ferraris just dont like being fixed

I think this is why they need to be driven and not become a garage queen. Mine sat for a couple months and the throttle stuck.

 

I think it's common for a 'new-to-you' old car to need a few things. When I got mine, it was supposedly perfect, but I had a power window switch fail (due to dirty contacts) on day 2, a courtesy light switch in the door dead on arrival and a couple of missing/damaged rubber trim pieces.

The above post is probably right. New owners can be a godsend for these cars, because we drive them more, use the controls, and invest the time/money to put things right.

Sometimes I'm tempted by other Ferraris, but once you've got yours sorted out you'll understand why some of us don't like to sell them: there's usually an annoying 'catch-up' period for this sorting.

(As an aside: an 80K-mile car, 22 years old, needing motors and new climate control cables seems pretty reasonable... mechanical stuff ages/wears out.)

 

All is explained below.

As the owner of an Italian vehicle, you have undoubtedly found that, from time to time, the thing defies all known laws of Physics. Distinguished researchers from all over the world have spent entire lives trying to understand such phenomena. Recently, the Six Laws of Italian Sports Cars were discovered, thus reducing most owners' dependency on sorcerers and prayer, to keep such cars running.

Careless application of these laws to any individual auto may fix the problems of the moment, but cause hives or allergies in said owners.


1) THE LAW OF PLEASING DESIGN WHERE IT REALLY DOESN'T MATTER

"The inside of cam covers or other relatively innocuous areas, shall be laced with buttresses, cross-bracing and all manner of esoteric stiffness-with-lightness design, while something like connecting rods shall self-destruct at redline plus 1.0 rpm due to a basic lack of strength."

An example of this Law is the stunningly beautiful Lamborghini or Ferrari V-12's of the late '60's. They were famous for wearing out all four camshafts in 10,000 miles or less. The cam's metal appeared to be recycled coat hangers, which coincidentally are still in short supply in Italy.



2) THE LAW OF NON-FUNCTIONAL APPARATUS

"All Italian Sports Cars, regardless of age, shall have at least one system or component which does not work, and cannot be repaired. Such a part shall never be mentioned in the Official Shop Manual, although there may be an out-of-focus picture shown."

It goes without saying that such parts should never under any circumstances be removed, lest the natural balance of the car be upset.



3)THE LAW OF ELECTRICAL CHAOS

"All Italian Sports Cars shall be wired at the Factory by a cross-eyed, color-blind worker, using whatever supplies are within reach. All wires shall change color-code at least once between energy source and component. all grounds shall be partially insulated."

This tends to guarantee that the owner of such vehicles will eventually be intimately familiar with its electrical system, since he will need to trace out each wire, then rewrite his Official Schematic, which will differ from all others in at least one area.



4)THE LAW OF PERSONAL ABUSE

"The more an Italian auto breaks down, the more endearing it becomes to its increasingly irrational owner."

For example, you purchase an Italian Sports car, for all the money you ever hoped to earn, and receive a ticket for air pollution on the way home from the dealer due to the vast clouds of smoke that follow you. Several return trips to said dealer, accompanied by your rapidly dwindling cash reserves, cures the smoking. But now, the engine sounds like a food processor full of ball-bearings. After replacing every component in the car, including the radio speakers, the noise vanishes and is replaced by an odor reminiscent of a major fire in a goat-hair mattress factory. You still keep trying, God help you.



5)THE LAW OF UNAVAILABLE PARTS

"All parts of an Italian sports car shall be made of a material that is available in inverse proportion to its operating half-life."

Thus, the speedometer hold-down screws are made of grade 8 cold rolled steel, while the valves are of fabricated Unobtanium, made only at midnight by an old man with a pointy hat covered with moons and stars. Such parts will be backordered during the design phase of the car, and will remain so forever. Bribes, pleading and threats will be ignored.



6)THE LAW OF CRYPTIC INSTRUCTIONS

"Any official publications dealing with repair, maintenance or operations of an Italian sports car, shall be written such that every fourth word is incomprehensible to the average American. In the event that a random sentence is understandable, its information shall be wrong."

This is also known as flat-tire English, where a sentence flows along nicely, then-Kaboom!

 

Steve has it.......LOL!

