1998 550 Maranello "sorting" thread--DIY

Mark- Permanent coolant, right. When I had my old 987 Boxster serviced the rep said the coolant was permanent when I told him to change it. When I started laughing and told him there was no such thing as permanent coolant, he grinned and said I was correct and they would change it. Same thing at the Mercedes dealership on Jan's GL 550. They just look sheepish and do it. Probably have to look up how to do it, though.

Pete- See if you can find a clever 5 year old to put in the plug for you. They already know more about computers than I do, so you might as well start training one on mechanical stuff.

 

Carl, I've forgotten if I put them in there or not, but Belmetric certainly carries a lot of cool hardware. McMaster's is usually my first stop for hardware, but if it's something weirder than what they have, Belmetric is next.

I'm just giving Pete a hard time because I know the "voices" are telling him to go deeper and deeper with his major, and I hope he's strong enough to resist. I wasn't, and the deeper I went, the more I found.

 

That's good info John. Thank you.

 

Was afraid you'd say that

Let's hope for the best!

 

Pete: Had to do my major for the same reason. Thought it was the main seal at first. Pic below shows what 70+ psi oil pressure can do.

The arrow shows the remnants of my attempt to stop the leak with sealant.... been there done that.....

Regards.....Mark

PS....Pete, don't know if you saw my post on this... but you can replace this gasket without pulling the cogs out of the cover. I think you termed it, "en banc"....
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you mention using sealant to help out your gaskets on the front of the engine. This is what i would suggest personally. i don't know what you have in mind, but i don't think rtv silicone is the answer.
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thats the red stuff? i have that in my shop. haven't used it too many times but the experience i have had has been really good.

 

How many miles did you put on the belts?

 

I believe the yellow is the cadmium plating coming off -

 

That's lame. I thought that plating was the cat's meow. I was envious of those who had it. I was just too cheap and too impatient to do it for what I saw as only a very nice esthetic benefit. Doing that plating is going 10/10ths during a major that's for sure. I'm not convinced of cog fence welding either. I thought about doing that for about 5 minutes a few months ago during my last 550 major. I have MIG, Gas, and TIG 20 ft. from me but at the 6th minute I never thought about it again.

 

After seeing failures of the staked fences I'm 100 % convinced that TIG welding the fences is the proper thing to do especially since there is no downside and the potential for extensive/expensive damage due to fence failure, while not great is clearly present.

 

Pete, I agree when belts are to tight then you see the dust, when I retention my lose belts you should be able to turn it almost 90 degree as a test and believe it or not that gives you #126 on harmonic meter.

 

Sark- You should not be retensioning the Kevlar belts.

 

Taz, that is a very interesting issue. I do not want open a can of worm but we are very orthodox when comes to belt tension. What I see Ferrari techs set the belts by feeling only, they use no torque just 19 gauge wench, they re tension the loose ones. I am not a pro but I been witness my belt was so loose the harmonic meter read LOW on the 3rd year and Pete's belt is so tight that puts yellow dust. I just want to know a belt tensioned in Boston 20 degree bellow what that belt tension would be in the 100 degree heath of Los Angeles. I was told these belts becomes tight when engine warms up, I thought just opposite of that. The 550 WSM says
- Tension may be adjusted to nominal
value (once only) if it falls below the
minimum acceptable level following use
within the first 1.500 km after changing
the belt (see table pag. B9). In subsequent
checks, replace belt if it stretched
below the minimum acceptable value
after use and comply with the above
procedure for getting correct values.
- The belts must never be tightened again
because the initial working slack would
return after a short time. Each time the
belt is retightened it would stretch a little

These cars been driven in different climates with different tensions which never stays same from the day been adjusted. At the end I might be wrong, by the way that was not my idea but an expert tech which says trust me.

 

Pete-Great reference thread. Most wouldn't take the time to share as you have. I find myself referencing your thread when I am unsure...as I proceed with my belt service.

 

Under $25/injector

RC Engineering
20807 Higgins Ct.
Torrance, Ca. 90501

I am 10 mins from them if you need any help.