1998 550 Maranello "sorting" thread--DIY

Ok...changed my mind. Only took a drive in the 550 to decide that I'm an idiot to get rid of the car.

Next up, brake pad replacement!

 

My Maranello, like many of them, has these squealing brakes that are embarrassing to behold on the road. And, as I don't have any intention to track the car, I plan to replace them with street compound pads. Up today is front pad replacement.

Jack the vehicle up and remove the wheels. Check the reservoir and make sure it is not overfilled, as this will make recompressing the pistons in the calipers difficult. Turn the steering wheel so that one caliper is turned outward toward you. Remember that brakes have dust that despite allegedly no longer containing asbestos still can be harmful to lungs. Wear a particle mask.

The brake pads are held in by two pins and a metal spring clip. Photos 1 and 2 show how to remove the pins by gently striking with a hammer and a small screwdriver. Use caution when the first pin is removed as the spring clip is loaded and will pop out of the caliper with some violence.

Remove the pins from their slots and set them and the spring clip aside for cleaning (Photo 3)

You are now left with the brake pads (with a wear sensor wire) in the calipers. (Photo 4)
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The caliper pistons sit inside the body of the caliper and exert inward pressure on the brake pads, compressing the rotor between them. They need to be compressed back into their seats to remove the old pads. You can accomplish by pushing on the pad tabs (where the pins went through) away from the rotor with a screwdriver, or you can use a compressor tool like I did (will be seen later). Take care not to mark the rotor.

Clip the wire ties that hold the sensor wire to the caliper supply line. (Photo 1)

Once the pistons are compressed you can slide the pads out like books on a shelf. (Photo 2)

Once the brake pads are out use brake cleaner to remove all brake dust and residual goo from the pistons, but not before examining the pistons and seals for leaks (Photo 3)

The wear sensor is pictured on the old brake pads. I will be reusing this sensor in the new installation (Photo 4)
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I chose the standard Porterfield R4s pads sold by Ricambi. The front pad set has a backing plate applied to the piston side of the pad, as well as sensor wire mount slots.
Photo 1 shows the old pad (left) and the new pad (right)

The wear sensors are brittle little bastards and I ended up cracking them slightly by removing them. I glued them in with a *touch* of epoxy on the new pad (Photo 2)

The next question I had is about anti-squeal compounds. Should I or shouldn't I? Which one? My best research on the subject seemed to indicate that I should. As far as what to use, it seems that this depends on the anatomy of your replacement pad. According to CRC, if the pad has a backing plate that is either mechanically attached or no backing plate, you should coat the piston side surface of the pad with a light coat of "disc brake quiet" spray. Permatex also makes their version of this. However, if the pad has a free-floating or not mechanically attached backing plate, you should use a light coating brake grease on the piston side surface of the plate.

The front pads from Porterfield have a backing plate that is attached, so I sprayed a light coating of disc brake quiet on them, waited 10 minutes for it to become tacky, and then was ready to reinsert (Photos 3 and 4)
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I forgot to mention that you should inspect your rotors for excessive wear or cracking around the drilled holes. Lightly scuff the rotors using 2000 grit paper.

Reassembly is essentially the reverse of removal. You must fully compress the pistons back into their seats prior to inserting the new pads, which can be accomplished very nicely with this quad piston spreader from Lisle (Photo 1)

Pads can be gently tapped back into place, lining them up with the holes in the caliper for the pins. Lightly lubricate the pins and the surfaces of the pins that contact the spring plate, as well as the tabs of the spring plates that touch the pad body. Don't be sloppy.

Reinsert the pins, with the spring clip in place, and then tap the pins back into their seats with the same punch you used to remove them. Make sure they are ALL THE WAY IN. (Photo 2)

The front brakes are now complete and I will plan on bleeding them again prior to driving (I just recently bled them).
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John,
I used the FBB test...I spun the rotors while looking at them on end
No, seriously...I had never had the slightest indication of pulsation or wobbling with the brakes prior to this and just assumed the runout to be true. I did examine each disc carefully for scoring.

 

Okay, here's the next Maranello sorting issue to take care of. My driver's window like a lot of other 456/550/575 cars has slid forward a bit a the top of it's travel, causing the seal to be imperfect at the top rear corner of where the door seal and window meet. A search of Fchat reveals a few commentaries on how to fix this and what could be causing it.

To figure out the problem, you must remove both of the interior door panels, the process for which has been detailed in other places on this forum. Once the door cards are off, you are left with what you see in Photo 1.

