Testarossa severe mechanical failure

sad to hear what happened
I think they put not all connections together right and so the engine runs only on 1 bank.
go back to the garage who did the job and they have to fix the mistake on their own costs. was this an official F service or a free garage?
good luck

 

now I wonder twice. an official F service center and dealer may not do such bad thing. but first let them check what is wrong.
how long they are official service center? may be not so long and they not know the TR how to repair/service it?

 

but I also wonder: you smell baking bread, why you still go on driving???

 

then I think it is an ignition problem and fuel still comes but not get burned.
please let us know what the F service thinks about the failure

 

You own a very old car. Anything can happen and it may not be the fault of the service facility. Things fail. You may have a bad ignition module that was working just fine one day..and the next day it's junk. Or the 35 year old fuel pump finaly said good night. These are items that are not replaced during a standard belt service.

So before demanding the shop pay for everything.. how about we find out what went wrong first..then move forward from there.

 

From your description, Romano is correct. You are running on 1 bank. This could be something very simple. A bad coil wire is what caused my last "inline 6" condition. It could also be a bad fuel pump, or anything fuel related. filter, distributor, etc. The easiest 2 things to check are if you have spark on both banks and if you have fuel on both banks. Takes about 5 minutes.

 

A very intelligent response! Thank you.

 

If you intend to own an old car..I would suggest locating and purchasing a service manual, and a basic set of tools.

Finding shops even willing to work on these cars is getting few and far between, and the ones that do.. have pretty long waiting lists to get in.

Being able to tackle basic repairs yourself can massively reduce down time and save you money.

This site is a great resource for repair info with a bunch of knowledgeable people/owners who have have battled through a ton of issues with these cars.

Get involved in the hobby. Go further then just being an owner. Get your hands dirty. It's fun and educational.

 

I read about a court case where an exotic car owner kept driving the car when he admitted he knew something was wrong right after service, the judge ruled in favor of the shop because he did not immediately stop and have it towed in.

 

Julia,
If you want a relatively reliable, hands off status car with plenty of service centers…. buy a porsche. If you want a fast fun, and less expensive car, buy a vette.

These cars are fiddly. They do have a relatively few, common points of failure. If you are mechanically inclined, they are typically fairly easy to diagnose and fix. If you are not at all mechanically inclined, the car will become an expensive aggravation. I would NEVER consider the tr a daily driver. Some do, but they are far and few between.

Personally, I enjoy my time working on the car as much as driving it. If it were not for that, I’d likely be driving a vette. They are a really nice car these days. Any chevy dealer can fix it!

All that said, everybody here will bend over backwards to help you out. Keep asking questions!

The fuse box issues you cite are a typical problem. Several folks out there offer solutions. Personally, Inused Scuderia Rampante. You can find more info here:
https://****************.com/product/test/

Put scuderia rampante as all one word in replacement of the stars shown above. This forum will not allow a link to their site - no free advertising. Small minded pia.

Hit search and a lot of info will pop up. Many on this forum have been thru the same issue you now face.

It is a relatively easy fix if you have basic wiring skills. If not, it will be a challenge - but something you could do if you are willing to do a significant amount of research. If you like a challenge, the tr is right for you.

Maybe call the guys at SR and have them send you their installation instructions.

 

One other point of note - these cars are essentially hand built, limited production vehicles. I the 80s, Ferrari were just starting into the modern era. Just ten or fifteen years prior, they were still fabricating the bodies out of a sheet of aluminum and a hammer in hand. You cannot expect a bulletproof, modern vehicle from Ferrari in that era.

 

My experience with mine has been that it does need constant "predictive" TLC, however as long as you do look after it properly (ie don't skimp on maintenance and always check over it), they are very reliable cars indeed.

Trouble will always start to come in when you don't dote on them appropriately.

 

Right and make sure you drive it once a week or it will be subject to more down time.

 

Well, you're right to deal with this issue. However, the burned contacts aren't necessarily your problem. All TR's have this issue. I believe the most common burned contacts are for the cooling fans. They draw a lot of juice. Check spark on both banks and fuel on both banks. That's going to point you in the right direction.