Hey fchat friends. I have been battling this annoying problem for a few months now. Somehow, the mounting points on my passenger side, outer tail light have broken. I originally epoxy'd them and they held for a few weeks. But without fail, they seem to break again. I have probably used epoxy 3 times now and it never holds. Obviously the solution is to buy a new RH Outer tail light, which I will probably do this week - but I am afraid it will break again since the epoxy seems to be super strong once it dries. Has anyone successfully repaired their tail light before? I suspect hitting hard bumps stress the mounting points and cause it to crack / break. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Mine broke too. I applied some layers of double sided tape between the washers and bolts at the attachement points. It hasn't broken since. The vibration of the engine breaks them.
Weird, mine broke too, the same tail light. If this is the case for a number of people, I'm guessing the problem is the mounting panel itself is the wrong alignment and create some sort of tension/binding.
Common problem on all F430's. My drivers side one broke and I repaired it with strong epoxy, I had to try a few different kinds before finding one that held. I placed a small rubber bumper between the light fixture and the body panel to hold the lights up so that they don't get stressed. It is a bad design.
I'm worried I am spending $500 only for this to happen again in a few weeks. The epoxy seems so strong when I tested the tension once it dried. I don't know if the engine bay heat contributes to weakening the epoxy? I guess I will try using a rubber washer in the three mounting screws and maybe some kind of small piece between the body and the plastic lens.
One of mine was broken in a hand car wash when they leaned on it to wash further down the car. Fortunately I was watching and heard the crack and then the light fell being held only with the loom. I have since replaced the light but I am not sure this is more common than vibration or heat being the culprit... I wash my own car now - LOL!
Repair it with SEM or Norten body panel adhesive. Rough sand around the cracked areas and coat the entire area with the mixed adhesive. Strongest stuff on the planet! Eastwood sells it or any automotive paint supply shop will stock it.
I have used 3M and JB Weld brand on the tail light and both held for a few weeks / a couple months at most. When I get the new tail light, I will try to repair the old one to perfection using the stuff you suggested and keep it in the garage for if and when the new one fails.
I tried JB Weld and it held for a couple of drives, also tried fiber glass, same result. Ended up buying a new one. Bloody expensive.
While I'm usually the first person in the room to brag all about Ferrari, I'll also suggest that the tail light mounting brackets, all four, are a truly terrible design. In truth, 90% of the 430's are doomed to the same 'broken' fate .. and so far, replacing the entire light (approx. $350.00) is the only reliable fix to the problem.
One of my lamps broke when I was mounting ScudIngs led back lights. I think it is a poor plastic quality the have detoriated. I have used epoxi glue and it works. You may not fix the screws to hard so that the lamp could flex just a little. I think there would be a good idea to mount a flexible material under the lamp to support the lamp but not hold it hard. All this to stop the vibration to crack the plastic.
Try glue to hold in place then rough the surface and strengthen with a piece of fibreglass mat and resin. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Judging by all the posts here, this is yet another lovable "characteristic" of the 430. And yes, it happened to me. Trying to avoid it happening again, I asked my dealer - their response was it was likely caused by my snug fitting Ferrari car cover that pressures the outer lens and eventually it weakens and gives. You've gotta love the "quirks" that any other manufacturer would get pummeled for.
It's funny how dealers respond to all these non sense issues on cars that worth +$200k. They approach it like its a normal thing. In the meantime you can buy other cars that meant for everyday use for a fracture of the Ferrari price and you don't have these problems. We have to pay to play. On a good note, it seams that these kind of issues get less and less with the newer Ferrari cars.
Yup, as others have said, common issue. I find broken taillights at least a few times a year on mine. At first I thought it was a freak thing, took it to the dealer and they glued it back together saying buying a new one was a waste since it might happen again. They were correct. Got good at doing them myself now. Buy stubby wrenches.
Im pretty good at accessing the tail-lamps, and removing the side engine cover piece since I have done it so many times. After replacing my broken tail light with a new unit from Ferrari ($400) - I have not had any more issues yet. A few of the suggestions on here make sense, using a rubber o-ring / washer to dampen the vibration would help.
Disappointing to hear about another common problem on the 430. Unfortunately all of these problems are all very pricey. As I continue to research and ultimately purchase a 430, I am realizing the quality of these cars is no better than GM or Ford.
Yup...they are still a boutique manufacturer, and they never make enough of them (or are they driven enough) during a production run to update and fix all the problems. By the time all the issues are found, they are making the replacement. Remember GM and Ford probably make the 7000 car annual production volume of Ferrari in an hour.
Haha, you have no idea... Ferrari has historically not been a very reliable car to own, and not much has changed. The old saying is correct, "Its not a matter of affording to buying the car, its a matter of affording to maintain it". I can speak first hand that if you first own a Ferrari or Lamborghini, and then buy a Porsche, you will probably not go back. But that's why they are "exotic" I.E finicky. I'm fortunate enough to be able to have both, but man, older Ferrari ownership (430 and earlier) is certainly a roller coaster.
Mine failed and the single plastic post broke so i tapped a 6mm thread down the centre of the remaining, them fitted a 6mm stud bar. The plastic around the other 2 fittings was cracked so used araldite to fix it. So far so good