You must remove the black sheet moisture barrier to access the regulator apparatus. (Photo 2). The sheet is brittle and may tear. A replacement can be made with any suitable gauge sheet plastic. In my car I will be replacing this moisture barrier with a mass-loaded vinyl sheet for noise reduction purposes. Step one for removing the window regulator is to remove the arm that bolts the regulator to the door body ABOVE the motor in Photo 2. The arm is seen between 9 and 11 o'clock in the photo. Three bolts hold it to the door metal and one nut holds it to the regulator. Remove it and set it aside.

Disconnect the electrical connector from the window motor by sliding the silver clip on the plug sideways. (Photo 3 indicates that direction to be to the left)

There is a metal tab holding a couple of electrical connectors to the regulator, secured by two nuts. Remove this from the regulator.
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The reason I am removing the regulator is because many references seem to agree that the center pin holding the circular spring in the center of the regulator becomes bent over time and causes the window to shift in its track. I'm going to have mine rebuilt by F1 Imports and Exotics in Naples, FL.
However, this is not the ONLY reason why the windows shift. More on that later.

To complete the regulator removal:

Once the removable arm is taken off (as in the prior post) there are three remaining attachments to the door metal.
Remove the two 10mm bolts at the back of the door (Photo 1) You will also need to remove the door opening and lock rods from the regulator by gently snapping the green plastic tab off the rod and rotating it so the rod can come out.
Remove the two 10mm bolts at the bottom of the door below the motor (Photo 2)
Loosen the two nuts holding the upper part of the regulator to the door. DO NOT remove them yet (Photo 3)
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The window is driven up and down in a track on either side of it by two scissoring arms that fasten to the bottom rail of the window. You DO NOT need to remove any screws from the glass. Do not attempt it. Retightening the bolts could shatter the glass if you aren't careful.

The bottom of Photo 1 shows the scissor arms in their aluminum track at the bottom of the window.
Photos 2 and 3 show the attachment points of the scissor arms in the track. Each arm has a knob on its end that snaps into a white plastic slider in the aluminum rail. That knob is held in the plastic slider by a metal spring clip (the half-moon shaped aluminum clip seen in photos 2 and 3 behind each scissor arm).
Pop each spring clip out by hooking a probe into the circular part and pulling away from the scissor arm in the direction of the path of the white plastic slider's travel. It will pop out, and then using an upholstery pry tool you can gently pop the scissor arm knob out of the white plastic slide.
YOU MUST support the window with your hand from underneath as you pop the scissor arm knobs out of the white slides. Once the window is free of the scissor arms if it is not supported it will fall down into the door and likely shatter. You can then gently lower the window into the door with your supporting hand and it will rest down at the bottom of the door.

Once this is complete you can remove the two nuts fully at the top of the regulator and slide the whole apparatus out (Photo 4).
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At this point I shipped the regulators off to F1 for modification and then turned my attention to the window sitting in the track.

There are two metal attachments that screw to the window at its bottom corners and act as vertical slides in the window track. Both of the attachments at the back of both windows were loose, with the driver attachment being so loose it was about to fall off. In MY CASE, this is the likely cause of the window sliding forward (Photo 1)

It isn't supposed to be cockeyed like it is relative to the vertical track. I will realign the window in the tracks and gently retighten the bolt on each side. Once this is done I will clean all the old grease out of the track and replace with fresh lithium grease. The grease on the regulators is in good shape with no drying evident.
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Regulators arrived back from F1 imports in two days. Very good service!

It was fairly straightforward to reinstall them in their mounts, and each one only required a few adjustments to make the window travel perfect.

The moisture barriers were replaced with mass loaded vinyl sheeting, and the inner door metal (the backside of the outer skin) had butyl rubber tiles added to reduce resonance. (Photo 1).

The window travel is now straight all the way to the top (Photo 2). We will see if that is enough to fix the wind noise issue.
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If I am not mistaken the 456 and the 550 have the same window regulator.

 

I've been off the grid for a while enjoying the Maranello!
The car is running wonderfully and the new Porterfield R4S pads are whisper quiet. I'm driving the car several times a week for usually an hour at a time. Runs cool, around 190-200 degrees. No hiccups.

The only issue I have come across is that I have a tiny drip of oil that is coming from the front timing cover that I removed and replaced. I should have NOT followed the WSM and put a thin layer of sealant on both sides of the gasket prior to putting it back on. For now it doesn't even drip on the floor, and results in no appreciable loss of oil measured via the dipstick, so I'm just ignoring it.

Thanks again for everyone's help!