355 Life saved?!!

In the second volume in the suspensions tightening torques summary table. page F 52.

I just checked with my torque wrench at 20 Nm and all bolts are tightened ok except the drivers side top one that just doesn´t reach that torque.

My car has had disastrous mechanics in its life. I bought it to save it from its horrible life. So in my case the explanation of why there was a loose bolt in the steering rack could just be this.

I´m buying new bolts later.

I´ll keep the news coming.

 

Good stuff Arturin...

But only 1 thing bothers me... Its always the drivers side thats loose and requires tightening and this leads to overtightening and then threading of the bolt near the hex head..

This coupled with the 95 355 drivers side rack p clamp recall makes me think..
Is it a design flaw?

After all how many cars went up in flames before the fuel block divider recall...
I know my car had a fuel smell for a while till i found a leak in the fuel hose near the rear strut shock... And this was before the RECALL

Maybe we should point this to the attention of Ferrari before someone gets hurt..

regards pk

 

Could be a design flaw yours is RHD and mine LHD and we are both having problems in the drivers side.

But hey its an Italian car, its all assumed. I remember an 80s alfa gtv my father bought new in which brake calipers cracked in two pieces and had to be welded by the dealer (weren't replaced with new ones)
Once welded they wouldn't break apart again.

 

italian cars are like italian women Dead sexy but BOY Do YOU PAY!!

A friend of mine recently bought a pirazzi shotgun.18k. For those that dont know its like a Gucci Bag,, hand made and 6m wait time.. When he finally got it the barells were pitted from rust because it had been sitting on the shelf for so long.. It also came with 3 firing pins and 2 triggers.. I shot with it.. Excellently weighted Gun and very beautiful.. BUT!!

Constantly stuffing up... Like all italian stuff when it works YOU WIN!! and when it doesnt You pay... If someone handed me a Japanese Gun and a pirazzi and loaded them both with the trigger set to safety and said put them in your mouth and pull the trigger..

Guesss which one id choose...

 

From the pic of the bolts on post #14, the bolt heads look quite thick. Are there replacement bolts available with a small hole in the bolt head or someone willing to drill a small hole through the bolt head? I'm thinking safety wire would be a good fix for this.

 

Just fixed it! Hell yeah!!!!

Bought new bolts. Easily sourceable at any hardware store.

Here´s what exactly what I did:

First I just put in a new bolt, but same as before, could tight it to 12Nm max. The bolt came out with the threads next to the head as the stock bolt so I guess its maybe the contact with the clamp or something.

So, I build a tool to retap the threads in the hole easily (as easy as the access hole permits) I retap just a few turns (just 2 or 3), blow compressed air in and tried again. This time, apparently the same happened, it wasn´t tight enough so I just continued to turn it in (nothing could get worst at this point I thought) and as I tightened it it started gripping more until I could finally torque it to 20Nm.


So lemon355, knowing this I would do the following:

-Get new bolts, take the old ones out.
-Blow compressed air inside
-Put the new bolt in and tighten it. Mine has taken lots and lots of turns so be patient and give it a try.

If this doesn´t work retap a few turns the hole. The reason why I tell you not to do this step at first is because it effing difficult. I think I´ve just been lucky to get everything right at first without screwing up everything.

 

Fisrt 2 pics are of the tool I made.

I took the retap plug and inserted it in a socket with a hammer so I could use it easily through the hole in the trunk.

Last is the new (black) Vs old bolt
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Excellent stuff Arturin...!! Way to go my friend...

PRS also has a very good idea.. Safety wire ...!!

Race bolts and pro bolt in uk/aus make a bolt with such holes...
In aluminium and titanium or even hardened steel..
Im going to buy both and try to chicken wire the race bolts bolts together..

Better yet a lock washer or a washer with a tab you can lift up to stop the bolt head turning..

Off to the hardware store now... will post how i get on...

regards pk

 

Ok got some new bolts.. Hardened steel...

But before going ahead i decided stuff it im gonna take out the C clamps holding the rack..
What i found was very interesting..

Pic 1 and 2 : DRIVERS RHD P CLAMP..
Things i immediately noticed...

It LOOKS different from the pass side. Its thinner at its base than the pass side..
The gap between the bolt and the round hole in the p clamp is BIG it realy swims
around in there... The hole in the P clamp is about 10mm.. Bolt thread 8mm...
thus allowing the p clamp to move around the shaft of the bolt and to chew it
out..


Also the spring washers on the drivers P clamp had no spring in other words they
were flat..

Then with the P clamp out i passed a tiny screwdriver through the hole that the bolt goes through and i felt..... CARPET MOVING..

I went to the front of the car and I found this..

PIC 3. YEP.. THERE ARE 2 THREADED HOLES FOR THE BOLT TO GO THROUGH...??!! I passed a virgin bolt through the 2 upper holes from INSIDE THE CAR.. Dont know if they are long enough but i felt no RESISTANCE or feeling of crossed threads,, GOOD!! Then i tried the same via the trunk but through the upper of the 2 holes..VERY GENTLY It didnt feel right.. cross threaded I left it alone... The lower of the 2 holes however was OK..

Last Picture is of the PASS side P clamp.. notice its thicker at its base.. I couldnt take it out.. because the rack would drop.. but you can see the difference.. BTW the P clamps come out through the inspection plate via the trunk

QUESTIONS>> Why are there 2 holes on each side for the upper and lower p clamp bolts to go through.. In my car they go through the uppermost and lowermost holes..
Maybe bc the body of 355 is same as 348 but the 348 had a manual rack so it was skinier and thus used the 2 inner holes??

QUESTION>> Why are the drivers and pass p clamps different..? Is there something missing on the drivers p clamp that they took off which allowed them to thread the bolt deeper in to allow them to tighten it more..

QUESTION>>Why isnt there a better fit between the bolt and the hole in the P clamp..Ie tighter interference.. Is it there for a reason..? to give you some leeway so you can find the female threads in the firewall when putting th bolt through?

In fact the 2 holes you see are a plate that MOVES around in a little CAVE sandwiched on either side by the skin of the firewall and trunk respectivly

OPTIONS>> Re thread backwards from the footwell..? And try to pass the bolts as per OEM
Pass bolt from footwell and just put a nut on the end of the bolt sticking
through the P clamp..ie reversed?
Machine a collared plate to go over the P clamp base that has a tighter fit and get a bolt with no threads for the first 5mm through going via the trunk..?? as per OEM

Lastly Pass bolt from footwel and then make a machined collar with tight interference so p clamp doesnt move and then just put a Nut on the end..


Or am i missing something here..

regards pk
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I'd lock wire the bolts ... end of concern.

Pete

 

Quote of the year. Great thread gentlemen, I will be checking my steering rack as my 355 is in for service right now so it couldn't have been posted at a better time to ask my mechanic to double check it. Thanks, I hope it all sorts out well.

 

Lemon355 didn´t your bolts have a washer in them? mine do. They have one of those coil washers. If yours hasn´t, someone has been messing around there for sure.

 

guys

Did this present any symptoms? Knocking noise or anything??

 

Am going to check my bolts .......would Loctite 243 placed on the 4 bolts ensure they won't work loose.....?

Is there any way of noticing that these bolts are loose or is the only way to physically check the bolts from inside the luggage compartment?

Howard

 

I didn´t notice anything, no strange things when steering, no noises, no knocking... nothing. I discovered it while I was doing some other work, had the undertray off and saw the lower bolt loose. Then checked the upper one through the trunk hole and it was even looser.

 

Thanks

Will check mine