Enzo engine dies at Laguna Seca

If this thinG was made with TI Rods-they are almost CERTAINLY made by PANKL...
A re center to center, new hardware, materials evaluation certificate, bushes, bearrings, retrueing, and a balance of .1 of a gram at 1 inch on two planes for the crank as well
imho...rods should be thoroughly investigated as per previous posters opinion...FWIW

 

Since things are taken apart is this a chance to 'upgrade' or is it just the stock parts being replaced with OEM parts in the motor?
CH

 

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=1212446&stc=1&d=1286591698

out of curiousity, are those all 6 knock sensors located in the block top?

 

We're just replacing the stock parts with OEM parts. That's primarily to maintain the value of the car and because I didn't want to get into a major engineering project.

Yes. Ferrari calls them "detonation sensors".

 

interesting...that's 1 knock sensor (sry. detonation) for each cylinder pair, typically see 1 per 4 cyls
i've done my fair share of engine work, never seen that many before, allows them to run such an aggressive tune

glad to hear things are coming back together for you, and it wasn't a total write-off

do you have any pics of the crank and crank case? i'm curious if they have a barrel type crank case, or conventional (insert nerd mechanical moment here LOL)

 

I was there with my car that day. and havent been here in a while. I spoke to a friend of mine who worked at the Ferrari factory and F1 team and he told me he thought pulling the right strings ferrari would help with the repair. Did you try that route?

 

We did but didn't get too far with the dealer and Ferrari of North America (FNA). FNA says the original Enzo warranty is only 1 year and they wouldn't even help their best customers (which is not me) 7 years later. I'm disappointed and would expect more from FNA, especially with their flagship car and the engine failing without abuse (and proper maintenance) with only 4K miles. They didn't even care why it failed and didn't come to inspect it. That doesn't seem right for Ferrari.

 

Working in the Auto industry I understand the situation you are in... well i guess both sides of the problem.

It may not be your style... and you may have already done this... BUT... try hard and rattle cages. The squeaky wheel gets the grease! Always. I hated it, but the customers who were cool and calm (which were the ones you wanted to help the most) didn't get "taken care of" nearly as often as the ones who were A-holes that you wouldn't stop and help them change a tire... they seemed to have always gotten what they wanted.

If I were you I wouldn't stop rattling the cages at North America, if that failed... Ferrari Spa would be my next stop.

But, i know this route is not for everyone... and I could also see if you purchased your enzo second hand (which most have by now) it could also be more difficult to earn favor... but you really got nothing to lose... except for time.

 

I sure wouldn't --- doesn't surprise me in the least. FNA is worthless to their private customer base. The only "customers" they recognize are the Dealerships. They don't generally give a rip about the folks who actually buy the cars

Seems spot on to me....That's what they do. You gotta be in their "top 5%" to get any attention from Ferrari --- to them, the other 95% of us are nothing more than the aggregate contributing to their balance sheets

 

I can understand why they wouldn't want to foot the bill for the repair 6 years after the warranty expired. However they should show more interest and investigate the reasons for the failure. This is the best car they ever made, bought by some of their top clients who deserve better than this. If it happened to me I'd be fuming

 

I'm not feeling the love from FNA either.

There were a batch of bad valve springs in Enzos where the end tips separated leaving metal particles rolling around in the oil. Ferrari ultimately alerted some that a supplier had problems. I'm sure its to FNA's immediate benefit not to step up and do the right thing

 

How is the rebuild going? Almost finished?

 

Yes, almost finished. The car should be back on the road later this month. Some parts took a while to get. We're still waiting on 3 pistons (we're replacing all 12 pistons and sleeves).

We're being very meticulous. Evey part was ultrasonically cleaned and we replaced the oil pump because we couldn't get the O-rings. We magnaflux tested all parts except the titanium rods which were very carefully inspected and no damage found. The cams, crank, springs and most valves were undamaged. We're replacing all the pistons and sleeves only because we saw noticeable scratches. But those could have been there before the major failure.

I believe it will be better than new. The rebuilder stated that he's seen metal particles in even new Ferrari engines, like spirals from drilled holes. This engine will be absolutely clean.

We're still not exactly sure what caused the original damage, but the rebuilder thinks it could have been due to an overrev condition, possibly occuring when the engine was bouncing off the rev limiter. The valve appears to have been bent first and then broke later. I did notice a ticking sound before the major damage, so that may further support what the rebuilder thinks happened.

 

are you going to use any pre-cautionary methods regarding the over-revving? like changing the way the ECU is so the rev limit is lower?

 

Interesting observation, though surely just brushing the rev limter wouldnt be enough to cause such severe damage?

 

Glad to hear its close to running again Bill, you must have missed it to say the least

Will be a strong running engine with all the care you have taken...looking forward to the pics and description of the "ressurection drive" !

Happy New Year my friend

 

I believe Bill has clipped his toenails and that's all the restraint it gets!

 

And the knowledge that the thing has been put back together correctly, fastidiously will mean that you can enjoy the car even more, also knowing that you and only you is now in total control of the destiny (read: life, longevity) of that engine ..
A friend of mine had a 355, it was about 6 years old and 12k miles when he got it, yet he insisted that he start it and let it idle for 5mins prior to driving so everything is properly upto operating temps and or tolerances etc.. Which is all well and good, I would never condone starting and revving the knackers off any engine when cold anyway, but did the 3 previous registed owners and countless other dealers/salesmen/technicians/delivery drivers/valeters/potential customers who have been near the car pay it the same courtesy?.. I think not!.. So Mr S.. It's been a long, painful and expensive exercise but now you are safe knowing that your engine is just that, your engine.
And thank you for taking the time and letting us know the various ups and downs you have encountered along the way, I have enjoyed following this thread and look forward to the next installment!

 

Finally all the parts are in and the reassembly begins!

The block was ultrasonically cleaned after the sleeves were removed. The next step is to place the block in the oven to get it to 90 degrees C and then insert the semi-frozen Nikasil sleeves with O-rings.
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Here are some of the new parts...
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Bill - maybe you covered this, but curious as i ddint read it.

did FNA at the very least cut you a deal on all the parts or some, or was it at retail , or close too ?

did they even want to know of the rebuild of an "enzo" name sake engine ?

 

Wow. My wallet hurts just looking at it, but looks like it will make a full recovery.

 

Nice pics! Cool parts! Im cracking a woody looking at them.

Are you using liquid nitrogen to get those liners in?

We remove and replace liners at work on engines using a special tool to pull them in and out. One would think Ferrari would do it this way.

Or did they heat the engine up and semi-freeze the liners at the factory when they assembled the engine in the first place?

(They probably just bashed them in with a copper hammer. )

 

great to see things coming back together for you now.........seems like it would be an opportunity to do the 6.3L upgrade (stroke/crank)?

 

Bill: this is a great conclusion, well done. I think this will be a quick Enzo!