Ferrari 355 Spider Top Roof Mechanism ALL Common Issues & FIXES | FerrariChat

Ferrari 355 Spider Top Roof Mechanism ALL Common Issues & FIXES

Discussion in 'Technical Q&A' started by spiderscott, Jan 27, 2019.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

  1. spiderscott

    spiderscott Formula 3
    Silver Subscribed

    Feb 24, 2004
    1,654
    Ratarossa HQ UK
    Full Name:
    Ratarossa
    I've just put a video together regarding the most common issues we face with the F355 Spider roof top system.

    1. How the system works. 2. What the conditions are for the roof to work correctly. 3. Sensors, locations and adjustments. 4. Hydraulic reservoir and how to refill or top up. 5. Bleeding the hydraulic system 6. Frame adjustments at sides 7. Frame adjustments at the rear 8. Rood canvass skin and cables.

    Hope it helps a few of you out over the years.

     
  2. f355spider

    f355spider F1 World Champ
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    May 29, 2001
    17,913
    USA
    Ask this to be added as a sticky in the 355/348 section.
     
  3. RAC911

    RAC911 Karting
    Silver Subscribed

    Jun 8, 2006
    195
    Arizona
    Full Name:
    Ralph Cacace
    My problem is the 12V power is absent from switch on the center console. I do not know where it is connected or if there is a fuse in the line. 12V power is connected to the roof controller. Schematic does not show how 12V is fed to seat switches or roof switch.
     
  4. RAC911

    RAC911 Karting
    Silver Subscribed

    Jun 8, 2006
    195
    Arizona
    Full Name:
    Ralph Cacace
    Found the blown fuse for AC and the top switch. The top controller still does not work. I use the overrider to work the top. Replaced the controlll at a $1500 cost. It worked and then failed.
     
  5. Qavion

    Qavion F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Feb 20, 2015
    11,484
    Sydney
    Full Name:
    Ian Riddell
    ouch...

    So prior to changing the ECU, you changed the AC fuse and the seats still didn't work (or the seats worked, but the roof didn't?)

    At what point did things stop working after the ECU change? During seat movement? Roof opening? Roof closing? Final roof closing? Did smoke come out of the ECU? There could be something in the system blowing up the ECUs. However, the only heavy duty work that the roof ECU does is move the seats. All the other stuff uses relays. Of course, there could be short in the wiring somewhere.

    Do the seats move (manually) with the switches?

    Did that AC System fuse blow again? If so, perhaps you could replace the fuse and not operate the roof, to see if something else is blowing up the fuse. Unfortunately, that AC System fuse powers dozens of things, so it will be hard to track down (as well as powering AC system components, it also powers some instruments, the speedo sensor, suspension system components, etc).
     
  6. INRange

    INRange F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Jan 27, 2014
    10,001
    Virginia/Florida/Caymans
    Full Name:
    JD

    Great job!!! Thanks for creating the video.
     
  7. spiderscott

    spiderscott Formula 3
    Silver Subscribed

    Feb 24, 2004
    1,654
    Ratarossa HQ UK
    Full Name:
    Ratarossa
  8. spiderscott

    spiderscott Formula 3
    Silver Subscribed

    Feb 24, 2004
    1,654
    Ratarossa HQ UK
    Full Name:
    Ratarossa
  9. spiderscott

    spiderscott Formula 3
    Silver Subscribed

    Feb 24, 2004
    1,654
    Ratarossa HQ UK
    Full Name:
    Ratarossa
    If you want a laugh, this is the video I did with Matt Farah for The Smoking Tire

     
  10. spiderscott

    spiderscott Formula 3
    Silver Subscribed

    Feb 24, 2004
    1,654
    Ratarossa HQ UK
    Full Name:
    Ratarossa
    I just fixed a very nice 355 Fiorano Edition Spider for a fellow Fchatter. The car had been converted by a previous owner to a manual roof a number of years back. I had to go through everything in the system and finally got it working a like new.

    One of the issues discovered was a leaking secondary cylinder that we had to replace. These are ridiculously expensive and I'm wondering if anyone has had any experience getting them rebuilt ? Or if thats even possible ?
     
    Qavion likes this.
  11. Qavion

    Qavion F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Feb 20, 2015
    11,484
    Sydney
    Full Name:
    Ian Riddell
    #12 Qavion, Apr 27, 2019
    Last edited: Apr 27, 2019

    For those in the USA, there are companies which specialise in this kind of thing. e.g.

    https://www.tophydraulics.com/82-ferrari-355-f355-spider

    I vaguely recall someone recommending a place in the UK, too, but I can't recall the name.

    And here is another of our problems soon to be solved... 3D printing of seat potentiometer sockets:

    Fear not the seat pot (potentiometer) How to rebuild one without removing it.
     
    spiderscott likes this.
  12. krazykarguy

    krazykarguy Formula Junior

    Apr 17, 2014
    716
    Fort Mill, SC
    Full Name:
    Matt
    I must have watched Scott's video three times last week while working on our '97 Spider top. Kudos for a great and comprehensive video on this overly-complicated roof system. Combined with Ian's excellent electrical diagrams, I was able to get it working 97%, a massive improvement from the 10% (or worse) it was when I arrived to my parent's house.

    The only thing missing from the video was a REALLY GOOD bleeding sequence, which Scott notes as being on his site, but was nowhere to be found.

    The 'flushing and bleeding' sequence found here on FChat:
    https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/procedure-to-cure-a-355-spider-roof-that-does-not-close-properly-due-to-old-fluid.316148/
    is not very clear (especially step #18). Once you make the realization that the bleeder on the LH main piston needs to bleed air under compression AND pull fluid under extension (until nearly full), the removal of the air in the lines can take place. Once both sides of the LH primary cylinder are full, we used the motor to bleed the rest of the air from the system. It took many up and down cycles first with the pistons free, and then after they were re-installed to get out all of the air.

    It's also worth noting that the secondary pistons (for the final closure sequence) do NOT work with the emergency switch - only the center console switch makes them function, after a ~1 second delay.

    Right now, the top completely lowers on it's own as described on Scott's video. The remaining 3% to perfect would be getting the RH fork to engage the pin as the top raises. Currently it requires a second person to slightly push the fork towards the rear of the car and onto the moving pin as the top is closing. I'm not sure how to correct this without either messing up the work we have already done or inadvertently binding up the mechanism worse than it came from Maranello.

    We also discovered that the hinge bolts to the entire top assembly were incredibly tight and the 'top down sequence complete' microswitch had come free from it's mount (one of the two screws that hold it in place had broken). Our pistons were slightly leaky, but nothing serious, and the elastic bands were also replaced (although the center bow that they are attached to still needs to be finessed back manually).

    I had every intention of converting it to manual operation - but kept at it until it functioned. Since my parents have had the car, the top has NEVER worked properly, but with the exception of the fork/pin misalignment it's working now.
     
    Qavion likes this.
  13. Qavion

    Qavion F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Feb 20, 2015
    11,484
    Sydney
    Full Name:
    Ian Riddell
    Great work, Matt!

    If you look at the wiring diagram, the F1 valve which controls the operation of the secondary pistons is controlled by the roof ECU. I think, during emergency operation (where the ECU is not expected to be working), the secondary pistons are not supposed to work. With no signal from the ECU, the F1 valve will allow the fluid in the secondary to return to the reservoir (no pressure) and the roof front section will be able to be manipulated manually.

    Cheers
     
    krazykarguy likes this.
  14. krazykarguy

    krazykarguy Formula Junior

    Apr 17, 2014
    716
    Fort Mill, SC
    Full Name:
    Matt
    Qavion likes this.

Share This Page