Testarossa - FIRE IN THE FUSEBOX !!!

Upon request, here is a summary of all my posts from the last few days.
So, nothing will get lost in the bonkers thread and I would love to discuss this common Ferrari problem here:

Post from: 04-04-2005, 09:30 AM
Mhmmm......sometimes, like yesterday you don`t want to do so
Sunday, 10:00a.m. sunny, sunny all over Germany.
Anja & I left the house to drive to the Schwarzwald with the beast.
Beast started very well but only runs on 6 cylinder - left bank doesn`t works.
Nothing exciting and sometimes it takes a while/a few seconds till the second bank runs. Driving on the highway.....still 6 cylinders.... Checking at the fuel station for the electronic (backups), fuel pump, fuel filter.....start again and drove another 5 km......still the same problem.
Stopped again at the next fuel station calling some friends and my garage master at home......checking the ignition coil, distributor and everything over mobil with my garage master.......nothing still only 1/2 of a beast
Well, after 1 hour of searching we give up and drove very slowly with 2.500rpm`s back home in our garage.
Sunday, 11:30a.m. day & fun finished! A frustrated and very depressive Wolfgang...........now looking the damn F1 race instead of driving and 5 beers to cool down.
Monday, 09:00a.m. called my garage master again for some advice what to do or what else could it be?
.........he will drive down to my house later in the afternoon with his big garage van and the flatbed. Hope we do not need the flatbed and he can fix it here at my house?!?!

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Post from: Yesterday, 08:35 AM
...update regarding the beast:
Sadly left my house yesterday evening at 20:00p.m. on the flatbed
The left side fuel pump f***** off and its a tank off repair/replacement job. Impossible to repair in my garage.......
Hope to get my beast back till Thursday afternoon B4 I leave for Dallas.

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Post from: Yesterday, 09:17 AM
Yesterday evening......what a sad, sad moment...first time the beast on the flatbed
(Trevi, now I know those feelings you are always talking about about)

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Post from: Yesterday, 11:43 AM
latest update reg. the beast:
Just got a call from my garage-grand-master;
its NOT the (cheap) fuel pump.....!!!
It was a brand inside and behind the fuse box
Fuse box totally f***** off, cable harness burned...... all behind and inside the box so we couldn`t see it yesterday.
Thats getting expensive - just for the fuse box (without anything else or repair of the burned harness) only the damn box is just 1.300,-Euronen.
But at least the beast will be ready for pick up on Thursday afternoon.

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Post from: Yesterday, 10:59 PM
there is sadly nothing cheap on a Ferrari (imagine, just for a stupid, f***** fusebox 1.3K) but I realy don`t want to wail and take it the hard way. Happy & lucky that there was no real fire!!!! Just the fusebox and a few wires burned off.

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Thanks for starting the thread Wolfgang. Really sorry to hear about more Testarossa troubles for you I know Ferraris are prone to electrical gremlins but I've never heard of a modern fuse box burning like this. It will be interesting to see if your garage master has any ideas why it happened.

 

Simon,
I already spoke to my grand master and the explanation is very simpel:
1.) The original "Square Relays" in the fusebox (lots of them stored under the fuses) are too old and the resistor got lost within the years.
2.) The wiring harness was always in this 70`th-90`th years too thin!!!
The cables are getting too hot....the relays are overheated and at least it start burning behind the box........

I have had the same problem with my old 308QV and we changed the whole box, fuses, relays and wiring harness in the first year of my ownership.

My fault not to remember this, when I bought the TR.

IT IS (sadly) A COMMON problem with all Ferraris from this periode.
But god bless, never heared of a realy burned out Ferrari - just a smal fire.

 

Wolfgang
Glad to see you are ok. Any fire is bad news. Please carry an extinguisher!
Also make sure they rewire/replace with studier components/heavier wire.

Best

 

You were lucky, could have been a lot worse.
I've heard of 308 fuse boxes literally falling apart because the plastic degrades over time, very common apparently. My car was built the same time as yours...I think I'll check the fuse box next time I go for a ride.

 

Thank you dear Jim,
thats it, what my garage master just has done:
- replaced ALL wires with much thicker/heavier and better wires
- extra isolation behind the fusebox
- new fuse box
- all Relays replace for higher resistor/ohm

Wolfgang

 

I have a new fusebox in the Mondial.
Former owner changed because of the same problem as Wolfgang's.

