360 - Bought a 360 and the heat exchanger ruptured... | FerrariChat
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360 Bought a 360 and the heat exchanger ruptured...

Discussion in '360/430' started by midiman, May 18, 2025.

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  1. midiman

    midiman Rookie
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    Nov 16, 2013
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    Oregon
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    Lon Ashment
    #1 midiman, May 18, 2025
    I recently bought a 2001 360 Modena with a good service history, I had a 2003 years ago and just wanted to go back to a 360 after having a 599 and then stepping back in time and getting a 328. The PPI identified a few items to fix here and there. So when it arrived I did some paint correction and was able to have the parts on hand that I needed to start bringing it back to glory.

    About a week into it I was letting it idle and watching live data from the OBDII port. I then noticed that the temperature had went slightly above 210 and the fans were not on. I shut of the car and smelled what I did not want to smell. A mix of coolant and gear oil. I immediately thought about the exchanger. So i put the car up on the lift and got access to the drain plug on the gearbox.

    When I pulled the plug I was conflicted with emotion as coolant immediately came out. I was bummed that I was right, however what came out was straight coolant followed by gear oil. No milky mix. Man was I lucky. It must have failed right at the moment I was doing the analysis. Meaning that it was never in motion with the leak. So I ordered the exchanger kit and got to work.

    I decided to go in though the top by removing the intake as I wanted to replace gaskets and hoses while doing this as well as the thermostat as the service records did not list these ever being done. Took about 6 hours total from start to finish to get it done not counting the parts that I ordered to replace while I was in there.

    Took about 4 flushes to get out the remnants of what was in the gearbox and lines. After 50 miles or so the gear oil comes out just as clear as it went in. I will give it one more change in a couple of hundred miles or so.

    I have to say that I was surprised on how easy this car is to work on. It can be a little rough having to lay on top of the engine from time to time but over all everything is straight forward and accessible.

    There also was very minimal oil in the coolant and after one flush it is no longer visible. All in all I feel very lucky. It is funny that the exchanger was on my list to do in the near future and the car decide why don't we move that up the timeline.
     
    Bebs, Jaymac, dmijoskov and 9 others like this.
  2. tazandjan

    tazandjan Three Time F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa Owner

    Jul 19, 2008
    39,085
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    Terry H Phillips
    #2 tazandjan, May 18, 2025
    I love a happy ending.
     
    DBomb117, John_K_348 and EastMemphis like this.
  3. 066/8

    066/8 Karting

    Sep 29, 2023
    236
    #3 066/8, May 18, 2025
    Did you consider buying lottery tickets? :D
     
  4. aventari

    aventari Karting

    Dec 9, 2010
    151
    San Diego
    #4 aventari, May 19, 2025
    Great catch.

    That water/oil exchanger worries me with how expensive a trans is.

    I'm considering deleting the heat exchanger and fabricating new transaxle cooling lines to a traditional oil cooler. Does anyone make a kit to do this yet?

    Yes you won't get the gear oil warming up as quickly but that's the only downside vs. it failing and destroying a $15,000+ gearbox

    Image Unavailable, Please Login
     
  5. hessank

    hessank Formula 3
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    Fred
    #5 hessank, May 19, 2025
    Last edited: May 19, 2025
    Subscribed!
    I did preventative maintenance and changed mine as soon as I bought my car (like you had planned). Yet, I would bypass it for an external unit if it can be done right. I know someone on this site has done it.
    I don't drive my car in extreme cold weather and so if I did remove mine I would compensate with babying the car for at least 10 minutes before giving it any load.

    https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/360-challenge-transmission-cooler-update.473003/
     
  6. EastMemphis

    EastMemphis Formula 3
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    May 25, 2019
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    John
    #6 EastMemphis, May 19, 2025
    The good news with the heat exchanger is when it starts to fail, it leaves a tell tale streak of oil in the coolant tank. Just check your tank regularly and if you see the level going down, or a sheen of oil on the surface, you've got a problem that needs addressing.

    The transaxle only gets destroyed if you miss the signs and keep driving the car with the failure unnoticed.

