355 Radiator failure and upgrade - long post

...hopefully this can help some of you out as the rads in your 355 near the end of their life.

The 355 radiators use crimped end caps on their radiators. These like to fail after a decade or two rolls by...a design problem I have corrected on many, many vehicles.

The attached doc goes over my story, the solution, as well as installation instructions:

Symptoms:

I noticed the occasional coolant smell on returning from trips. I also noticed coolant was a bit low (I check every couple rides). Eventually I found a tiny puddle of coolant (about the size of a quarter) after a run...but could not see any drips while the car was running.

I carefully monitored the car on rides and kept a bottle of coolant in the trunk.
About 3 weeks later while stopped for fuel I noticed a little drip while the engine was running. After sticking my head under the car’s driver side I noticed my baby was leaking from the radiator end cap.

…thankfully it wasn’t a head gasket! I limped the car home checking my coolant levels every few km and refilling from my spare bottle.

Prior to the leak my operating stats on average were:
Engine Oil temp – 215.
Water temp – 195, occasionally creeps up at idle to 220.
Fan fuse blew once and she crept to 240.
Engine oil pressure – follows with revs, 15 at hot idle.

Background:

First, a bit of background – why are the Radiators inevitably going to fail? Many radiator designs employ a radiator core with a plastic end-cap crimped onto the core..
This saves manufacturing costs and allows designers and engineers to use standard cooling units (the cores) while keeping the radiator fit custom to their car.

The failure occurs in the crimped tabs holding the plastic caps in place. In laymen terms, these are subject to “creep”…essentially the metal loses its crimping power over time with constant heating/cooling cycles. The crimps no longer hold on the plastic caps tightly and you get a leak under full pressure. You cannot simply re-crimp the metal…once it has fatigued it won’t have the same ability to hold onto the plastic.
This was the finest technology 1994 had to offer and it is still in use today. It’s just not meant to last like a solid, one piece radiator.

The Solution:

…things have moved on since this car was designed. Aluminum cooling cores are significantly better than the old copper units of the mid 90’s. Having used these in several other high performance vehicles the biggest advantages I found is that they are:

• Lighter
• all aluminum (reducing corrosion issues due to galling)
• superior in cooling capacity
• all solid construction – no end caps to fail

Quick product review:

I ordered up a set of custom radiators from Saldana Racing products. They have a history of custom radiators and have built a few of these for the 355’s. They were pleasant to deal with, pushed to get my order taken ASAP.

The cost for these custom pieces? About the same as the stock parts but they are significantly better pieces.

The only bad parts are pretty minor.

1. Saldana failed to wrap the parts properly and they were damaged in transport. They did rectify this with me fairly and right away.

2.The radiators were missing 4 small threaded nuts (although they had cut out the hex mounting holes! The result is that I had to use a regular bolt and washer setup to secure the fans…annoying but not a big deal.

3. There are no rad plugs in the drains…I had to go source some as the threads don’t match the original plastic plugs Ferrari provided…which disintegrated anyhow…

4. The only real aggravation was that the AC cooler mounting brackets that come stock do not mount up properly on the new radiators which have a slightly larger end cap. I fixed this by bending mine to fit. This ended up costing me about an hour of head scratching then hammering on an anvil. They could include these in the kit with no worries.

The removal/Install process:

Ok – fair warning to those of you with a dealership-only slant and no offence to the expert Ferrari mechanics but…I do all my own work. Let’s just say I just don’t trust anyone but me to work on a machine I bet my life on. That said…don’t try this if you’re a newbie DIY mechanic!

Step 0:

Shut off the battery. Get the tools setup.

Tools:

• 7, 10, 12, 13, 14 mm sockets
• 36mm wrench.
• Rags, baggies for bolts, markers, tape.
• Torque wrenches.
• Work gloves.
• Brain cells.

Safety:

ALWAYS use common sense and be overcautious when working on your car. Assume the car is always trying to murder you by falling on you, pinning vital bits, burning you, electrocuting you, slicing you open, poisoning you, or draining your bank account so that you starve in retirement.

Always, and I mean ALWAYS use a torque wrench to secure your wheels.

Step 1: NEVER trust the parts.

1. I connected each new radiator up to a pressure tester and ran them up to 25 psi (overpressure). Re-tested at 15 psi. No leaks.
2. Visually inspected each weld and the cooling fins, checked all flow points. No leaks.
3. Good to go.

