Fuel leak warning - F355 Spider

Thanks for sharing and good that both of you are fine. Sorry to hear about the car though, no worries mate, you'll get another one in time to come.

Did you send the car in last year for the fuel line recall from the factory?

 

There was a recall campaign in the US to replace these parts and avoid a potentially dangerous fuel leak.

Did your car ever get this recall?
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Very sorry to hear about your car but glad nobody was hurt.

How did you initially notice something had caught fire? Do you know in what area of the engine bay the fire started?

 

Get this.. I called Ferrari of Vancouver and asked them to send me the recalls parts.. they told me they would NOT supply, or when I asked, even SELL the parts to me. They told me I had to bring the car in for the recall or suffer without the recall fix. Its just not that simple to 'bring it in' where I live, 200miles and a $300 ferry trip away for a $100 part.

It f'n amazes me that a dealer has the effrontery to withhold parts on a safety recall issue even if one is willing to pay for them!!

Ill take my car to Ferrari of Seattle (who I hear have a great rep) before I would grace those idiots with my business again...

...is this what FNA intends??

 

You previously posted that you had had the car for four years in which case its even more unfortunate you did not get the recall letter last Autumn as my understanding is that Ferrari were very thorough world wide cross referencing to national governmental databases etc

 

Sorry to hear about your car.. But glad you're both ok!!!

 

I'd be frustrated too. But I can understand that this is a liability issue, and Ferrari is concerned that the kit is installed properly. At least here in the US, I'm sure an owner could sue Ferrari for ALLOWING an owner to install the kit themselves, if a leak and fire still occurred in this area, after the owner installed it. Owner's Lawyer: "Ferrari should have known that owners could make mistakes installing this kit", etc. etc..

To the OP: Very sorry to hear you lost your car, but glad you and yours are safe. All the best that this is resolved successfully, and you can find another Ferrari that you are thrilled with!

 

Before slamming the dealer publicly you ought to know Ferrari does not allow the sale of those parts. They are distributed to the dealers for the purposes of performing a free recall ONLY. Under Federal law they are obligated to perform the recall on all affected cars. They are required to perform the job to insure that an important safety defect has been properly repaired. It is policy not to sell, distribute or to use them in any other way.

If you have a beef take it up with the Federal government.

 

Our friend has the kit (and the installation instructions) available on his website for $124.95.

http://www.ricambiamerica.com/product_info.php?products_id=343568

 

Interesting. The dealers are not supposed to sell them.

 

Oops, before you have the beef get the egg off your face

 

Sorry to hear about this, but happy that you and your girlfriend were not harmed.

 

I'm curious if this update kit is of any use if the clamp in question is not touching the fuel line and has not caused any rubbing/damage previously (as in it was never touching before). From what I've read there is no real defect with the parts. Rather it's incorrect installation of the clamp.

I believe the new angle of the replacement fuel block helps alleviate incorrect installation but not sure of any other benefit (okay, new o-rings are always nice to have but....)

Anybody have another take on this?

 

When I took my F355 to the dealer for the recall campaign I did have a ruptured fuel line that could of caught fire. The clamp was rubbing the fuel line. It was replaced. It is not worth the risk, the recall campaign is free. To anyone who has not done so, do what you have to do to get your car in asap or fire will be the consequence. It has happened to many unfortunate owners and the poor gentleman who started this thread.

 

How is it you did not have a fire if the fuel line was ruptured?

Some people don't live anywhere near a Ferrari dealership so it may not be so simple as just driving it in and getting it fixed. That's one reason I'd like to know if it's only the clamp rubbing that is the issue. If it's not rubbing and has not in the past then it should be essential that the recall be performed.

 

Thanks for the reply. You didn't mention it... so I take it the car was not recently serviced (something left loose or damaged during the service).

 

It would make me physically ill to stand there watching that happen and not be able to do anything about it. :|

 

I'm happy for both of you and really sad because of the marvellous F355...

INDEED THE RECALL MENTIONED WAS VERY IMPORTANT...
Anyway the advice on the fire extinguisher is always important and both my Maseratis carry one...

 

this was an unfortunate same scenario.. this car was one of the leaders in making ferrari correct this issue and jump on the recall notice.
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Is this/was this your car? Any more details? This also looks like it started in the same location as with FMELLOR's car. It does not look like it started or burned in the middle which you would think it would if the problem were near the center mounted fuel distribution block. Obviously looking at the burn marks in a photo of the car is not ideal and fuel may have shot out in that direction from another location but it makes me wonder.

It would be unfortunate to get this recall done and then feel content while there may be another part/location that is the cause of some or many of these fires.

Any photo of the engine?

 

Perhaps Ferrari should consider replacing the BS plastic fuel filler and vent lines with something with more than a 30-sec fire rating!!

 

Perhaps it is FNA policy, and I am unfair in giving FoV a hard time, but I think it is utter BS that I supposedly cant even buy them as new/updated parts. Besides, how would they know whether I simply wanted to order the fuel block as a spare anyways??

I bet if I ordered fuel lines that were part of a recall a few years ago they would be happy to sell them to me.. AND I bet they would be the updated parts!!

I would think that FoV or FNA, rejecting a parts order requested for components known to correct an issue, knowingly allowing the possibility of a car on the road that has fire risk, (which heaven forbid, catches fire because an owner couldn't update the parts) would face similar liability... alternatively..

...If they did SELL the parts, and included a clear notice that they recommend one get them installed FOC at the dealer, where the owner is made aware of the risk, and the owner then installed the parts himself, then IMO, FNA would have done its duty, and the risk would be on the owner.

Not selling the parts along with due notice is IMO, negligent.