Oil on manifold, no fluid in coolant reservoir

Hopefully, it's not anything really serious, but the coolant tank shouldn't run dry. And if you don't have coolant all over your garage floor, then... I don't know if this is what your problem is, but because it could be very serious, I suggest you check out a possible heat exchanger problem, discussed here (I am not necessarily recommending the fix and don't even know if the part actually exists but the problem sounds like it could be yours): http://www.dynamtechgroup.com/ferrari-tranny-cooler.php

Please report back here once you find the problem and cure.

 

190-210 is normal operating temps for my 2001 360. I live in Texas, right now the outside temps are around 95*-100*, my car usually runs around 200* with the AC on. If i get in traffic or sit at a stop light for a couple minutes my temp will rise to 210*.
What are the outside temps where you live?

 

"Ticking Time Bomb" thats what this company kept repeating over and over to try to scare you into buying their part. I don't like that kind of sales approach. Do they have any kind of statistical evidence to suppport what they are saying. Probably not. WHat if their part is just another "Ticking Time Bomb"?

 

Agree with this, even the F430 seems to have a "Time Bomb" I don't know the reputation of this company but no doubt, they explain how dangerous the stock heat exchangers are...and for sure..no word, no technical details, nothing about their so called better heat exchangers sold at > 1.000 $! I never heard of a failing heat exchanger on a 360/430, so I don't think we have to worry about this.

Thus, I don't believe that your coolant is going into the transmission oil! You have to make some tests. Fill up will coolant and find out how long it takes before the tank is empty. BTW, did you or your shop recently bleed the coolant? If they did, maybe they didn't fill up enough coolant as this takes time to do.

Oh, just found a post on this subject. Love Brian's "Hilarious"
http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=267119

 

I do know of a 360 owner here in Ireland who suffered a heat exchanger failure with contamination of the gearbox oil.

I'd say it definitely would be worth checking your gear oil.

From recollection the easiest way to inspect the oil level is to remove the gravel guard from the rear wheel arch. The dipstick is then easily accessible. If there's water / antifreeze in the gear box your level will presumably be higher than it should be and it's likely that the colour will be a milky white / cream.

Hope all is ok but I think it's worth the 15 minutes of time to check.

 

It seems that since you just had your recent service done, the tech may just not have added enough coolant when refilling. The fact that the car is running at normal operating temps is a good thing and should be a Good sign that you have a fair amount of coolant in the system, just not enough to maintain a sufficient level in the reservoir.

With the car running warm you should fill your reservoir up 1" below the top of the expansion tank.

Then just keep an I on it for the next few days, you can usually smell hot coolant when it leaks into a hot engine bay. And unless you have a major leak you may not have enough to drip onto the belly pan and then onto the floor.

I am not a Ferrari mechanic but I would certainly figure if your heat exchanger has leaked then your gear box would not be shifting gears properly or at all.

If your at all uncertain about your issues I would take it back to your mechanic and have it looked over.

 

I had my coolant changed and they underfilled it. There may be an error in the shop manual for how much coolant to put in it.

I think there are many reasons the slow-down light could come on. I would drive it around close to the house and see if it comes back on now that the coolant level is correct.

If it still comes on, I might try a different shop.

 

I saw a failure of the heat exchanger and it's is nothing to joke about!
It is a nasty nasty dissaster into the transmission, oil cooler and other places.

 

No doubt David that this would cause a major issue but I never heard that the heat exchanger has a known weakness.Do we really have to worry about this? I'm not sure. And if we had to, are there better after-market solutions available?

 

Stef, it seems to be a relatively obscure problem that hasn't effected many. I don't think it's anything to worry about, just something to be mindful of in event of a problem like disappearing coolant!

I'd say it's a right mess to clean up though! I must contact my acquaintance and see what the resolution was.

 

Yeah,
I post about this a couple years ago!
http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=267119&highlight=Bomb
Check it out.

 

Dynamic group started out making speakers for car stereos.
Ferrari started out making racing cars.

 

As noted, heat exchanger problems are not too common but when they happen it is a huge mess and you often have to rebuild the transaxle. That makes it expensive. My mechanic has seen a couple of these and one was a friend's car so I can tell you that they do happen.

Dynamic Group is a Ferrari enthusiast and he knows about at least one of the failures. He decided to look for a solution to this "problem" and came up with the air/oil exchanger that he is selling. He is a detail oriented guy and I am confident that this thing works. Just because it isn't made by a big name doesn't mean that it isn't well engineered.

Is this really a big problem? I suspect that I have a lot worse issues to worry about than this. My strategy is to pay attention and try to detect any problems before I drive it too long with a problem.

 

I'm not at all sure their design was so well thought out though!

My perception is that the OEM heat exchanger is as much (if not more) about heating the gearbox oil as it is about cooling it. The coolant used is coming directly off the heads (which is presumably the hottest of all points from which to take coolant) before it heads to the water pump for circulation to the radiators.

It seems to me that the OEM system is generally reliable and I'm sure it was well engineered by Ferrari. If I were unfortunate enough to suffer a failure I don't think I'd be looking past OEM design for a replacement.

 

First point is interesting and maybe applicable in bringing it to temp quickly. That could well be true for that purpose, but I doubt heating is the goal after the cold start. There is a cat on each side of the transaxle. Just look at the oil coming out of the transaxle when you change it and you can tell that it has been seriously cooked and abused. Then again, you know a lot more than I do about these cars.

The second part I agree with. The failures are rare enough that there isn't much motivation to try something else.

 

Yes the big problem is stating things as fact and overstating threats when in fact they are not.

Telling people to buy the Dynamic Group product and change a part before it has failed is not right.

But if you want to replace the working Ferrari heat exchanger in your own car- go right ahead!

 

There have been failures and destroyed transmissions but in my experience the only damaged transmissions were from cars whose owners ignored significant warning signs hoping the problem would go away on its own. Stupid to do that on a expensive car.

The heat exchanger is not about warming up the trans. It needs no help in doing that. The problem with an air/oil cooler is there is no good source that will move enough air. Challenge cars were designed with that in mind and the body work allows for it. Also a Challange car spends most of its life at triple digit speeds so an air/oil cooler has enough air to actually do something. The OE cooler is well thought out for the circumstances in which it needs to operate.




As for all this having anything to do with the OP. Not bloody likely. He's hearing hoof beats and were're looking for zebras.

A bad heat exchanger will not drain the cooling system, it will fill it with trans oil.

 

Good point. Leaks are two ways.

 

Cheers Brian, we live and learn!