Step 2: Removal of Driver side:

1. Have AC system drained – use a professional.
2. Un-torque the wheel lugs.
3. Lift car at least 18” off the ground.
4. Remove wheel and wheel well cover.
5. Unbolt fan (4 10mm nuts), unclip fan lead, remove fan.
6. Open up the fan casing (#34), then blow out the crud, inspect brushes, check clips, and re-test fan starting using low amperage (15A) current. Check gasket for cracks, breaks etc.
7. Drain coolant into clear plastic jug, leave to sit and check for oil separation. I found some slight calcification in the coolant because someone put tap water in my cooling system…curse them to hell! You must NEVER use tap water in coolant on any car, distilled only.
8. Unclip sensor lead (top of rad), unbolt rad retaining nut, undo air con lines (use proper line wrenches).
9. Loosen all 4 rad hose clamps and rotate the rad hoses until they are no longer “stuck” to their pipes. Slide rad hoses off the radiator and all the way onto the main pipe.
10. Lift rad from bottom until pins clear retaining holes, swing it towards the rear of the car. Work the rad out of the car a half inch at a time, The AC cooler will need to come out with it and may be stuck to the rubber from the intake.
11. Trap fingers under rad. Swear profusely.
12. Once out, undo the nuts holding the AC cooler Lift the cooler up and away from the radiator. Inspect the cooler for bent fins, breaks, cracks etc. Place cardboard over the fins to protect them and store this in a safe place.
13. Remove the temp sensor from the rad.
14. Take out any frustration on your now useless rad.

Step 3: Removal of Passenger side:

1. Un-torque the wheel lugs
2. Lift car at least 18” off the ground.
3. Remove wheel and wheel well cover.
4. Unbolt fan (4 10mm nuts), unclip fan lead, remove fan.
5. Open up fan casing, blow out the crud, inspect brushes, check clips, and re-test fan using low amperage (15A) current. Check gasket for cracks, breaks etc.
6. Drain coolant into clear plastic jug, leave to sit and check for oil separation. I found some slight calcification in the coolant because someone put tap-water in my cooling system. You must NEVER use tap-water in coolant on any car, distilled only.
7. Check that you have a 36mm wrench and an oil drain pan (I use a clear bottle so I can check the oil for brass and contaminants)
8. Undo the lower oil line (#39 in the picture above) with a 36mm wrench, about 1L of oil will drain out from the cooler. I like to inspect the oil for metal filings etc. by running it thru a coffee filter but suit yourself.
9. Undo the upper oil line (#38) with a 36mm wrench from both the cooler and the tank.
10. Clean the line ends and the sealing surface on the cooler. They must be perfectly smooth to the touch.
11. Undo and remove the 4 13mm bolts holding the cooler to the rad.
12. The cooler is glued to the rad by 2 strips of foam on the left and right side of the rad and you do NOT want to tear this. Gingerly work the cooler loose from the foam and remove it from the car. If the foam tears you will need to buy new stuff. Inspect the cooler for bent fins, breaks, cracks etc. Place cardboard over the fins to protect them and store this in a safe place.
13. Loosen all 4 rad hose clamps and rotate the rad hoses until they are no longer “stuck” to their pipes. Slide rad hoses off the radiator and all the way onto the main pipe.
14. Unbolt the retaining nut at the top of the rad holding it in. Lift rad from bottom until pins clear retaining holes, swing it towards the rear of the car. Work the rad out of the car a half inch at a time. Never grip on the fins.
15. Trap fingers under rad. Swear profusely.
16. Take out any frustration on your now useless rad.

Installation:

Here’s where the fun begins. I suggest you do the passenger side first as it is much easier and will give you a feel for how things fit up etc.

