Ferrari Mailing List: Re: some F355 questions

[Dennis Liu (BigHeadDennis]

A few responses on top of Dave Handa's very helpful reply:


>The speedometer never goes back down to zero when the car is stopped - it
stays at around 15 mph.  This makes me wonder if the reading is accurate
when the car is moving.  Anyone else seen this or know of a fix (other than
replacing the speedometer) - is the cable going bad?

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Nope.  Every Ferrari is this way.  You'll also find that virtually all
Ferraris up to the 355, and perhaps including the 360, have VERY optimistic
speedos, on the order of at least 10%.



>The electronic suspension adjustment does not seem to be working (at least
I can't tell if it is).  When I switch between comfort and sport mode I
don't notice any difference in ride or handling.  Is this something only
noticeable when driving on a race track or going really fast on a twisty
road?

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You should definitely notice a difference, usually when driving over rougher
pavement.  It's tougher to notice additional roll, for example, for someone
who's not put a lot of time in behind the wheel.  But don't fret too much -
if the suspension system has a problem it will most definitely illuminate
the trouble light.

 

>What do you use for topping off engine oil when needed?  Any other advice
on general maintenance or engine care?  What is the "valve problem" I have
heard about - was it only on the first year models?

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I use either 10W-40 or 15W-50 Mobil 1, but basically any good synthetic
motor oil will suffice.  Follow Dave's oil-level-checking procedure.

The valve problem lays in excessive wear of the exhaust valve guides.  Lots
of theories and info on this topic, suffice it to say that it exists on '96,
'97 and even some '98 cars.  Can be very expensive to fix, but sometimes
people spend a lot of time on a full engine out major service with a valve
job when a carbon-build up is actually the root cause of the problem
(resulting in poor leakdown/compression test results).

 

>My local Ferrari dealer did a leak down and compression test prior to my
purchase.  Results came in within 2% of factory specs which I think is
pretty good - correct me if I am mistaken.

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Nope, that's great!

Vty,

--Dennis