And yes, think it is time to get a fire extinguisher!

 

Yes, please check it soon Simon!!!!

Here is a very helpfull hint how to see if your fusebox works perfect or is on the way to burn (yes, NOW I do know!)

- in front of the fuse box under the fuses are the square relays located (many!)
- pull out EVERY relay - one after the other and controll the 5 pins!!!
- there are 5 pins on each relay

looks from the button like:
xxxx - xxxx
x - xxxxx -
xxx I x I xxx

The last 2 pins the upright one are the important pins!!!!
When this pins turned COPPER TAKE CARE!!!!!!!
The upper 3 pins are always silver...and usual also the 2 upright also.
Turned copper means TOO HOT!!!!
Thats the alarm signal to replace!!!!!!!

Got this info from my grand garage master who realy knows what he is talking about!

 

Thanks wolfgang, I'll have a look.

 

Thanx Wolfgang,
great info!!

Will check it tonight immediatly!!

 

Likewise....this makes me nervous! MARK

 

Muchas Gracias Senor! I have my weekend assignment. MARK

 

The relays I`m talking about are silver 5 pole.
Here is (not Ferrari) such a relay.
The Ferrari relay is silver boxed.
3 pins ....don`t care about silver
2 pins in another angel should or better must be silver and not copper

----sorry, can`find a pic from a real Ferrari relay, maybe someone can help for better explanation---
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The current leading tracks on the plate are sometimes interrupted as well
which makes troubleshooting not easier
My shop is able to repair old TR fuse box plates. (1.300 € is insane)
It seems to be a very common problem with TRs.

Don't worry, could be worse ...

cinque

 

Had a cable burn at the 3rd day of my ownership. Had to replace one of the ECUs and the wiring harness ... :-(

 

Wolfgang you forgot one pic...

 

OK...good night (morning)...time to sleep. MARK

 

Wolfgang, I'm very sorry to hear about all this! I know the feeling... my F355 was twice on the flatbed, and for serious engine problems. You've got away lightly, it could have been worse if the fire had spread!

I hope to see you and your Testa fit and as fast as ever on the 26th of June for the start of the Tuscany Trip!! Perhaps we can meet in the Schwarzwald sometime, two weeks ago we had a fantastic drive in the middle of really deserted mountain roads.

And Cinquevalvole, nice to hear from you too - is your F355 doing OK? Getting it ready for Tuscany?

Andrea

 

Yes Sir, solid as a rock
Maybe we meet already before Tuscany!
Your 355 is sold now?

forza

cinque

 

Yes, I replaced the F355 with this thing below. I know it's a bit crazy but I reckoned I'd rather pay some money for a nice F-car rather than spend 25.000 Euros for a boring everyday car. So I have decided to only run old and cheap cars for everyday use, with the pleasure of having this baby whenever I want to have fun. It's a mad car, but sometimes in life it feels great to be a bit mad!!!

If you want to meet up before Tuscany, I'd like to organize a drive out in the mountains of Engadin when it's warm enough (end of May?) - Fluelapass, Umbrailpass, Julier... it could be a great day trip and not too far from Munich (200Km). Simon and others will also join. What do you think?
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The beast is back in its stable

Picked up my TR late afternoon well repaired and perfect!!!!
Drove like hell to our monthly Lamborghini dinner/Meeting and arrived just back home! YES, I saw the magical 300
I feeeeeellll sooooooo gooooood.

Back to topic.
I have the old burned fusebox with me!!!!
Tomorrow I`ll post some pics and close up pics from the box and all the very important things to know......why, where, when, what.
Happy to answer all the questions (PM I have got) about the details with some close up pics with description of my grand garage master.

....more tomorrow

Wolfgang

 

Great news that the beast is in good health and back on the road again!

 

thanks yes the beast is loud, proud and fast back on the road

 

@Wolfgang,

That is great news and it's good to hear that the Beast is now running properly again!

 

Dear gents,

its very, very tricky to translate this technical very important and interesting stuff.
So, I`ll try to let the pics speak themself.

Going step by step

The old fuse box built out Top Front View:
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