F355 Fuse Box Removal

Basically "plug and play"..... Just disconnect the battery (and battery tender, if applicable) beforehand. Basically there are 2 or 3 nuts, and a lot of plugs and plug-in components to remove (plus the battery "K" terminal). The rectangular plugs can be a little tight. You may need rubber gloves and a bit of gentle wiggling to get them free (as you squeeze the centre clip).

The plugs come in a range of sizes and have unique keyways, so you can't mix them up.

When I was trying to get more room to access the panel, I took the footrest off completely and also the forward part of the centre console (just a few visible screws/bolts and a hidden one). When you are manoeuvring the panel to get to the plugs at the back, the panel may contact the floor mounted suspension computer just in front of the panel and scratch the case. I put a rag over the computer to protect it.

I'd be curious to know if your panel orientation matches the owners manual. My RHD car panel was upside down (compared to the manual). I don't know if this is normal or not, but the harnesses seemed to fall into the right places.

 

P.S. Of course, make sure the relays and fuses go back in the right spots. The relays may look similar, but some have unique qualities, I'm told.

I found a lot of the cloth tape wrapped around the harnesses starting to unravel and look a bit messy (the self adhesive seems to fail after a while). I bought some new cloth tape of various widths to make the wires look new again (I also had to buy some expensive adhesive remover though and find lots of cleaning rags).

 

Here's a picture of my (RHD) relay panel before I cleaned up the whole area and rewrapped the harnesses...

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On the right of the relay panel is a light grey bracket with a blue plastic insert in it. The blue insert holds the screw that I usually forget to take out when removing the forward part of the centre console.
Also on that light grey bracket are two white plugs. These plugs may become dislodged when you're messing about in this area. That bottom one is dislodged. It normally clips into the frame.

Initially, you remove the relay panel along with its metal mounting frame (the shiny part). The metal mounting frame has very few nuts and bolts holding it in. The metal panel actually slides into two keyways (Looking at the photo, it seems that the keyways are on the grey bracket). I recall that you undo those nuts on the right later (when the panel has been removed). If the shiny metal frame comes with your new panel, then you won't even have to worry about these. Once the relay panel is unbolted, you can fold it down towards you, to access the 10 connector plugs on the back (and the battery terminal "K").

Whatever you do, don't restore power with any of the plugs disconnected. This may create error signals in some of the computers which can only be reset by Ferrari tools.

 

I'm trying to remember where the door locking module is mounted. It may be mounted on the back of the relay panel. It's a small, light bluey grey, rectangular box. This will have to be unplugged/removed (if it is on the back of the relay panel).

If your relay panel is like mine, you may have to remove the top row of relays prior to removing the panel (for better manoeuverability/access). Anyway, it may be a good idea to transfer all the relays and fuses to the new panel prior to removing the old one, so you don't mix them up.

 

It can be done without removing all the other centre console panels. There is a screw quite deep in the footwell (on the pedal box side), a few countersunk screws (perhaps with dimpled washers) along the side of the console and that screw I mentioned which goes into the blue insert. It may not be necessary to remove that bolt/screw at the centre just below the dash, but I usually do anyway. Then it becomes a Chinese puzzle on how to remove the centre console piece without damaging the leather. To free this forward piece from the rest of the console, it's just a matter of pulling on either side to make it wider.

Great! I've always been wondering about that.

Sorry, I used to have lots of photos of the plugs on the back of the panel, but I've misplaced them. There were no 5.2 car wiring diagrams available on the internet, so I was trying to photograph and catalogue all the wires going to each plug on that panel and noting all the differences between the 2.7 car and the 5.2. Some of the differences were predictable, but then I started finding variations for LHD and RHD cars, spiders, etc.

Good luck!

 

Well, of course it depends on the relay. Fuel pump relays, for example, are going to get quite hot. Things that are only used for short periods are not going to get hot (such as the fuel filler flap). Actually most of the relays in the footwell handle some heavy duty stuff (although not all of the time).

If I'm not mistaken, the melted section of the panel is related to the radiator fan relays. Perhaps you could get someone to look at the current draw on the fans at some point in the future. Make sure the earths are good, too. The fans use a major earth just above and outboard of their respective radiator upper support bolts. The one on the left is the easiest to see (just look past the fuel filter), but the one on the right you'll have to feel around for (It's in the same position, but mirrored). Here's a shot of the earth on the right hand side taken with the engine out.

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These major earths are used for lots of different systems on the car (labelled 70095 and 70096 in the wiring diagrams).

Anyway, hopefully this new panel will last the life of the car.

Well done!

Cheers
Ian

 

Ah, disregard my last message.. . I just re-read your original post. You said you already replaced your fans.