This looks bad!!

Thanks guys!! I love my family and my kids keep me young!! At the end of the day, it's just a car. But damn it's a sexy car!!!!! I really don't care what it costs as I don't plan on ever selling it. It's just tough to buy a well sorted car and have something go wrong. Not just for me but for all the new buyers out there. The few months of ownership have already been well worth the price of admission.....

We'll see what tomorrow holds. I plan on getting it there by midday. So hopefully some news by tomorrow night.

Thanks again for everyones help and support.............Lou
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Rained out today........rain in southern California??? Figures......maybe tomorrow......

 

You're out of luck, we're supposed to have rain for the rest of the week.

We need the rain big time.

 

Yeh, we need the rain. Supposed to be a break for a day tomorrow......maybe I'll squeeze it in there.....

 

As mentioned before, see if you can repeat the leak and green in the exhaust. I would rather come to a sensible conclusion myself and be 80-90% sure of what I was dealing with rather than ask ferrari mech to diagnose as I have had a bad experience when on a ferrari rally to tasmania, my car had a miss every now and then. the ferrari mech/expert suggested that it was a valve and that I should leave my car with them to pull heads and check it out. i said I would ask my own fellow and trucked it back to brisbane to my Fmechanic it turned out to be some crud in the spark plug journal that once removed problem was solved, saved myself squillions. You can open yourself to easy abuse if you do not do your homework particularly when we love these cars and we want them to be perfect.

 

That is a GREAT pic!

 

I am with everyone else. The hose #17 blew out on my 348. I pulled into a restaurant parking lot and went in. Someone came in and said the car was leaking. At night it looked like oil and had the car towed home (no leaks when driven on carrier). Put it on the lift and took off the panels and could not find an oil leak. My mechanic came over on the weekend and looked everything over. We put it back on the lift and started the engine and looked for leaks. After about 15 minutes the flood came. It was the hose, but it took the temp to open the thermostat before it leaked. I think you were just lucky that it happened near home. Good luck with the diagnosis at the shop.

 

Well, she's on her way...........
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EEEEK! "Wheels on Backwards" Alert!

Beautiful Spider, Lou. Hope it all turns out OK soon.

 

Yeh, I know about the wheels!!!! Still looking for 355's.....

Just got a call from the mechanic........$200 and she's good to go!!! You guys were right all along. A hose clamp....not sure which one although he said it was the most difficult one to get too. Will find out when I get the car. He actually said a few were loose. As far as the coolant in the exhaust and the steam??? Not sure. He did say there was a trail of coolant heading down the left side manifold. So maybe while sitting for 10 min's it built up, then when I started it that caused the "steam". I'm hoping that's what it was. I still think I saw coolant in the exhaust. But so long as there isn't any more, I'm good with that. Going to pick it up in a few hours.

Sooooooooo........do I drive it gingerly home.....or let the RPM's fly and see what happens??????????

Any thoughts??????

Lou

 

Well that's good news. I would assume your tech pressure tested the system after repairing the car so I would throw caution to the wind and let it eat.

Not saying that's good advice but it's probably what I would do.

 

Yeh, he said he couldn't find the leak until the car warmed up. Tightened everything and pressure tested it. Not a drop. I'm no mechanic, but I'm assuming that if the head gasket was leaking, the pressure test would show it.

May take it slow until I get close to home..........

 

Lou, don't worry until there is fire in the cockpit.

 

Awesome Lou, now you can rest easy.....

Lou, this one is a no-brainer....LET FLY BABY!!

 

Well, got it home. Great to have it back and running. Didn't get the RPM's up too high on the way home, mainly due to traffic. Around 6K max. But felt good that there wasn't a drop after the 30 min drive home. Tried getting the wheels "swapped" while he had the car, but he was too busy and the car was already finished. Maybe next time.

Thank you for everyone's help and opinions. I really appreciate them all. Lou

 

Thats why its called the brotherhood my brother.

 

Lou, did you (or your mechanic) figure out why you couldn't get the spark plugs removed? Just curious.

 

Glad it was nothing serious. I am curious to find out if I was right. The #9 hose clamp is almost impossible to get too and would cause those symptoms. Drive it hard and look for leaks!

--Mike

 

I agree

 

He didn't take the plugs out. I'm guessing the 18mm I was using was too thick and couldn't fit all the way down to the plug.

As far as the hose clamp, I don't know exactly which one other than the fact he said it was the hardest to get to. Had to use a mirror to see the leak. It was the only one leaking although he tightened a few more that were a bit loose.

As far as the coolant in the exhaust and the steam I know I saw, he saw a trail of coolant heading down the exhaust. The fact it didn't steam at all when it happened and when I parked it and only steamed 10 minutes later after sitting supports the fact it was accumulated coolant from the leak. For what it's worth, the coolant I saw in the exhaust pipe was green.

I know most of you probably could have fixed this yourselves. But without a way to lift the car, I really didn't have an option other than to bring it in. I would have liked to have fixed it myself though. But for $200, I now have peace of mind......well worth it!!

Thanks again for the help. Lou

 

Good to hear she is now sorted Lou!

 

I love the way you think Lou, and to keep everything positive just think it could have been worse!! Remember what you were thinking before your mechanic found the problem - that it was a head gasket or something else disasterous...now go back to how you were feeling at and thinking at that time, and if someone said I can guarantee solving this problem for you for $200, you'd do it in a heartbeat (which you did), and now you are as happy as a kid in a candy store!!

 

I wonder if during the last engine-out, the previous mechanic either forgot to tighen these clamps, or just figured they were tight enough not to bother? Anyway, glad its fixed and turned out to be a small issue.

 

Just in case you want to see where the problem was....Here's a picture with the intake removed allowing you to plainly see the offending green hose and clamps (compliments of NightLife and his new engine)
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