Common Fault on 355 hood?
Discussion
As 360NGT says, the roof mechanism has some sensors that calibrate the position within the cycle.
The ones I have noticed are:
before you try to start the electric operation, the system checks that the roof is pushed far back enough, it will bleep once it is correct (no more than a foot). It also checks that the handbrake is on.
It then starts to move the seats forward, a potentiometer thingy(?) records the movement of the seats so that it only lowers the roof when there is enough clearance. If the seats are forward enough already, you won't notice any further travel.
It then checks that the doors are closed, it will not lower or raise the roof if the doors are open (the handbrake has to be applied too).
There is a switch that bypasses some of these checks and is there as an emergency measure really.
The switch is to the back end of the central tunnel, against the interior back wall (shit I've probably complicated the descrption
). You have to pull the cover off and there is a very crude switch attached to the cover.
This requires that the doors be open and the seats moved forward (i.e. the backs inclined!). IIRC it does not actually make any checks other than the roof being far back enough and perhaps the handbrake. It does not move the seats.
Don't know what the problem could be, but its somewhere along these lines. One thing that springs to mind is that if you have only recently bought the car, perhaps the previous owner has wired the normal roof switch to the emergency switch, hence why it is dropping the roof without moving the seats. Perhaps there was a problem with the potentiometer and this was a quick fix?
I am pretty sure that the system on its own should fail to open/close without the potentiometer giving the all clear. On my car, the roof wouldn't drop or raise, and it was basically because something got stuck in the seat's travel and threw the meter out of sync. Luckily it was reset on warranty...
Apparently only Ferrari dealers can reset this, and it can cost £115 for the pleasure if you visit Maranellos. Try Verdi's first though, as they are the only dealers outside the Ferrari network with a Ferrari diagnostic and tuning computer. Certainly will be cheaper than Maranellos too.
I fear this post will not make much sense but (I think) its coz I'm really tired. Either that or I'm losing it...
I'm probably losing it to be honest, but can't confirm that till its been confirmed
The ones I have noticed are:
before you try to start the electric operation, the system checks that the roof is pushed far back enough, it will bleep once it is correct (no more than a foot). It also checks that the handbrake is on.
It then starts to move the seats forward, a potentiometer thingy(?) records the movement of the seats so that it only lowers the roof when there is enough clearance. If the seats are forward enough already, you won't notice any further travel.
It then checks that the doors are closed, it will not lower or raise the roof if the doors are open (the handbrake has to be applied too).
There is a switch that bypasses some of these checks and is there as an emergency measure really.
The switch is to the back end of the central tunnel, against the interior back wall (shit I've probably complicated the descrption
). You have to pull the cover off and there is a very crude switch attached to the cover. This requires that the doors be open and the seats moved forward (i.e. the backs inclined!). IIRC it does not actually make any checks other than the roof being far back enough and perhaps the handbrake. It does not move the seats.
Don't know what the problem could be, but its somewhere along these lines. One thing that springs to mind is that if you have only recently bought the car, perhaps the previous owner has wired the normal roof switch to the emergency switch, hence why it is dropping the roof without moving the seats. Perhaps there was a problem with the potentiometer and this was a quick fix?
I am pretty sure that the system on its own should fail to open/close without the potentiometer giving the all clear. On my car, the roof wouldn't drop or raise, and it was basically because something got stuck in the seat's travel and threw the meter out of sync. Luckily it was reset on warranty...
Apparently only Ferrari dealers can reset this, and it can cost £115 for the pleasure if you visit Maranellos. Try Verdi's first though, as they are the only dealers outside the Ferrari network with a Ferrari diagnostic and tuning computer. Certainly will be cheaper than Maranellos too.
I fear this post will not make much sense but (I think) its coz I'm really tired. Either that or I'm losing it...
I'm probably losing it to be honest, but can't confirm that till its been confirmed
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