This post is part one of a two part maintenance log that was performed ahead of my recent trip. Without fail there is always something to attend to on this car.
AC Service
During the last road trip I noticed that vent temperature was not as low as it should be, so I decided to have the A/C system serviced with new gas, lubricant, and receiver/dryer. The OEM part is cheap at £25, but a quick browse on the Internet revealed that it looks to be the same unit used in some Land Rover models with alternative part number JRJ100550, so there should be an alternative source if ever Ferrari discontinue the part.
I use a local F1 Autocentre for tracking & A/C as I've always found them to be very good; they were kind enough to disrupt the refill cycle to let me fit the new dryer, which took only five minutes because I'd removed the wipers and scuttle panel prior to arriving at F1.
The owners manual lists the R 134 A capacity as 800 ± 30 g, and mine was down to 536 - so no surprise that the system wasn't cooling as effectively as it should. The system passed the vac test and was refilled with 800g.
AC Compressor Engagement Issue
I had an intermittent A/C compressor engagement issue. The electronics side is simple to diagnose with two main circuits:
1) Control
The HVAC panel is the control source, with a 12v switched live output passing through a combination high pressure/low pressure switch to pin 40 on the right-hand-side engine ECU.
2) Load
If the right-hand-side engine ECU is satisfied that the correct engine operating conditions exist for compressor activation i.e. not at WOT etc. then pin 22 is earthed, which is wired to the earth side of the compressor activation relay (PSR1) in the left hand side central junction box (CBL9). The coil is fed from fuse PDF12 in the right hand side central junction box (CBR9), but jointly it supplies other key components which were OK in my car therefore I skipped a check. The load side of the relay is fed from 15a fuse PSF19 in the left hand side central junction box (CBL9)
In my case the fuses and relay were fine. I tested compressor activation at idle by briefly earthing the compressor relay coil, knowing that the issue was very unlikely to lie within the engine ECU itself - the compressor clutch clicked on. I knew that the load side of the circuit was OK so next I turned my attention to the pressure switch behind the access panel in the front luggage compartment, as that's a point where I could test for the incoming switched live from the HAC panel - which could be a possible root case - and check status of the switch; if pressure is either too high or too low then the switch will remain open and prevent compressor engagement.
I found the root cause to be something unexpected: the locking barb for the electrical connector had obviously weakened over time and had allowed the connector to migrate away from the switch body, leading to a poor connection. I fixed this by packing the connector body with a piece of plastic which forced the locking barb onto the switch, but later on when I have more time I shall replace the connector with a new part.
Becker Aux Lead
My car had the optional iPod interface which I used for a couple of years but lately it wasn't of any use to me. I removed the interface to swap with a simple 3.5mm input aux cable which would provide more flexibility.
The Becker head units uses the old mini ISO connectors for the various auxiliary functions that may be added. As my car was optioned with sat nav, I found that the powered GPS antenna was wired to the 'powered radio aerial' pins on the blue connector, so I used some cheap Chinese pin extraction tools to add the GPS antennae power wires to the new blue aux plug.
A small cable tie to protect the wires from being pulled out of the housing, and the new aux lead was good to go.
Brakes
Whilst cleaning and inspecting the brakes I noticed an issue: the masking for the powder coat job I had done during the last refurb had missed the 4mm bare metal area around the circumference of the pistons. The new powder coat was too close to the piston bores, had begun to deteriorate, and would very likely lead to a future issue. This was an unwanted discovery, but despite limited time left before the trip I decided to strip and rebuild the front calipers.
I used a Dremel to remove the unwanted powder coat, and thoroughly cleaned out the calipers with brake cleaner. New seals, naturally. My Dad very kindly re-polished all of the pistons.
I use a pressure bleeder to refresh the fluid, and here is the business end of the operation. Previously I used a piece of tube pushed over the bleed nipple but it was always prone to weeping, so I've upgraded to a moulded rubber push on fitting which works perfectly - now the whole operation is completely dry.
I took the opportunity to de-glaze the pads with some 80 grit wet-and-dry paper.