    I did an analysis of a failed heat exchanger a while ago and concluded that they corrode from the oil side, not the coolant side. If you use an improper oil in your transaxle, it will corrode the copper in the heat exchanger, and those impossible to replace syncros and eventually eat through and cause a leak.

    If you use the right oil in your transaxle, the heat exchanger should last the life of the car.
     
    flash32 likes this.
  7. flash32

    flash32 F1 Veteran

    Aug 22, 2008
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    Dominick
    #7 flash32, May 19, 2025
    +1

    That is why I recommend Ravenol vsg..based on tests it does not eat away copper
     
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  8. Andviv

    Andviv Karting

    Jan 8, 2024
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    Andy Vv
    #8 Andviv, May 19, 2025
    Ha, and here I was thinking the exchanger was a magic voodoo thingy that needed to be replaced "just in case" because there are no tell tale signs of impending failure... I guess I was wrong and just learned something cool.
     
  9. midiman

    midiman Rookie
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    #9 midiman, May 19, 2025
    Yes...Yes I did. I considered taking a trip to visit the parents in Vegas LOL!
     
  10. midiman

    midiman Rookie
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    #10 midiman, May 19, 2025
    I searched for quite some time to find a GL-4/GL-5 hybrid oil. I did not come across this one, I will have to check it out.
     
  11. L1MTD

    L1MTD Karting

    Jun 2, 2019
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    #11 L1MTD, May 20, 2025
    Do you have a list of the oils that should work, beyond what Dom recommended?
     
  12. DBomb117

    DBomb117 Formula Junior

    Jun 20, 2019
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    #12 DBomb117, May 20, 2025
    I used to get the OEM Shell Spirax S5 75w-90 from Lubefinder
    https://www.lubefinder.com/shell-spirax-s5-ate-75w-90-5.html

    Otherwise the stuff only comes in 5 gal or larger containers
     
  13. 066/8

    066/8 Karting

    Sep 29, 2023
    236
    #13 066/8, May 20, 2025
    There was a table of GL-5 oils and their yellow metal compatibilty, but I can't find it anymore.
    ENI Rotra LSX and Redline 75W90 were towards the top of the list as well, but not as good as VSG if i remember correctly.
     
    L1MTD, EastMemphis and flash32 like this.
  14. Jaymac

    Jaymac Formula Junior
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    Jeremy McCurdy
    #14 Jaymac, May 21, 2025
    Did you use the upgraded kit sold from
    AW Italian?
     
  15. midiman

    midiman Rookie
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    #15 midiman, May 21, 2025
    Yes, I did however reuse the factory clamps as they were not worn and I like how they close all the way up so you don't have to worry about the screw drive type clamp slipping when tightening. Everything I read was telling me to get the hoses really tight as they are a really thick rubber.
     
  16. Jaymac

    Jaymac Formula Junior
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    #16 Jaymac, May 21, 2025
    Good to know. I had heard of one owner having problems with the hoses popping off. I’m not certain which clamps he was using.
     
  17. Johnv10

    Johnv10 Karting
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    Jun 16, 2018
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    #17 Johnv10, May 24, 2025
    t
    Yes that was me. I replaced mine through the cabin and I didn’t get one of the clamps tight enough. The hose popped off during a spirited test test drive. I felt like an idiot, but I couldn’t get my hand on it to really check it. Plus my left hand was having some issues, I had joint replacement surgery in that hand scheduled for the next day so I was rushing to get it done. Otherwise the car would sit for four months during recovery. So I opted to take it to dealer to connect it back up and they went from the top and took care of the intake gaskets while they were in there. Knowing what I know now I would go from the top again and use my air lift to pressure test it!
    Sometimes gotta slow your roll!
     
    Jaymac likes this.
  18. midiman

    midiman Rookie
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    #18 midiman, May 24, 2025

    Glad to hear it has worked out. I actually used your experience to determine that for my car I wanted to go in through the top to be sure to get those clamps really tight. Thanks for your contribution it helped me out a lot.
     

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