Diagnostic software/tools for Ferrari

Any word on the latest DIY Diagnostic Software? I started out performing my own repairs on my cars back in the 90’s on my SAAB 9000 Aero that I ultimately built up to Stage 5. That car requires a Tech2 Diagnostic in order to even get it to turn over after months of being offline with the battery disconnected! I still have that car as a reminder of where I started out and I have too many hours spent, and blood spilled over making that car perform as it does, I’ll never sell it!

Over the past 7 years, and with even more blood spilled, I have been building up my Mercedes AMG W211 E63 and have posted years worth of my efforts over on “mbworld”. I wouldn’t have been able to change out a single Suspension Bushing if it weren’t for my being able to use the STAR/Xentry Diagnostic just to release air from the Airmatic Shocks/Struts, otherwise with 8 bar of pressure, one could never so much as remove a bolt in the suspension with that mount of pressure being applied to each wheel once lifted off the ground! I bought the car with 94k mi, so I basically have replaced or had rebuilt just about everything except the Block itself! That means both Heads and Intake were rebuilt, several Ignition Coils, all injectors, PS Pump, AC Compressor, Water Pump, Alternator, and all associated pulleys for each were renewed, every Suspension shock & Subframe Bushing in every Arm either replaced or individually removed from the Arms and pressed into place once the entire rear Subframe was Lowered after a Rear Main Seal started leaking, which was the last straw prompting that particular phase build and required the removal of the Transmission. During that phase I also had the rear Air Springs Rebuilt and swapped out my 2.82 Differential Gears for 3.06 which put me right at 55mph @ 3k RPM (Powerband) in 4th gear! This required reprogramming the ECU through Vediamo>STAR>OBD Port.

I might add that along the way, I had to remove the Transmission again because after doing all that work, I had a Tranny ECU Speed Solenoid fail just a week later which rendered my suddenly being left at the side of the road! At that moment I called RennTech because I had remembered their having a promotion concerning a rebuild of the Transmission. I asked them if they could repair/replace the Tranny ECU and of course they said they could, so I had the car towed to them, however the next day, they informed me that although they could install a new TCU (at a great Cost BTW) they couldn’t “Pair” it most likely because even they, an authorized Mercedes Aftermarket Performance Shop, couldn’t access Mercedes Proprietary STAR/Xentry in order to properly mate the new TCU with my Tranny. So I had it towed back home where I removed it again because in my early model E63 the TCU is mounted right above the Valve Body (which I thouroughly cleaned BTW) as compared to later models where it is located inside the cabin under the Passenger Floor! Nevertheless, I was able to send the TCU out to “Circuit Board Medics” who repaired it in record time and the car was performing beautifully until the AC Evap went out!

Currently I have the entire interior removed (F & R Seats and floor Carpet) in order to Sound/ Heat Treat all metal panels in order to install a Top of the line Stereo with Dirac Live DSP>Gladen Amps>Focal & Stereo Integrity Speakers! This phase was prompted by the fact my AC Evaporator sprung a leak, as mentioned above, so the whole dash had to be removed. The point is, I couldn’t have done any of this with my albeit watered down STAR/DAS/Xentry Access along with the WIS and EPC because simply plugging the old electrical connectors together simply would NOT suffice without clearing a code for it beforehand! Moreover, any new sensor would otherwise render that device inoperable unless such code was cleared! So it goes without saying how important it would be for those of us who actually work on their own cars DIY at a high level to have a Diagnostic Device so that even basic work can be done DIY after shelling out $$$ to buy a Ferrari! I’ve got my eye on a 599GTB, so I’m very motivated to find out beforehand what suitable Diagnostic Software I may be able get my hands on in order to care for the car myself in the very near future!

 

When I purchased the E63 in 2017, it had a smiley face gouge from Mirror to Mirror that I required be fixed during the time it took for the Title to Clear. The guy I bought it from was the Head of Sales for a Euro Automotive Dealership, so one would have thought his ownership of such an AMG would have meant he might be just a little detail oriented, but unfortunately the opposite was true! Since I had years of experience working on my cars, coupled with the fact that upon taking possession of the car after corrective paint work was done, I noticed the RPM’s progressively going higher and higher which effected the Automatic Shifting during the 7 mile ride home, I immediately knew I would be doing work on it before I had intended, that’s for sure!

Realizing it must have been an Intake Air leak, the next day I started taking the engine apart starting with the Air Intake Manifold. It was then that I could clearly see the Intake Runners were totally filled with Carbon buildup, so rather using walnut shell husk and an Air Compressor to “Clean” them out, I decided instead to remove the Heads themselves and get them rebuilt. I wouldn’t think one would take this as my “Causing Problems”, but rather Fixing Problems.

It turns out 8 of 16 Intake Valves happened to be bent, not from the Carbon Build-up but due to the fact that some idiot before me had removed the CamShaft Adjusters (CA), taken them apart and mistakenly inserted the inner Cog, with the mini barrel which interlocks with the rear plate depending on the Solinoid signals to retard timing or not, of the passenger side Intake CA backwards/upside down! This not only impaired the function of the CA but also since the bore on the side of that COG which received the Cam Bolt is smaller than that of the CamShaft, when swapped upside down as it was, meant that the smaller bore was now facing the larger Camshaft. As such the Camshaft couldn’t seat properly in the CA at all causing its position over the Drive Sprocket to be perilously close to missing entirely! It was only upon putting these parts back together did I see this mal-alignment, proceeded to dissemble the Cam Adjusters and confirm this mishap. No wonder the valves were bent! It’s even more amazing a catastrophic engine failure didn’t happen as a result of this, but I fortunately caught it and fixed it. Had I had the Timing Tool, I might have been able to determine just how “out of Time” that CA was before I removed it, but I didn’t get that tool until later.

After having both Heads rebuilt, and using new Headbolts (a known issue with the W211 E63’s) and new bolts for everything, there was definitely more to do I might add. Another thing I couldn’t help but notice when removing the Fuel Rail was one of the injectors was leaking. So I went and had the rest of them tested after buying the one. Had I not bothered, I wouldn’t have noticed several of the Ignition Units were broken where they screwed into the Valve Covers.

So yeah, as for looking for problems, yes I certainly do. Who in their right mind wouldn’t. I’m not worried about the extra hours it takes because I do the work on my cars myself. And the end product is a bad a _ _ Custom ride, if I do say so myself!

 

It occurs to me I never said what the problem was with the Intake Manifold in my post above. It turned out that the Throttle Plate, where both throttles reside and is another “known” issue, was riddled with holes where the wire loom runs which caused for the RPMs to gradually go higher the hotter it got.