Hi from the Philippines, This site and you members have been a constant inspiration and motivation for me to someday own one. Finally got my Ferrari, two months over my personal target(when I turn 40). Owning one is a totally different experience compared to other cars. It now joins a couple of my bmw's, some M's but mostly the classic one's, a Porsche 930, Ford Escort mk1, blah blah. In short , it's a dream come true. But the dream didn't last long..2 months of owning it and logging just a couple of miles to its odometer and now I seem to have a blown head gasket. I have all the symptoms.. Thick smoke from the exhaust, checked dipstick when engine was warm and water was evident, filled up coolant reservoir before starting it and a couple of minutes it all disappears while pavement is all dry. Temp was a tad higher than 3/4's when I turned off the engine and noticed coolant on the pavement upon exiting the car. What a way to start the Ferrari experience. Oh well, that's life. I need your help.. Keep in mind that there is only one Ferrari dealer here in the Philippines and it's located in our capital city Manila. I'm in Cebu(much much much better city although I could be biased). Shipping the car over there will take one day and believe it or not the guys over there haven't tried opening an engine of a 360 yet or any Ferrari for a head gasket replacement. Fast forward a bit.. While I am changing the head gaskets, what other parts should I consider changing since it's already open. And yes, we have to find the culprit of what caused the head gasket to blow. Our guess over here is some failure in the cooling system. Again your inputs would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance, Charlie *taken when she was still ok.. Image Unavailable, Please Login
specific's please...year? mileage? service history? Getting into the motor that far at least gives the opportunity to escalate the maintenance...oil/heat exchanger, belts, tensioners, plugs, going on and on...service history will help to determine what to do...
Thanks mr_bock. I hope so too.. Thanks for the reply Brett.. It's a 2000 model, 3 pedal, 44k plus miles, as for the series history...I don't have much since I just got the car. But clutch was changed to stage 2, and some info with oil changed. I'll try to get its carfax and report back to you. Vin # ZFFYU51A7Y0122086 By the way, has anyone here tried to change their head gaskets? Help pls.. Thanks, Charlie
Fried head gaskets are just the beginning. It suggests to me the car has had a less than ideal life. Was the coolant EVER changed in the last 13 years? Prob not.. Did the car ever overheat? Lastly, I presume you're also checking the oil/coolant intercooler as well while you have the heads off? I'll wager that it is also corroded to high heaven. How's the water pump? I haven't changed the gaskets myself but I would take them off and inspect the cylinder heads and check if they're still true. Make sure no warpage. If the guys at the dealership haven't ever opened an engine for a head gasket... this is only the beginning of your adventure. A 360 is not a car for amateur hour 101...
Sorry your Ferrari experience didn't start out the way you hoped. How did you fare with the recent cyclone that devastated some parts of your country? Alan
Hey there, very cool to see a Ferrari owner in Cebu. I have some family in Cebu City - a Ferrari must be a very rare sight over there. Sorry to hear about your mechanical issues, I will go against the grain here and say that while the 360 is not your common car - it is just nuts and bolts... there are some very skilled mechanics out there that could probably do the job given the parts and some basic guidance.
Hey mikegr.. Boracay is great. You'll love it. Why don't you fly to Cebu as well? It's only a 1 hr flight from Bora. I can surely take you out.. Hey vrsurgeon.. I will check on all those things you've mentioned. Well, the car seems to be in a very good shape based on the body, interior and engine bay and all the other bits. Hi Alan.. Luckily we weren't directly hit and walked out of it with minor damages. But around 100 kilometers away from us to the North, the cities and towns were demolished. Being spared from the typhoon it was our duty to help them. Happy to report that we were there twice already to set up a soup kitchen and fed around 3000 people and gave relief goods to 2000 families. Thanks to all the countries that helped us and have continued to do so. Much appreciated Hey Wisky.. Luckily I was able to find a mechanic who just did a head gasket change on the 360. Makes me a bit more confident now.. Hehe. PM me their fam name, for all you know we might be family. Haha. Btw,thanks for the encouraging words. Keep them coming guys..
CZP, Good luck with the service. I can only imagine how it would be driving a 360 around Cebu. Yes, I agree you live in a better city to have a Ferrari than Manila, but it sure would be a rare site. Did you buy the car from someone in the Philippines or did you have it shipped over. I can relate, I like you was able to achieve my goal of owning before 40, congratulations there. Ferraris are an adventure to own anywhere on the planet, so keep the maintenance tight and enjoy your car as much as you can.
You might want to contact either Autosport or Unique. Both are in Manila though. Unique has a mechanic that used to work for a Ferrari distributor in the middle east so Im sure he has opened up a 360 engine.
Hey butcher.. Got the car from. Manila but it originally came from the States. Grats to you as well for achieving your goal as well. Hey Manila360.. Was able to find a mechanic already who has some hands on experience with the 360. Thanks
same here, I got family in Manila and Cebu and often there. I had an F430 now an LP550-2 would love to ship my 911 there so I can drive it around Would be even better with a 360. Best of luck with the ownership, glad u got a mechanic locally!
We opened her up already ang got to the Head and the head gasket. Oh my!!! Check out the uneven surface near the valves.. Image Unavailable, Please Login
What was the damage to the pistons? Also how badly bent were the valves? Looking at that photo of the head it appears as if the valves have dropped back onto their seats. If they were bent the surely they would not do that. Alan
I have no experience with Ferrari heads, but the typical cure for this sort of problem is to clean up the heads by shaving as little as possible off them. Obviously you want to end up with a perfectly smooth and flat surface without going too far. And then (especially if this damage is caused by overheating) you would also deck the block by removing as little metal as possible. At the very least you need a competent machinist check the block for flatness. You obviously want a smooth and flat block. Otherwise, you'll have the same problem in the future and you'll be taking pictures of the inside of your engine again; not an event which adds joy to car ownership. This isn't rocket science and good automotive machine shop should be able to perform this job. However, a bad one can really screw things up, so be SURE the shop doing the job knows what they're doing. Given the mileage on the car, if it were me, I would get the valves out of there and do a valve job while the heads are off. Any machine shop skilled enough to skim the head should be able to do a valve job. With any luck, you won't have to replace any of the valves or seats. Then you would use a thicker head gasket to compensate for the amount of material you removed from both the head and block. Anyhow, that's more or less the "normal" approach which is not the same thing as saying that your Ferrari engine can be put back in service using "normal" procedures. Perhaps some unlucky owner can chime in here with some real world experience. Good luck.
Yes it can be shaved. That damage in the pics is quite common for all cars, not just Ferraris. Shave as little as you can, the bare minimum to make the head flat. Remember, shaving will slightly increase compression so too much will result in detonation, specially for our local fuel. There are some pretty good machine shops in Manila that can do whats needed. VW Precision in Roces Ave QC comes to mind.
Thanks Mozella.. We are heading in that direction. Will report back to you once the engine builder has started on my heads. Manila360.. Heads are now in the States with a reputable engine builder. Thanks
I'm curious why you didn't have the job done near home. Surely Manila has a good automotive machine shop.