Step 1: Prep the parts
1. Pressure test the parts if not already done.
2. Blow air thru the radiators to ensure nothing was stuck or left behind.
3. Place cardboard on the back side of the rad to ensure the fins are safe and do not get bent on install.
4. Be sure to remove the cardboard before you complete the process!
5. Spray-glue the foam sealer pads in place onto the rad.
6. Pull out the rad hoses and check for cracks, ballooning, rot, or other problems. Replace them at the first sign of trouble.
7. Install the temp sensor into the new rad (driver side)

Step 2: Installation of Passenger side:

1. Inspect the mounting location for leaves, or breaks in the intake. Clean them out and correct any problems.
2. Reinstall rad hoses onto the pipes on the car, slide them all the way on. Loosen the rad hose clamps and slide them on past the hoses.
3. Test fit the oil cooler onto the passenger rad, bolt up all sections. Notice that he upper bolts have nuts on the back side which will not be accessible after you install the rad. These nuts will need to be held in place by tape so that you can mate up to them afterwards. I use a good strong duct tape.
4. Insert the rad, top first, into the engine bay. Never grip or push on the fins.
5. Shift the black coolant pipe out of the way and then walk the rad into place until the lower pins pop into their holes. Now fit the rad tab onto the mounting stud (don’t put the nut on yet). Check that rubber sealing ring on the intake in contacting the rad neatly with no gaps.
6. Remove any rad side plastic plugs. Wiggle the rad (never touching the fins) until you can line up the rad neck with the rad hoses then slide the hoses onto the rad neck. Pop the hose clamps over and tighten up…NEVER exceed 50 lbs.-in torque on a hose clamp!
7. Install the rad top retaining nut and torque to spec.
8. Make sure the foam for the oil cooler is prepped and ready. Remove any protective cardboard.
9. Fit the oil cooler up against the rad then pop in the lower bolts but be extra careful not to cross thread. Reach a hand around back to steady the nuts you taped on (tiny hands = good thing!) then fit in the top bolts. Tighten up to proper torque spec.
10. Remove any tape or cardboard “helpers”.
11. Carefully clean the threads on your oil lines and double check the cleanliness of the sealing faces. Re-install oil lines and torque to spec.
12. Install fan. Check that fan gasket is fit on neatly. Always torque to spec for the 4 nuts

Step 3: Installation of Driver side:

1. Test fit the mounting brackets for the AC cooler into the rad. Note that they don’t fit right and the little s-bends need to be moved closer to the stud. Break out your vice, anvil, and hammer and modify these to fit. These are non-critical vibration pieces so there is little risk due to crack but check the metal after you bend it anyhow! I added a washer to make they fit a little cleaner.
2. Triple check that the AC lines are not contacting the rad.
3. When the AC lines are clear and the cooler unit is secured to the rad then tighten the 4 mounting nuts onto their studs (up to spec) and remove any protective cardboard.
4. Reinstall rad hoses onto the pipes on the car, slide them all the way on. Loosen the rad hose clamps and slide them onto the pipes on the car side. Push them all the way on.
5. Insert the rad/AC assembly into place. Never grip or push on the fins. Shift the black coolant pipe out of the way and then walk the rad into place until the lower pins pop into their holes. Now fit the rad tab onto the mounting stud (don’t put the nut on yet). This part will be really aggravating and may require a couple of attempts depending on how good you are in tight spaces. Check that the AC unit is deep into the intake and that the rubber sealing ring on the intake in contacting the rad neatly with no gaps.
6. Remove any rad side plastic plugs. Wiggle the rad (never touching the fins) until you can line up the rad neck with the rad hoses then slide the hoses onto the rad neck. Pop the hose clamps over and tighten up…NEVER exceed 50 lbs.-in torque on a hose clamp!
7. Install the rad top retaining nut and torque to spec.
8. Connect up the AC lines.
9. Install fan. Check that fan gasket is fit on neatly. Note that the fan will seal against the plates on either side of the rad. Torque to spec for the 4 nuts.
10. Connect temperature sensor lead.

Step 4: Close up the patient

1. Check that rad plugs are in.

2. Get proper coolant and distilled water. Total of 11L. Go with a 60/40 mix of coolant and distilled water. If you store your Ferrari in -20*C then go with 50/50.

NEVER…EVER….use tap water…use only distilled water. If you absolutely must put tap water into your vehicle for any reason at all, please also pour battery acid into the radiator and hit it several times with a sledgehammer for maximum destructive effect.

3. Carefully measure coolant mixture. You will want a 60% water, 40% coolant mixture for optimum cooling & freeze protection. Do not drop below 40%. Fill to capacity. The system is self-bleeding and should run nice and clean.

4. Fire up and let the car idle for 10 minutes checking for leaks constantly. If you see a drop - shut down and start repairs.

5. Bolt up the wheel well liners, the wheels, lower the car.

6. …take the car for a run and watch the cooling system jog between 160 and 190 as the thermostat gets a workout!