A solution for white dust in the F430 engine compartment.

Haven't noticed any white speckles... car's going on 5 yrs now. Is this a common issue ?

 

I'm on my 3rd muffler because of the dust, i had thought about welding the seam but i thought it was like that due to the expansion/contraction of the metal etc when the exhaust was hot/cools down, would be interested to know how this holds up with a few more miles. Nice job

John.

 

My 08 F430 had dust from the muffler, dealer installed a new muffler last month under warranty. So far no more dust.

 

How many miles or maybe feet have you driven in those five years? Lol...

Kidding aside, very common.



away, the job looks good!

 

Nice job!!!!

 

It would be interesting to here how this holds up over the next few hundred miles (or more). On the stock 360 can -- which is much longer -- the center seam is an expansion valve. When it gets really hot, there is at least 1/4" (or more) of new 'reveal' under the metal band in the middle of the unit. The next day, it 'shrinks'. I would think that the lack of welds on the ends are also there for a similar reason and I've seen other tips (from aftermarket 360 exhaust units) which had cracks which could have been due to expansion (and/or crappy metal). Would be cool to follow along with this idea over the next year or so and see if other owners could benefit from the same solution. Its certainly a lot cheaper!

 

Any update on this, how are the welds and muffler holding up?

John.

 

Or you could just go with an aftermarket exhaust system!

 

away,

I appreciate the update on this. I have been plagued by the white dust gremlin and was on then verge of either replacing the stock muffler with a $2,300 one from the dealer or installing the X pipe from FabSpeed for about the same price. I'm not looking for more noise or horsepower but rather a clean engine bay.

Is there any problem with the contents of the muffler breaking down and losing the dust material? Sounds like a simple weld job is the way to go.

 

I had the exact process done on my muffler sometime ago. Since then i not only driven well over 1000 miles, as well i did 8 pretty hard track days. No white dust. No problems. Works like charm.

 

This could be placed as a sticky somewhere so others could benefit! Nice solution.

 

I found this thread, from 2012, that pertains to my issue. Here we are in 2017. I have a 2006 F430, 8100 miles, which has this issue with the white muffler dust. It is not a major issue, just a nuisance to clean up a little dust after every drive.
I found this post from 2012, I am wondering if others have used this solution and if there has been any issues with the mufflers after being welded like described. I imagine that Ferrari must have left these as a slip joint in order to allow for expansion with heat, but they probably didn't count on the insulation material to degrade and create dust.

I want to keep the car stock, so I am not looking to replace the muffler with an after market exhaust. I am just wondering if any of you have welded the muffler as described in this thread, how long ago, and if you have been happy with the results.

Thanks

 

Dust of all forms will always be an annoyance. Just from sitting in the garage over the last 3 months of winter, and opening the adjacent garage door twice a week to pull the trash bin out and back in, the engine bay plastics are now dusty

 

Just found this thread. Now I'm quite relieved to learn that the odd white powder in my 360's engine bay is from the muffler. I, too, would clean it up then after a spirited drive would again see the bay covered in the odd dust.

 

Welded mine about a year and a half ago, 3000 miles, and stiil no more dust. I also added a Capristo muffler mount in an effort to save the (replaced Mk2) headers. So far so good.

 

I am glad to hear you have gone trouble free for that many miles. I will definitely be doing mine in the next week or so. I just need to find a good reputable metal fabricator to do a good job on the welds.

regarding the Capristo exhaust muffler mount, do you experience more vibration than stock? I was told that it would. I would appreciate hearing you thoughts.

 

hmmm..very interesting. Some mechanic told me the white dust gathering on my newly changed air filter is from the leaking headers, while other mechanics say my header is probably ok (no ticking sound or vibration or white dust from exhaust).....it's still a mystery if my header is leaking or not...but this could be another source for the white dust other than a leaky header, good info

 

I changed my headers and one of the old ones had white insulation starting to push out and was just visible from underneath. No other symptoms or issues. The header was indeed cracked after removing the heat shield.

 

Although it wasn't creating too much dust, I was able to clearly see where the dust was coming from. first I saw some white residue around the pipes coming out of the muffler, so I had a pretty good idea that this was where the dust was coming from. but what really showed it was by opening the hatch when the car was running and still not fully warmed up completely, I had my wife sit in the car and rev the car a little bit and I could see puffs of white dust coming right out. (I would assume if it is coming from the headers, you might be able to see it there as well.)

 

Hello,

Another member of this forum, Ken458 owner of a 2009 F430 Spider 6-Speed Manual Transmission vehicle told me he swears by this bracket from Capristo for finally solving the problem with the Exhaust Manifolds cracking.

Here is a link to the downloadable PDF instruction manual for installing this bracket, which I believe is the same one I believe others are mentioning.

http://www.capristoexhaust.com/downloads/Ferrari_F430_Exhaust_Bracket_Manual.pdf

I hope this helps you out.

Thanks,

johnfe