mechanism isn't seized which is another Boxer malady..

I'm glad I was able t help, Dave. Look for info in your mailbox on joining our fan club!

Best,
David

The PO had the dizzy sent to "the dizzy master" in CA for a rebuild in Aug 2012. But I did exactly as you described just to make sure it was moving. . . free as a "69 hippy, hooray.

 

[dwhite]

Oh, one other quick thing, thought I could remove the heat shield from the back of the car to get at the dizzy easier. Removed all bolts fresh air intakes and viola, no such luck. Only way that comes out is with the exhaust out of the way. Statrting to learn about the car and getting past the "It's a Ferrari" paranoia.

Now to pile on some miles. The car has 53Klms. I checked the odometer as i thought it was spinning fast and it's in Klms not miles. So I just gained 18K miles of driving before i get to the 53K miles I thought it had. Always registered in miles on docs guess no one ever checked. weird.

 

[David @ FluentInFerrari]

The "It's a Ferrari" paranoia is only justified when something breaks, as quality parts can be a tad pricey at times. Simple stuff can be a royal pain in the butt, as one often wonders what they were thinking during the design stages of these cars.Access frequently is "challenging."

Regarding the ignition wires, I've been running Magnacore wires on my bb for about 10 years, with zero issues. I sent them a factory wire set, and they made me a new one and transferred over all of the original standoffs. Simple easy...

As I recall, most odometers read in km, but some speedos had overlays to convey miles.

 

[tazandjan]

David- The cars supplied to the UK had English units, but all the LHD versions, unless special ordered, were metric, I think. The parts catalog shows a separate speedometer for the UK, Australia, and Ireland.