| Author | Message | ||
| John A (Jarends)
Member Username: Jarends Post Number: 323 Registered: 7-2001 |
Hi again, As I mentioned, I'm a Pontiac mechanic, can take them apart and back together, but the 328, I will only start working on it because it just cost me a fortune to fix it. I'll know more as I learn. You don't have to take the distributor off to remove the caps. The distributors (four per distributor) attaches to the end of the camshaft on each bank. At least that's what I see, but never worked on them. My understanding is that the seals (about $20.00) each are able to be installed with the caps off, easy job. Under the caps is where you would find the oil or water if any. I assume your spark plug openings are clean and moisture free. If you need new caps, the best deals for cap and rotor are in the UK. The seal can be purchased from Algar. John | ||
| Augustine J. Staino (Azzuro328)
Member Username: Azzuro328 Post Number: 688 Registered: 4-2003 |
John, Good morning. Thanks for the tip. I am off on Thursday so I am going to dedicate part of the day to solving this problem. Is taking the distributor off a big deal? I'm learning as I go. Where would I look for these deposits of oil or condensation? Is there a way to tell if I've had the upgrade? Thanks again for your help! Sincerely, Augustine | ||
| John A (Jarends)
Member Username: Jarends Post Number: 320 Registered: 7-2001 |
Good morning Augustine, From my conversations with Autotechnik, the rubber protects from water either from washing or from driving in the rain. I would replace it, however I didn't ask what the item was or if it comes with a new cap. The most important thing I learned from this is that some 328s may not have the upgrade in the distributors that prevents oil from coming through the shaft into the distributor. Another is condensation. If you take the caps off, look for both, this will cause crossfiring and greatly effect the engine's performance. I've was an auto mechanic for ten years back in the 60-70s and still do the work on my Trans Ams. I never saw a burned insulator from anything wrong with the coil or distributor (maybe when we put a high output coil on). Usually it is age, water, oil or dirt that brings the ground close enough or available to the wire for it to arch. If I were you, I'd check under the distributors to make sure you don't have water or oil. Then I think I'd replace all the extenders. Could be wrong but sometimes it's a process of elimination. John | ||
| Augustine J. Staino (Azzuro328)
Member Username: Azzuro328 Post Number: 679 Registered: 4-2003 |
John, I just noticed that the rubber boot on the left hand distributor cap has a fairly large crack in it. Considering what you just experienced, do you think that this could be contributing to and/or causing these more frequent plug extender failures? Is it possible that replacing the rubber boot would solve the problem? (I hope!!!) It seems like my problem is getting more expensive by the minute and I know that you can relate. I look forward to hearing from you. -Augustine | ||
| John A (Jarends)
Member Username: Jarends Post Number: 319 Registered: 7-2001 |
Should have driven up yesterday, I thought he was recovering from the eye surgery done on Thursday and the w/e with in LI. It was a nice day to drive around, I ended up painting the kitchen. I would be interested in knowing why those extenders go bad. Are they all from the same batch. Did you have the engine cleaned at some point, where the cleaners sometimes weakens the insulation? It doesn't make sense, we have had no problems with the extenders, even after the plugs were replaced (knock on wood, should never had said that). j | ||
| Augustine J. Staino (Azzuro328)
Member Username: Azzuro328 Post Number: 668 Registered: 4-2003 |
Good morning John, It's a good thing that I know how to do that plug extender job now because I had to do it again last night. I was up at Bruce's house and we took the cars out for a blast. The car drove fine all day. As we were leaving I noticed the usual symptoms and pulled back up to the house. Fortunately I had one spare extender with me! I'm just going to go ahead and replace all of the plugs and extenders at one time this week. I can figure out why it keeps happening now. There was no moisture around them and the car had been dry for a while. Oh well. I hope your car is back in good health. Take care. -Augustine | ||
| John A (Jarends)
Member Username: Jarends Post Number: 318 Registered: 7-2001 |
Good morning Augustine. From now on,I'm going to work on my own cars when possible, as well. I could have done this work, but time, time, time. Even have a lift in the garage. Learned a lession on this one. Anyway two distributor caps $585 each /$1170.00 two rotors $ 85 each /$ 170.00 The rest was: labor, new oil seal on back distributor, eight spark plugs, oil change, filter and general tune up and TAX bingo: $2037 Someone told me I could get the caps for 287 in the UK, but I was already committed to the job by then. So it is, live and learn Regards John | ||
