How to fix a common 348 Window problem | FerrariChat

How to fix a common 348 Window problem

Discussion in '348/355' started by jjstecher, May 24, 2006.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

  1. jjstecher

    jjstecher Formula Junior

    Jan 21, 2002
    962
    Rochester Minnesota
    Full Name:
    John Stecher
    #1 jjstecher, May 24, 2006
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    Well not sure how common this is but considering it happened to both my doors I have to believe its a little more common than not. The issue with Ferrari's window mechanism in the 348 is that it is just very complicated for what it has to do and is made out of crappy parts with very weak points subject to stress and fracture over the years.

    The way this problem presents itself is either with a window that will not raise or that gets stuck partially down requiring the door to be opened and slammed shut which allows the window to carry on its merry way.

    My passenger door window got stuck three years back all the way down and at a track event last year my driver window exhibited the behavior of getting stuck in a position until I slammed the door.

    In both cases I took apart the door and removed the window motor and carrier mechanism from its mounting onto the inner door sheet metal. Once off it is very clear what was broken on the window carrier. On the driver side door you can see that the bracket that holds the actual carrier in place on the inner door sheet metal was broken off. So that had to be fixed. Then the more common problem that I had on both of my doors and have seen on two other 348's is that where the motor inserts into the cable mechanism that runs inside of the window carrier the one metal tube has snapped off of the motor and just was being supported by the internal threaded tubing that actually raises and lowers the window. That had to be fixed too as the inner threaded tubing is not strong enough to support the windows weight at all times and binds up thus stopping the window from raising or lowering.

    In the pictures below you can see first the gutted door, second the interior door sheet metal, third the broken bracket and fifth the tubing where it broke off (look in the upper right corner of the motor mount, it looked a lot worse originally compared to how it appears in the picture. If you like imagine a 4 inch gap there).

    The fix for this can be very simple...call up FNA or Daniel and shell out a good chunk of change for a new part which is a completely acceptable solution. However since I am cheap and want to get myself another set of Hoosier and Pilot Cups at the moment I decided I would fix this one the way I fixed my passenger door.

    Basically I just whipped out my simple MIG welder and went to town for all of 5 minutes on both parts and welded the broken pieces back in place. I then let it cool, drank a Miller Light, and then added some epoxy over the welds just to make them extra strong and prevent corrosion. I just got the epoxy at Walmart it comes in a tube and looks light play dough and is called Water something...but its really just epoxy in the automotive section. A day later the epoxy had cured and I put it all back together. All I have to do now is get new door fasteners from Daniel at Ricambi.

    With the door back together BOTH of my windows now go up and down faster than on my wife Accord. No lie! If you dont have welding skills dont worry take it down the street to the local shop and they will do it all for you for $20-$30 and it will look better than mine. I know this because a friend didnt trust me welding on his last year and took it to the shop instead. :)

    The last pictures below show the completed weld before epoxy coating on both the bracket and the motor assembly and carrier. If you want more info feel free to ask. Hopefully this is a little contribution back to the community for you answering my questions.

    WARNING on the tubing weld you need to be careful not to heat the tubing to much or penetrate to deep with the weld as you will end up welding the outter tubing to the threaded inner tubing make your window never work again.
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
     
  2. jjstecher

    jjstecher Formula Junior

    Jan 21, 2002
    962
    Rochester Minnesota
    Full Name:
    John Stecher
    #2 jjstecher, May 24, 2006
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
  3. No Doubt

    No Doubt Seven Time F1 World Champ

    May 21, 2005
    72,740
    Vegas+Alabama
    Full Name:
    Mr. Sideways
    #3 No Doubt, May 25, 2006
    Pretty cool!
     
  4. ernie

    ernie Two Time F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa Owner

    Nov 19, 2001
    22,576
    The Brickyard
    Full Name:
    The Bad Guy
    #4 ernie, May 25, 2006
    Nice job John.

    The welds are busted on both my windows too. Every time I close the door you can hear them rattle. Bad design and poor build quality. I think you rewelding them yourself was the best option. I kinda look at it like buying a factory set of 355 headers, waisted money cause they're just gonna bust again. I haven't gotten around to fixing mine yet, but I will eventually.

    The other thing you may want to to do is take care of the three rubber dampend screws for the track bracket, behind were the motor is mounted. They are the things that hold the track to the back of the inside door insert. If you look at your picture were you welded the tubing, it is the thing right next to it with the 8 holes. There are three of those rubber screws, or what ever they are called. The screws with the holes are supposed to be molded inside the rubber, that is screwed to the back of the inside door incert. On your last picture, with the door insert laying on the floor, you can see two of the rubber screw things right next to the door cable. If you look at those you will see that the screws have been torn from the rubber bushings.

    I think these three rubber screw deals could be one of the reasons the welds failed and why your tube broke. So you may want to find some sort of solid solution for attaching the bracket to the inside door insert, or you could have a broken tube and busted welds again. I'm guessing the threaded cable could have been hung up on the tubing, and your slamming the door would dislodged it allowing the window to go up and down.
     
  5. jjstecher

    jjstecher Formula Junior

    Jan 21, 2002
    962
    Rochester Minnesota
    Full Name:
    John Stecher
    #5 jjstecher, May 25, 2006
    You and I are thinking alike Ernie in that I believe those damn little rubber bumpers cause this issue more times than not. The little screws have pulled away from each and every single one I have seen. So I decided to conduct a test on this door which I planned on reporting later but I will at least share the setup now.

    I basically took one off and reinserted the screw and super glued both screws into the thing solid as they are not secured otherwise beyond the rubber lip. The second one I used some flexible epoxy (once again I bought at Walmart on a trip there in the middle of the night) and the third one I took a solid tube of steel, cut it to length and then drilled and tapped the ends, inserted two screws and mounted it with rubber washers on each end to provide some vibration dampening.

    After the summer I plan to take it all apart and see how they all faired.

    Also I left out that on the above reinstall I disconnected all wires, cleaned them good with contact cleaner from Home Depot and then Stabilitant-22'd them all. I also removed that annoying 4.2lb paper weight thing people refer to as a speaker....don't know what they are for as my speakers are in the back of the car and have Tubi written on them. :)
     

Share This Page