I go from 1st to 3rd to start out, and then downshift to 2nd when coming to a stop. After that, you can use 2nd gear normally. After 30 years of 328 ownership, I have found that this works best.
The no second gear when cold is much less of a problem than people think because the gear rations in the Ferrari box are so short that the 1 to 3 shift is almost like the 1 to 2 shift in a normal car. Not having 2nd is almost a blessing because going directly to third discourages you from winding out the engine, which you don't want to do when it's cold anyway. And, of course, you can always get second if you double-clutch.
No second gear until the gear box warms up is so real. I've never owned a Ferrari but my ex bandmate had a couple, including a 308, and it took like 15 minutes to warm up the gear box, even in LA. I couldn't get his Mondial in second either (he warned me ahead of time) when I helped him move his cars to a different garage.
Good points! I can attest to the spark plug leads and fuel meter issues on my 328 and Testarossa. I don’t really have a hard to get into 2nd oddly enough on either! Hard is perhaps a matter of expectations I guess. Definitely is the case on my 550. But 100% they all work so much better when you drive them more than once a week and for at least 50-75 km’s and ideally more at each stint. Cheers Jason
Have the 328 and already experienced the extender plug problem, which was as you said, easy to find and cheap to fix. Also, my 2nd gear is as you said a bit hard to get in, but after +- 5 minutes it goes in pretty okish for an old car. Having the car for 3 years now, I had to get a new waterpump (cheap and easy, since accessible through wheel house) a new steering rack (too much play and a loose hose clamp, leaking cooling fluid and headlights not coming out (2 cables on the circuit board on passenger side had to be soldered), lights not working at all (1 solder point on lever at the steering wheel was loose). I drive it pretty often (around 5k km/year) so the stalling of fuel shouldn't be a problem (fingers crossed).
I’ve had the 328 for 15 yrs now,, It’s been the most reliable car I have ever had relatively speaking..Not had the issue with the extenders but did have an issue with a bad Front bank HT lead,, this is fairly common as well as it gets pretty damn hot against the firewall.. In the 15 yrs I have had it, besides regular servicing, I have,, Replaced the water pump, Had the radiator repaired, Replaced the steering rack, refreshed all the suspension bushes whilst replacing the steering rack, replaced the shift shaft seal which is very common in the 308-328 series,,This also fixed the cold 2nd gear issue as I had it perfectly aligned as well. Never had an issue with the Parking brake though,,Mine works quite fine,,#28 Parking Brake is a better /revised version of the 308,, Had a GT4 and yeah the Parking Brake was useless inn that,, suffered from the bent lever as well.. I always park it in gear regardless. Funnily enough, all the above mentioned work has been done in the last 3 yrs, besides the HT lead issue. Still on the original set of brake pads and clutch,, granted the car has 25K miles.. I do try to drive it as much as I can which is probably only 3-400 miles /year though..
@@joevarga5982 so a common issue with all the 308 series steering rack is the internal passenger side bush which is made out of nylon,, With wear and tear and l would think age, the bush wears out and in some cases disintegrates so you experience a lot of play in the passenger side control arm.. Before the 328 l owned a 74 Dino GT4 and that had the same issue but l had that rack reconditioned, I had a bronze bush made up for that.. At the time of doing the 328, l couldn’t find anyone that would recondition the rack and it was just easier/quicker to buy a new one from Superformance in the UK, I actually reconditioned the whole suspension including new springs, reconditioned front and rear shocks (original Koni) and all the A arm suspension bushes, including the shock bushes of course.. Total transformation of the car as although my car only has just over 25000 miles, the years had perished the rubber components.
@@rdenir I had a 1981 GTSi. I had a shimmy in the steering wheel and I took in to Bill Rudd Motors in Van Nuys around 1987. The tech told me I needed a new rack, at great cost. I had the wheels re-balanced and the issue was gone.
@@joevarga5982 I wish that’s all my car needed.. Jack the car up, Moved the front passenger wheel and you will see the control arm move up and down which indicates the worn bush.. When l had the GT4, The rack cost $450 to recondition + $100 to have the bronze bush made,, The new rack cost from memory $700 so l opted to go new
@@rdenir I verified that my bushings were just fine. The shop tried to rip me. There's a lot of fraud out there. They got me on a clutch job one time. The "new" clutch was done after about 1,000 miles. I'm sure they just adjusted it instead of replacing it. Con artists. I guess they're no longer in business.
