Looking to send the 400 off to a good home :)

To those saying the temp guage come up quickly:

Are you referring to water or oil temp? The oil temp is the true measure of overall engine temp and if it comes up quickly, something isn't right. If you live in a very warm climate, it will come up faster and if you apply a higher load to the engine (rev it and/or drive it hard) while it is cold it will come up faster, but 5 minutes would be really fast. This second cause (driving agressively when the engine is cold) is VERY bad for your engine.

What I was tought was to start the car and let the oil pressure come up. In 30 seconds to a minute, begin to drive with a very light foot and a shift point not higher than 2500 rpm. Once the water temp comes up (2 - 5 minutes on a normal day) you can increase the shift point to 3500 rpm. Once the oil temp comes off the peg, you're good to go!

There is no problem occasionally taking a 5 minute drive; the problem is doing so too regularly. You will get lots of carbon build-up, a rotten exhaust, and lots of other gremlins. These are GT car, which means grand touring; they are best for purposes other than regular around town hops.

Mind you, this is just my opinion.

Regards,

Art S.

 

John,

Buy it instead of your next throw away commuter car finance it like the commuter car - it will make the 38 mile commute MUCH better!

Regards,

Art S.

 

Art

I'm referring to oil temperature. I treat the car very gently until it is thoroughly warmed through and I never even take the car out unless I'm confident the oil temp. needle will move. If in doubt, keep driving!

Cheers

Aidan

 

Thanks for the input fellas..

 

B.J,

If you happen to go for a bit of a drive after work, that would solve the problem


Aiden,

Sounds good! I guess you lucked out with your climate. Is the 5 miles done while driving slowly? i.e. 5miles at 30mph = 10 minutes.

Regards,

Art S.

 

You poor thing! Sounds like you need a new location.
Thought you might have owned a automatic version of the 400....then I could see why the temps aren't rising as a result of early shifting. 28-30mph is a good upshift point into 3rd, hope you're no futher up the chain.

 

Bruce,

Aiden mentioned 5 miles, I was wondering how long it took him to go that far. I have an older car (330) with a manual trans, maybe it doesn't translate correctly to the 400.

Regards,

Art S.

 

You mean the one you use to go Christmas tree hunting with?
Bruce

 

That's AWESOME!!!! Do everyday things with Ferrari's I say (though some models may not qualify, i.e. enzo and whatnot).

A big "EAT BEEF" tag is going on the front of mine.

-BJ

 

Have to admit that was a CLASSIC photo.

Post it again Art so we can save it under a folder entitled "Real Men Drive Thier Ferraris"

 

It's in his profile
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Man, I really should get this car

But, with the 328, Lancia(s), the BEEst and the hot rod project, I'm flat out of space

 

I guess I was beaten to it .

I'm thinking of leaning to sail (something along the lines of a sunfish, laser or equivalent), if I do, putting a trailer hitch on the back


Tillman, I actually flew down to Dallas to try to buy jsa330's car from the insurance auction but I got outbid! Imagine 2 of these silly old things!

Regards,

Art S.

 

You guy's inspired me. here are a couple of shots from the NYC, Times Square run from a few years ago:
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Ok, mixed feelings on driving the 400 to work. What about switching gears to the 456? The later models could handle it right? Anyone know about upkeep before I bug the guys in the 456 forum? They really seem like a steal (maybe it's the looks) for what you get.

 

My commute is about 10 minutes, the 365 makes it with no issues, but I do let it warm up for about 5 minutes on cold mornings.

Drive them, don't worry about it.

 

No joke Kraig... I live in Wichita, KS (only 1/2 MM people), but the surrounding area is either wheat, cattle or airplane machine shop. Wheat was kind of sissy and the Lear I can't afford, thus "EAT BEEF." Besides, it scares the vegetarians away.

 

Semi-related, When I was doing professional photography, I charged about 1/4 of what other pros were charging, because I didn't need the money, I was doing it for fun, and not to make a living at it.
Problem is, most folks think you charge according to your skill, so few people ever called. Later, I jacked my price way up, and got tons of jobs. THEN it became (more of) a job and a lot less fun, so I stopped doing it.
Next problem was, I still got tons of calls because word-of-mouth got my name around pretty good.

 

I have run into the same thing from other peoples experience.