Just started Engine out service and see what happened when I drained the coolers......both drain plugs were "kaputt".... In my world there is a reason why they are made of plastic........is it ok to use stainless steel bolts instead??? Rgds, //B// Image Unavailable, Please Login
Nothing wrong with the plastic plugs....they are used on all cars for the last few decades and have never had one fail. The problem is that people are over tightening them. Just tighten them gently (gently tighten till they stop).If the plastic bolts are replaced by stainless bolts then I suspect a lot of people will be stripping the plastic radiator threads, thereby requiring a radiator replacement. Just buy new plastic bolts.
I'm ok with stainless and seal and being careful what torque I apply, but your right, lot of gorillas out there that have no feel.
Check the parts cross reference thread, its a doreman item like 4$ on amazon Here it is http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009XA8DQ6/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1&tag=viglink22303-20
Checked Ricambi for the OEM plastic bolt: 159923 [159923 PLUG] $8.39 each For this modest price not sure why you would shop for aftermarket (with unknown quality)....goto Ricambi or your local Ferrari dealer.
Well we already know that the Ferrari part sucks so whats the harm in the aftermarket part. Threads and a o ring its the same damn thing. Yet its the same price for two instead of one. I call that a win. Another thing is this part is made of plastic for a reason. Its cheap and it will be the part to fail instead of the thread insert that's in the Plastic radiator tank. $9.00 part of $1200 part its plastic for this reason alone. you may think its cheap but there is a method to the madness at times.
Agreed....there is nothing wrong with the Ferrari OEM part or the price for that matter. So many people bash the OEM quality.....ie another post recently bashed the rads as being crap....but most people have OEM rads (myself included) that are 20 years old and are still going strong. Now if we were talking about exhaust manifolds thats another matter.
My LH rad developed a small leak after 50,000 miles and 16 years...replaced it RH is fine after 58,000 miles. I believe imperfect engine management contributes to oem headers failing. Running too rich and/or too cold water temp creates too much heat in exhaust. ANSA made the headers....they know whats what. I had my OEM headers renovated by QV in London. Soon though i'm gonna buy a pair of Tubis just to have done with it. I can't be certain that my motronic system is always running just right...so would like the thicker steel of the Tubis to take extra heat. I like to have the heat shield.
Did you read my post? I said it's made to fail. The majority of us did not buy our cars new, so they have had plenty of maintenance done prior to us. If you work in your own cars you will find some real dandys of **** work. When you have a Destroyed drain plug Screwdriver slot on most of them, I say it sucks, all you need is just a screw driver for R&R I'd rather have a bolt head like the aftermarket one. Sometimes build up can make it difficult to remove it and it is easily stripped. Or over tightened whatever I just don't like the design particularly. That's why I said it sucks.