Or as I like to explain to newbies, just becuse you fix THIS today..

*pointing*

does NOT mean THIS other thing...

*pointing*

will not break next week........

 

English cars are the same. Since each part in my car does at least 3 seperate things, there can be a chain reaction in repairs. For example, I squashed my exhaust on a curb, and bought a new SS system rather than replace the crossover tube. A beautiful system custom made for the car, but a larger diameter tube fouled the shift linkage (so much for the "custom" part of custom). That repair resulted in a broken roll pin in said linkage, which then resulted in a rubber bushing on the retaining bracket getting decimated since it now shifted smoother. THAT repair necessitated the replacement of a UJ at the rear of the linkage as it was also worn. At least the car now shifts a lot better, and sounds great, but what nightmare!

And don't get me started on the electrics! Talk about one thing causing chain reactions...

But as stated, you DO get to a point where the thing is sorted, and even somewhat reliable. You just have to hang in there and keep after it.

Ken

 

Thank you. Frankly, no anal retentive person should EVER buy an old British or Italian automobile.

Frankly, am GLAD i had a track incident at T3 on NHIS race track. That first dent now makes the other small things that happened before and after seem like yawners. And no, never fixed the NHIS dent though did clean it and put a few coats of touch up paint/sealant on it to avoid rust.

If people want reliability, buy modern Japanese. i hear Toyota is #1 selling car in America, and i bet ya there is a good reason

 

Yep, the Camry beat the 308 on Consumer Reports' recommend used car list again.

 

Well, they would be right, if you want to drive a taxi.
But I know which car 99.9% of people would rather have. The 308!

 

Hope you did this inside of the panel as well...

 

What shop has it been in, Dave? I'm wondering if I saw it while mine was in for a fluid change.

 

Im going out on a limb because I dont know whos doing your work, but I smell a rat. Both window motors dont just "go out". Wiper motors do die on occasion, but the steel climate control cables dont just "snap".

If you gave the car over to have new interior put in, they removed the console. I dont know what model 308 you have, but if its newer, your window switches are there. Your climate control cables are there. I even believe your wiper switch is there. It may even be likely your fuel gauge is in the console? Do you see a pattern? It sounds like someone is losing time and labor on thier bid, and supplementing with expensive and unnecessary parts. Thats if they are even replacing them.

Hate to sound untrusting, but you may want to take a look at this. My car is 30 years old and so are most of its parts. They arent the cheap piles of crap we have been led to believe all these years by shops that want to run up large labor and parts bills. They love having the car in the shop to impress customers on how great thier meachanical ability is, while they milk you for every dime and dollar you can ever hope to have. My latest 308 had a windshield installed out in NJ. Its the biggest hack job I have even seen, and they charged the guy over a $1000 to install it to top it off. 99% of window motor trouble is connections and grounds. Those motors will probably never wear out, and never simultaneously. Impossible I say!

 

Not to defend a repair shop I've never heard of (might be a crook or two out there), but I've seen things break on British and Italian cars just sitting quietly in the shop. It's crazy when you keep chasing problems that weren't there yesterday.

It's as if some of these cars don't want to go home.

 

Very true. The previous owner decides they can live with a few defects, then we buy it and want it "perfect."

 

Like a neighbors dog who keeps hanging out at your house and cowers at your feet when the owner comes? It is funny sometimes, how some particular cars just need a mechanic to drive them. Hand the car to someone who dont know a lot and poof, somethings wrong again. Its like Fonzie having that special way of whacking the Jukebox, or that special touch that made the car start instantly. Some cars just seem to like certain people.

I was just simply commenting that all of those issues with the car are console related. Even if the fuel gauge isnt in the console, the wiring to it is. Having had both my cars consoles apart and removed and replaced, I can admit its difficult to work with without causing any harm. But there really is no reason to break the control cables for the heating and ventilation. Any binding in moving them is usually just a matter of setting the open and close points and some lubricant, along with making sure they are routed without any sharp turns or kinks.

 

If things didn't break,
what would we do with all the spare parts and mechanics?

 

I'm on your side on this one. Mostly these cars just need a little TLC by someone who cares. Most things that did not work could be fixed, not needing to be replaced. The parts are pretty high quality IMHO.