355 sticking throttle issue on cold start up, car redlines
355 sticking throttle issue on cold start up, car redlines
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RetroTed

Original Poster:

1,029 posts

225 months

Tuesday 29th July
quotequote all
Hi all, hoping someone will know the answer to this

Our 355 is normally a display piece, however on the odd occasion it's started it appears to randomly rev to the redline by itself from cold start up. I've looked at the throttle cables and the throttle housing and everything seems fine. If you push the throttle pedal half a dozen times before start up it's fine and it doesn't do it when driving

Weirdly the throttle is spring loaded so I don't see how it's revving by itself ??

Any ideas please

EVOeng

962 posts

186 months

Tuesday 29th July
quotequote all
Possibly pedal pivot bush, gets stuck with old hard grease. Best to disassemble, clean, regrease and put it all back together.

RetroTed

Original Poster:

1,029 posts

225 months

Wednesday 30th July
quotequote all
Hi
Thanks for the comment. The throttle pedal is in the normal position when we start the car so it should just tick over as normal

It's like the throttle is being held wide open without touching the throttle ??

Bispal

1,837 posts

167 months

Wednesday 30th July
quotequote all
Sticky throttle cable. Grease inside is old and gone hard. You need a new throttle cable. If you are in the South East speak to Dan Mayo at MMS Technik. He did mine on my drive at home.

Thom

1,722 posts

263 months

Wednesday 30th July
quotequote all
The throttle cable must be routed correctly in between the hoses to the water pump or it may not slide freely inside its sheath and that can make the sticky pedal effect worse.
It sounds like the whole mechanism needs a thorough clean up, between the pedal box, the cable and even perhaps the throttle bodies.

M138

638 posts

7 months

Thursday 31st July
quotequote all
Not sure if a Ferrari 355 has a throttle potentiometer but when it went on my Maserati 4200 that revd high on start up.

RetroTed

Original Poster:

1,029 posts

225 months

Thursday 31st July
quotequote all
Thom said:
The throttle cable must be routed correctly in between the hoses to the water pump or it may not slide freely inside its sheath and that can make the sticky pedal effect worse.
It sounds like the whole mechanism needs a thorough clean up, between the pedal box, the cable and even perhaps the throttle bodies.
Hi Thom and thanks for your response. My issue that i'm struggling with is, the car ticks over lovely when we park it up at night. Nothing sticking and all is well. When we come to it in the morning it sometimes redlines when we start it up without touching any pedals at all so and this is why i'm scratching my head

ex-devonpaul

1,483 posts

153 months

Thursday 31st July
quotequote all
If it is OK UNLESS you press the throttle, then I can't see how a sticking throttle would cause it as you'd need to open it somehow.

Perhaps the Air Control Valve that controls fast idle - plenty around like Ebay item 332395612825

F355GTS

3,788 posts

271 months

Thursday 31st July
quotequote all
Carpet mats fouling the floor mounted pedal are a known problem

Bispal

1,837 posts

167 months

Friday 1st August
quotequote all
Why don't you take it to a specialist.

RetroTed

Original Poster:

1,029 posts

225 months

Friday 1st August
quotequote all
Bispal said:
Why don't you take it to a specialist.
Because you have to wait weeks to book in, it costs a fortune and I like to fettle with stuff

Bispal

1,837 posts

167 months

Friday 1st August
quotequote all
RetroTed said:
Bispal said:
Why don't you take it to a specialist.
Because you have to wait weeks to book in, it costs a fortune and I like to fettle with stuff
I did post details of one who will come to your house and you're not having much luck self diagnosing.

gotoPzero

19,151 posts

205 months

Friday 1st August
quotequote all
Its possible its the cable - but I doubt it from what you said as the sticky throttle cable normally does not induce red line revs - just a fast idle.

2.7 or 5.2?

How is it running once its up to temp? Rough or as it should? Does it seem like its down a cyl?

How does the exhaust smell - rich or ok?

gotoPzero

19,151 posts

205 months

Sunday 3rd August
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Any update OP?

Gary C

13,891 posts

195 months

Sunday 3rd August
quotequote all
ISC valve I bet.

Looks like a silver cylinder, gets stuck open.

Cactussed

5,330 posts

229 months

Monday 4th August
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355 is a simple cable throttle. You press the accelerator and the cable acts on a lever which is located in the V of the engine.
Tapping the throttle a few times before you start would indicate a mechanical issue, so before you start it next time, I'd lift the expansion tank and check the position of the linkage.

Secondary potential problems maybe the idle control valve (although that's ECA controlled, so pressing the throttle a few times wouldn't matter).

An air leak would give you persistent rough running, so I'd discount that for now.

NRG1976

1,942 posts

26 months

Monday 4th August
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It can only be a handful of issues, first one to rule out is the throttle cable. The fact you said pumping the pedal a few times before starting suggests a mechanical issue of that nature,

TIGA84

5,415 posts

247 months

Thursday 7th August
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Gary C said:
ISC valve I bet.

Looks like a silver cylinder, gets stuck open.
If thats the cylinder in front of the V of the plenum chambers where they split (mechanically minded, I am not), then yes, I'd go with that as well. Mine had the same, although it would stick whilst driving as well.

Thom

1,722 posts

263 months

Thursday
quotequote all
An ISV stuck open would be surprising as they are closed by default but cleaning them with WD40 can always help if they are extremely dirty.

Probably unrelated but did you disconnect the battery recently? If it was disconnected then the engine should be left idling 10 minutes upon the first start up after reconnecting the battery with everything else turned off (A/C in particular) so that ECU(s) can relearn all basic parameters (especially idle parameters). This is mentioned in the owner's manual.
I only leave the engine idle for a full 3 minutes then when manoeuvring the car I make sure to baby the throttle as to avoid sharp dips in revs, particularly when engaging the clutch. If the ECU(s) see wide RPM variations during the learning phase this may lead to an excessively high idle speed when warm after the 10 min relearn phase is over (observed on both my F355 and 550).

If the relearn was done correctly and if the issue is still there, what happens if you start the engine with ISV(s) disconnected?

gotoPzero

19,151 posts

205 months

Thursday
quotequote all
Given this was the OPs first post in nearly 3 years I expect we will probably get GTA6 before we know what the cause was.