I POSTED THIS IN THE TECHNICAL Q&A BUT NOBODY ANSWERED! PLEASE ADVISE! Ok...I have thoroughly read this archives, here is my dilemma and would like some help on a possible course of action. When the car starts up, there is a slight rattle in the back, it usually goes away after about 5-10 seconds. Twice (2 weeks ago and 700 miles ago) the car stalled twice while breaking at a light, has not done it since The check engine 1-4 light comes on intermittenly often and will stay on at times for about 15 min-20 min at the most, it usually goes off when i am at sustained speeds of around 80 on the highway The check engine 5-8 light has come on once or twice, about 600 or 700 miles ago also When the car is in neutral, i can feel a lot more vibration on the pedal then when the clutch is depressed..is this normal? It is nothing loud or obnoxious but I can definitely tell the difference between when the clutch is depressed and when it just sitting in netrual...it sounds like something could by grinding in the back (not sure if that is normal because i have never owned one of these cars before) Hot starts, sometimes it takes a little bit longer to turn over...not much, but i was wonder if this is what people refer to when the talk about hot start problems WHEW....OK...From what i have read it sounds like 2 things (and if there is possibly more please chime in, im just a rookie who does a lot of reading on this site) 1) Possible cat going bad? I have read that the ceramic breaks up and will rattle around in there. Even if this is not the problem, I will probably replace the cats anyway with the hyperflows just for sheer piece of mind...It seems like you pretty much reduce your chance of engine fire from about 20% to .01% just by getting rid of those cats... 2)Clutch on its way out? Not sure what to do about this...I am on a limited budget but I would rather nip the problem at the start then shell out big dinero for something that was left unattended.. I have to get a major service done also so all comments or suggestions on how to get this done the cheapest but still the RIGHT way please chime in.. Im not to mechanically inclined, although my neighbor is very...but i am all about going to independent mechanic, finding parts myself, and cutting some of the costs that way... Any help would be greatly appreciated...one more question..I am assuming I should just leave the car in the garage and not drive it, correct?
Just took my cats off and found a cracked weld at the back where it attaches to the header. This had caused a strange burbling noise from the engine from time to time. May be a common problem but I'm not sure.
Often people don't respond to my inquiries, and it sucks! '92 348 tb here. About the rattle--I have the same thing in the back. I thought my cats were on the way out too. We put the car on the lift and a guy said he thought it was the clutch rattling. As it turns out, this is normal vibration on 348s. I too am not mechanically inclined, so I don't know how to explain it. I'll say that my mechanic explained what it was and it's no cause for alarm. About the check engine lights: these are normal much of the time. There is a way to investigate exactly what the "Check Engine" lights are trying to say. There is a computer for each of the two banks of cylinders (at least, in cars produced after some point in 1990--the system changed from 2.5 to 2.7); these are called ECUs (engine control units). Refer to this terrific link and also the attached picture to learn how to decode your "Check Engine" lights. Finding out what your car is trying to tell you actually takes 5-10 minutes. http://www.ferrari*.com/discus/messages/5/5552.html?1089773558 NOTE: FerrariChat.com doesn't allow the link that I've provided because it's a competitor. So where you see the star (*), substitute the following keys: -talk So it's www.ferrari, hyphen, the word "talk", .com dot the rest of the link My "Check Engine" light that comes on and stays on is a code for the "RPM sensor," or the "Crank Position Sensor". That 90% of the time means that the connection is a little dirty and that there's nothing really wrong. Unfortunately you have to put the cr on the lift and take a bunch of panels off the car to get to the sensor. This could be what yours is, but use the technique to which I've guided you to find out exactly what your "Check Engine" lights mean. My car was stalling at stop lights and it turned out to be a faulty "throttle position sensor", an error code that is also indicated by a test of the ECU (engine control units). The part was surprisingly cheap (for Ferrari standards)--only $100. I hope this helps.
Aaron, Doesn't sound like any major problems but maybe a few nagging ones, but I would check the cats. As far as the hot start problem, your car should start when hot no problem. Usually this has been attributed to the dual mass flywheel losing it's dampening grease. Which could be a result of worn seals on the output shaft. Do a search for "hot start problem" on the old chat and you will find my old thread on what to do about that. I rebuilt my clutch and repacked my flywheel for much less cost than a new unit from Ferrari. In fact the clutch, if you don't want to just resurface it, can be bought from ap racing. Keep us posted.