I go from 1st to 3rd to start out, and then downshift to 2nd when coming to a stop. After that, you can use 2nd gear normally. After 30 years of 328 ownership, I have found that this works best.
The no second gear when cold is much less of a problem than people think because the gear rations in the Ferrari box are so short that the 1 to 3 shift is almost like the 1 to 2 shift in a normal car. Not having 2nd is almost a blessing because going directly to third discourages you from winding out the engine, which you don't want to do when it's cold anyway.
And, of course, you can always get second if you double-clutch.
No second gear until the gear box warms up is so real. I've never owned a Ferrari but my ex bandmate had a couple, including a 308, and it took like 15 minutes to warm up the gear box, even in LA. I couldn't get his Mondial in second either (he warned me ahead of time) when I helped him move his cars to a different garage.
Good points!
I can attest to the spark plug leads and fuel meter issues on my 328 and Testarossa. I don’t really have a hard to get into 2nd oddly enough on either! Hard is perhaps a matter of expectations I guess. Definitely is the case on my 550. But 100% they all work so much better when you drive them more than once a week and for at least 50-75 km’s and ideally more at each stint. Cheers
Jason
Have the 328 and already experienced the extender plug problem, which was as you said, easy to find and cheap to fix. Also, my 2nd gear is as you said a bit hard to get in, but after +- 5 minutes it goes in pretty okish for an old car.
Having the car for 3 years now, I had to get a new waterpump (cheap and easy, since accessible through wheel house) a new steering rack (too much play and a loose hose clamp, leaking cooling fluid and headlights not coming out (2 cables on the circuit board on passenger side had to be soldered), lights not working at all (1 solder point on lever at the steering wheel was loose). I drive it pretty often (around 5k km/year) so the stalling of fuel shouldn't be a problem (fingers crossed).
Really useful tips. Thanks.
I’ve had the 328 for 15 yrs now,, It’s been the most reliable car I have ever had relatively speaking..Not had the issue with the extenders but did have an issue with a bad Front bank HT lead,, this is fairly common as well as it gets pretty damn hot against the firewall..
In the 15 yrs I have had it, besides regular servicing, I have,,
Replaced the water pump, Had the radiator repaired, Replaced the steering rack, refreshed all the suspension bushes whilst replacing the steering rack, replaced the shift shaft seal which is very common in the 308-328 series,,This also fixed the cold 2nd gear issue as I had it perfectly aligned as well.
Never had an issue with the Parking brake though,,Mine works quite fine,,#28 Parking Brake is a better /revised version of the 308,, Had a GT4 and yeah the Parking Brake was useless inn that,, suffered from the bent lever as well..
I always park it in gear regardless.
Funnily enough, all the above mentioned work has been done in the last 3 yrs, besides the HT lead issue.
Still on the original set of brake pads and clutch,, granted the car has 25K miles..
I do try to drive it as much as I can which is probably only 3-400 miles /year though..
Why did you replace the steering rack?
@@joevarga5982 so a common issue with all the 308 series steering rack is the internal passenger side bush which is made out of nylon,,
With wear and tear and l would think age, the bush wears out and in some cases disintegrates so you experience a lot of play in the passenger side control arm..
Before the 328 l owned a 74 Dino GT4 and that had the same issue but l
had that rack reconditioned,
I had a bronze bush made up for that..
At the time of doing the 328, l couldn’t find anyone that would recondition the rack and it was just easier/quicker to buy a new one from Superformance in the UK,
I actually reconditioned the whole suspension including new springs, reconditioned front and rear shocks (original Koni) and all the A arm suspension bushes, including the shock bushes of course..
Total transformation of the car as although my car only has just over 25000 miles, the years had perished the rubber components.
@@rdenir I had a 1981 GTSi. I had a shimmy in the steering wheel and I took in to Bill Rudd Motors in Van Nuys around 1987. The tech told me I needed a new rack, at great cost. I had the wheels re-balanced and the issue was gone.
@@joevarga5982 I wish that’s all my car needed..
Jack the car up,
Moved the front passenger wheel and you will see the control arm move up and down which indicates the worn bush..
When l had the GT4,
The rack cost $450 to recondition + $100 to have the bronze bush made,,
The new rack cost from memory $700 so l opted to go new
@@rdenir I verified that my bushings were just fine. The shop tried to rip me. There's a lot of fraud out there.
They got me on a clutch job one time. The "new" clutch was done after about 1,000 miles. I'm sure they just adjusted it instead of replacing it. Con artists. I guess they're no longer in business.