| Augustine J. Staino (Azzuro328)
Member Username: Azzuro328 Post Number: 661 Registered: 4-2003 |
Dave, Thanks a lot. I wouldn't go that far yet, but I now see the beauty of working on your own car. It's got to make owning one of these older cars a lot more feasible. Thanks again! John, $2,037! Ouch! What did it end up needing? And thanks again to everyone else that helped. I eally appreciate it!! | ||
| Dave328GTB (Hardtop)
Member Username: Hardtop Post Number: 701 Registered: 1-2002 |
Augustine, You are now an official Ferrari mechanic. Congrats. Dave | ||
| John A (Jarends)
Member Username: Jarends Post Number: 316 Registered: 7-2001 |
Good for you and I'll bet it didn't cost the $2037 that Linda's car needed either. John | ||
| Verell Boaen (Verell)
Intermediate Member Username: Verell Post Number: 1309 Registered: 5-2001 |
That hole's pretty visable. Tiny ones that you can hardly see can cause just about as much grief as this one did. | ||
| Augustine J. Staino (Azzuro328)
Member Username: Azzuro328 Post Number: 640 Registered: 4-2003 |
Here is the bad extender with the small hole visible.  | ||
| Augustine J. Staino (Azzuro328)
Member Username: Azzuro328 Post Number: 638 Registered: 4-2003 |
I did it!!! Thank you all for the help. It ended up being another plug extender. The bad extender was at the far left in the rear bank of cylinders. I am not mechanically inclined so even though it was not a difficult job, I had a huge sense of accomplishment. Again, thank you to all those who responded with advice and instructions, and thank you to Sodacom's for getting the parts to me quickly. This truly is a great group of people! -Augustine | ||
| dave handa (Davehanda)
Intermediate Member Username: Davehanda Post Number: 2111 Registered: 5-2001 |
Marelli caps (oem) are available from Ferrari UK for around $255 or so... | ||
| John A (Jarends)
Member Username: Jarends Post Number: 313 Registered: 7-2001 |
Hey Russ, I know I'm not the only one. This price came from Algar, PA (spelling??). I was in Denmark when I called the mechanic and got the news. Told him to check with Ferraripart.com. He did and said the cap was the same price? Anyway they did have a Japan or China knock off for $248 each, but I didn't want to take the chance. Let you know how it turns out. John | ||
| Russ Turner (Snj5)
Member Username: Snj5 Post Number: 631 Registered: 2-2003 |
John I know the feeling well - which is why I am converting to a single reliable distributor with low replacement costs on my 3.2. Hang in there, and check around for better prices. best rt | ||
| John A (Jarends)
Member Username: Jarends Post Number: 312 Registered: 7-2001 |
Hi Augustine, Just got the word on my wife 328. when the mechanic took off the distributor caps, he found water, wear and oil in one. The cross firing was caused by this and made the misfire, etc. I found out that there was an upgrade on a seal in the distributor due to oil coming up the shaft and into the distributor. This was a problem and although her's was fixed, apparently the seal on the back distributor failed. He is replaceing the caps and rotors after installing a new seal and said this should stop the problem. My problem???? Caps 2x$548.00 Rotors 2x$65.00. They're out of they're f**king minds, but what can I say, they should be made out of gold. John | ||
| Augustine J. Staino (Azzuro328)
Member Username: Azzuro328 Post Number: 633 Registered: 4-2003 |
top | ||
| Erik (Teenferrarifan)
Member Username: Teenferrarifan Post Number: 400 Registered: 2-2003 |
Augustine good luck. Let us know how it goes. You coming to PA anytime soon? Erik | ||
| Bruce Wellington (Bws88tr)
Advanced Member Username: Bws88tr Post Number: 3430 Registered: 4-2002 |
GOT YOUR TOOLS?? | ||
| Augustine J. Staino (Azzuro328)
Member Username: Azzuro328 Post Number: 632 Registered: 4-2003 |
Okay, apparently my plugs and extenders have arrived at my house. I will attempt to perform this operation tommorow. I just want to check and make sure that I have everything that I need. -new plug -new plug extender -anti-seize grease -swivel jointed socket wrench (in toolkit) -torque wrench Am I missing anything? | ||
| Augustine J. Staino (Azzuro328)
Member Username: Azzuro328 Post Number: 618 Registered: 4-2003 |
Tim, Thanks. I'll take a look. | ||
| Tim M (Tim_mooney)
New member Username: Tim_mooney Post Number: 20 Registered: 10-2003 |
Augustine, I recently replaced the protection relay in my 328. Check out the thread " '86 328 intermittant hesitation" and compare notes. Tim Mooney | ||
| Augustine J. Staino (Azzuro328)
Member Username: Azzuro328 Post Number: 604 Registered: 4-2003 |
