F430 outer tail light loose / broken

Who is your Indie?

 

Adrian at Precision Tune in Margate.

He "fixed" mine somehow. I really don't care how. I didn't want to replace the whole piece unless necessary.

 

The problem with these appears to be that the light fixture is fitted with 2 bolts at the top and 1 at the bottom. When mine broke the single plastic post at the bottom , the light is then hanging on the 2 top ones which then proceeds to crack the plastic between the 2 top posts. I was lucky in that the lower post broke off near to the end, i hacksawed back to unsplit plastic and then drilled a 5 mm hole down the middle of it, tapped this out to M6. Then fitted a short length of stainless stud bar with some loctite on the threads.
The crack in the top part was fixed with Araldite . An M6 nut, then a washer was run down the stud bar and the unit refitted. Do up the 2 top fitting and then adjust the nut and washer to come up behind the bracket- when you have this position move the nut and apply nutlock-put nut back in position and fit the outer nut.Job done and as solid as a rock. I have modified the other 3 by cutting back the lower post and fitting stud bars- if the lower post is solid in the 1st place it will not break which then allows the fitting to hang on the top 2 and crack due to being able to flex

 

My scud had this when I picked it up...or developed it on the drive home. I fixed it with a 2 part epoxy. Has held up very well since.

 

09 scud. I recently converted rear lights all to led with scuding Swiss option. I found all 4 were cracked. I would have left them alone but the plastic receiving the screw to secure lightbulb also cracked so I replaced all 4. I'm guessing prob brittle plastic either from heat or from factory.

 

When ordering from ricambi they sent me the outer left in European version. Same exact light but with an orange center lense. So I have it if anyone needs it I'll sell it cheap.

 

I have posted the fix elsewhere on the forum, but the basics is to drill the plastic post with a 5mm drill appox 12mm deep. Tap this out 6 mm and fit a length of 6mm stainless stud bar, apply loctite or glue to threads.your pic shows all broken off so you need to file a V section to the end of the plastic bit and use Araldite or similar appoxy to bond it back together.With the top part stuck back you will have a short length of 6 mm studding in the lower single post, run a 6 mm nut , then a washer down it. Fit the top 2 in situ and adjust the nut and washer so they come up behind the bracket. When you have this position move the nut away, apply nutlock and put up against the bracket, fit the original ferrari nut the other side of the bracket
The problem is the light is hanging on the top 2 and if the bottom one breaks it just moves about cracking the plastic between the top 2- if you get to it in time and reinforce the single post using a stud bar it will not fail in the first place-when 1 of mine failed i fixed it, then fitted stud bars to the rest and no problems so far

 

This is the fix-if you can keep the single fixing solid then it stops the light just hanging on the top 2 studs and cracking the plastic between them
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Very nice

 

Mine has a lot of inner-cracks in top them... is that common?

also have outer (eurostyle) with orange in the middle Selling cheap (no cracks)

PM me if interested.

// Fredrik

 

If you have the bottom fixing break then the upper 2 fixings are only allowing the light to hang in position and the cracks will develope due to the vibration of it not being soild- fix the bottom 1 with the stud bar and it should not be a problem

 

Grrr, one of my lights was loose. Took it out to find the below. Looks like the previous owner has already repaired one of the posts. I superglued it back together then after that set, I coated the break with epoxy resin. Will see how long this holds up.

If it breaks again I'll look at either replacing with the Scud Ing version which has rubber grommets to absorb any shock or try drowning the light in epoxy.

Dealer wanted to charge me 500 GBP for a replacement.
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Man, that is the worst I've seen. Looks like a new one is in order.

I just epoxied both my two outer ones this past week because the lower posts were broke. You could seem them vibrate when the car was running. Based on everyone else's experiences, I don't expect them to last...


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500 quid, that's steep. Buy the replacement from Scuding Swiss....cheaper and better quality than oem.


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Hasn't happened to me but I would along with using epoxy resin lay down a layer of carbon fiber or fiberglass weave on the fractured area for additional strength and support.

 

Am I wrong here, the scud-ing LED's are the rear frame for the bulbs, not the outer tail light housing that breaks. You'd still need to buy/repair the taillight.


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You can also buy the tail lights from Scuding

 

Since the Enzo has the same tail light, do they suffer from STS.(shaky taillight syndrome?)


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mine got broken from someone working on the car- leaned on it and snapped the tab like original post- i know it was from that as 2 days earlier i washed the car and it didnt wobble around.

i used the 2 part panel adhesive for bodywork- just did this a couple months ago so time will tell - but that epoxy should be stronger than the original plastic -

 

Scuding swiss has redesigned ones with insulators to keep vibrations down. I bought a full set at $199 each.

 

Epoxy the break and the bridge the crack with a separate material to spread the load and alter the "moment" as in physics speak.

 

Thanks to everyone for sharing all the info and their experience.

I will summarize what I learned for the busy bodies:

1) OE tail lights are weak and will break. Its only a matter of time.

2) To prolong the life of the OE tail lights I suggest adding rubber washers to the tail light bolts. The rubber washers will absorb engine vibration and will put less strain on the plastic tail lights.

3) If yours are already broken and wish to replace it with one that may last longer - I recommend going with Stef Scuding tail lights. They are better made and costs less than half of what Ferrari charges ($200 each tail light vs. $500 what OE Ferrari charges)

Link below.

NOTE: I have no affiliation to Stef and his business. Just sharing knowledge and info.

https://www.scuding.com/Shop/en/rear-lights-optical-clusters/18-rolu43c-f430-light-cluster-clear.html

Dan

 

Just remove the single stud and drill and tap in a bit of stud bar like my posted pics, mine are fine after all this time