Thanks guys! I will attempt to do this as soon as the parts get here. If I run into any hurdles, I'll let you know. Thanks again. -Augustine | ||
| Verell Boaen (Verell)
Intermediate Member Username: Verell Post Number: 1264 Registered: 5-2001 |
Most extenders have a hair-pin shaped spring that fits in a slot in the brass contact for the spark plug tip. The burn-thru usually occurrs due to one of the spring tips arcing thru the body of the extender. Best way to spot a burn-thru is to look at the inside of the extender. Usually a burn-thru leaves about a 1/4" diameter sooty black spot. The outside of a burn-thru is often only be a tiny black pinhole. I've taken to cutting/fileing the spring ends as short as possible, and rounding the ends off. It seems to have helped because I haven't had a burn-thru in quite a while. I bought some spare extenders a while back & they had c-clips instead of the hairpin springs. IMHO much less likely to arc-thru. | ||
| Dave328GTB (Hardtop)
Member Username: Hardtop Post Number: 693 Registered: 1-2002 |
Augustine, It is easy to check extenders. Just pull the wires out by the boots, don't pull on the wires themselves. The extenders normally stay in the boots, but sometimes you may have to pull them out of the hole. Inspet them carefully for holes. Usually they are obvious, sometimes not. When putting back in, pust on the center of the boots to make sure the connections are made. Spark plugs are harder. I don't recommend pulling them unless you have compressed air to blow out the spark plug holes first in case there is some foreign matter in the hole which you will not want falling into the cylinder when a plug is removed. Your tool kit should have a spark plug socket and universal joint you can use. The 1-4 bank is easy, the 5-8 bank requires some patience but is not hard. Dave | ||
| Augustine J. Staino (Azzuro328)
Member Username: Azzuro328 Post Number: 602 Registered: 4-2003 |
Dave, Thanks for the reply. I ordered some plugs and extenders last night so that I have a few to work with. Is checking them a fairly easy job? I'm not very mechanically inclined. Also, it appears that the access to most of the plugs isn't very good. If it isn't too much trouble, could you email me some basic (well, not too basic) instructions on how to accomplish this task. What tools I might need, etc. Not only would I love to learn how to do as much maintainance as I can on my own, it will no doubt save me a few bucks. My email is: [email protected]. Thank you very much!  -Augustine | ||
| Dave328GTB (Hardtop)
Member Username: Hardtop Post Number: 692 Registered: 1-2002 |
Augustine, It's probably another extender. They are normally inspected, but not replaced during service. The most common cause of failure is moisture getting into the spark plug holes, which often happens when people try to clean their motors. I always have a couple of spares. I would not drive it far because a dead cylinder puts raw fuel into the cat and causes it to overheat. Can also dilute your oil, foul the plug, etc. I would pull them myself and check carefully for holes or carbon spots where a hole is about to be. If you find an offender, order up a couple to your home. Alternatively, the plug in the hole that had a bad extender previously may have had it's life shortened. You can try replacing it if you don't find a bad extender. Dave | ||
| Augustine J. Staino (Azzuro328)
Member Username: Azzuro328 Post Number: 600 Registered: 4-2003 |
Hello Everyone, Some of you might remember that when I had the 45k service done on my car in July, it started running rough as soon as I got it home. I had started the car that night and it immediately began sputtering, vibrating, and it felt like it had a missfire. I brought the car back to the shop that did the service and they traced the problem to a small hole that had burned through the #8 cylinder spark plug insulator. They replaced that part and it ran great ever since. Last night I started the car and it began to run rough again. It is behaving exactly as it did before. When the car is started it will sputter and missfire up to about 3,000 RPM. After it hits 3k RPM the engine will smooth out. Once it dips below 3k RPM again, the rough running returns. I have a few questions: 1. Part of the major service that I had done was to replace all of the spark plugs. Is replacing all of the spark plug insulators a routine part of this service? 2. If it is the same problem, does a hole burning through one of the insulators point to a different problem elsewhere? (I've been told that it is a common problem) 3. I live quite a distance from the nearest Ferrari service shop. In the car's current state, would it be a bad idea to drive it there? (probably a dumb question, but I had to ask) Any and all responses will be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance! -Augustine |