Hey guys, I have a 328, just purchased and serviced from Shelton Ferrari. Had all the fluids changed, etc. just before delivery (last week). I was told that if I see a tiny bit of oil or coolent on the floor that is ok after a fresh service. Today I literally drove the car around the block, parked it, and turned it off. Immediately I heard a 'swishing' sound.... got out went behind the car and saw a significant amount of florescent yellow/green fluid all over the garage floor. I'd appreciate any help or insight you guys might have. Thank you! Ryan
That's coolant. Air in the system perhaps, forcing it out of the expansion tank. Contact Shelton and tell them to recheck their work.
Well, that's certainly not normal. I've had 88.5 and 89 328's and never lost any coolant. With any mid-engine car, the draining and refilling process must be done slowly and carefully to ensure it is properly bled of air (there is a thumb screw bleeder at the radiator and one at the thermostat housing). If you're local to Shelton, I'd bring it back for them to try it again - perhaps with a different technician.
It is also possible that they over-filled it. It is easy to do and it will spew out any excess fluid. Bleed the system and check the level in the expansion tank.
Either they over filled it or the expansion tank cap needs replacing. The caps get weak (won't hold the pressure in the system) & don't last that long. I'm on my third in 8 years. Should have a 1.1 Bar cap on it now. Either way, having just bought the thing from a dealer, throw it back at them to fix. I.
... "the usual suspects": Overfilled -- if the expansion tank is filled to the top, it will spit coolent. Air -- *everybody* forgets to open up the heater cores (all red bars lit) before bleeding the cooling system (expecially in summer). If you don't, you leave air in the system. If you have air in the system, you may see short (30-60 sec) variations on the temp gauge every few minutes as air pockets pass the sensor. Weak cap -- the current recommended cap is higher pressure than factory stock (1.1 bar vs 0.9, if memory serves). Head gasket (possibly fitment) -- usually accompanied by higher than normal temps (e.g. near or above 212F), if piston pressure bleeds into the cooling system, you'll wind up with an overpressurized cooling system, and the coolent will remain liquid at higher temperatures than normal. Shortly after you shut down, when the pressure bleeds off, the boiling point comes down, and coolent can boil out. (More of an unusual suspect, but can happen if the head gasket wasn't installed right or blew out.)
Bring it back to Bud and say what the heck? amazing car I looked at it @ Sheloton also, Probably a few teething issues on that car due to the low mileage however once its sorted she will be perfect. Andrew
Thanks again for all the info guys. I called Bud and he's going to ask the technicians this morning. He said they may have over filled it. I did check the expansion tank this morning though, when the car was cold, and there was hardly any fluid in it.....
...or 2/3 full...empty does not sound good.... I'd suggest looking at the cap also, it was a mid production change or a Tech Bulletin that raised it to 1.1 bar cap........early ones did just as you described...
Right after turning off the car, the water stops flowing and any air in the system will tend to expand quickly. I suspect air was in the system and expanded causing the fluid to overflow the expansion tank. When cooled down the vacuum pulled the fluid into the engine to fill the void and thus the expansion tank is nearly empty. This happened on some older American cars, but now with fluid reservoirs, this doesn't happen or at least isn't as common. Let us know what the techs find out.
Thanks guys, they are sending me a new cap, should be here tomorrow. They want me to fill the tank 1/2 full with water (that didn't make sense to me, but they assured me it will be ok), then take the car for a run and keep an eye on the temp gauge. If it doesn't happen again, then it was simply the cap. Not sure if this will solve the problem, as when it happend I immediately opened the rear hatch and there was no coolent residue or drops anywhere near the top of the expansion tank or the cap itself. It was all on the floor. Strange.
There's a blow down tube off the throat...... You have read the approach to clearing air pockets from the top of the radiator? I think your newer car also has a bleed fitting at the thermostat housing... Good luck man!
Normal, sounds like you are "burping" some fluid and air out of the system...new cap is good insurance though. Fluid should be 6cm from the top of the filler neck...I measure from the inside of the neck where the cap seals to. If you fill more than that, it will often times "burp" out until it finds it's "equalibrium".
Distilled water, or a 50/50 mix....you don't want to use tap water. Another good additive for anti corrosion and improved heat transfer is Royal Purple "Ice" or the more generic water wetter....couldn't hurt but won't solve your problem alone....
Thanks again so much guys. Thats insane that the Ferrari technicians told me to use tap water!! WTF!? Anyways, I'll get some distilled water and give it a try. If it seems to be working, I can always add a bit of coolent to it later on. Strange. We'll see what happens. If the problem is larger though, it will be on a flatbed back to Shelton.
if the cap isn't holding it, it's likely just air as the others said. No need to flatbed, just drive it to shelton and let it cough out some fluid on their floor. also don't worry about adding coolant, having more water % in florida is a good thing. even if a new cap is holding, I'd probably crack open the bleed screw on the radiator and let any air out. It's not uncommon to need to do it more than once as the air works it's way around. The bleed screw on the thermostat housing is more of a hassle since you have to almost remove it. The trick is to take it out far enough for the air to come through the threads, but not remove it completely and create a geyser.
+1 As usuall Wolftalk is right on the money. The bleed screw on the radiator is easy to get to and simple to use. There are some people who used to park their 328's on an incline and then bleed the system. I never found this necessary. BTW, the fun part is bleeding the radiator when suddenly the cooling fans come on and spray a mist of coolant all over. Regards, Stew
You just bought the car and obviously it wasn't right when it left Shelton. I have insist on them having the car picked up and properly serviced OR as an alternative take the car back entirely. Why are you trying to fix something that you just paid for as fixed???
true enough, I guess, but practically speaking, what's easier? Deal with taking the car back, or: warm up car, open the front lid, crack open a bleed screw that is simple to get to, listen to air hiss out, and close it when it's mostly fluid weeping out. a rag around the screw makes it a no-scalding process. Don't let the rag dangle into the fan (in case the fan starts). you'd be done in less time than it took to call shelton.
Going over to Shelton isn't so easy as its a 2 hour drive accross the state.... no need to break down in the middle of the Everglades LOL Got the new cap, filled the expansion tank half-full with distilled water, took the car for a 15 min. run, temp gauges all ok, parked it, just a small puddle of water towards the front of the car. Will take it for another run tonight to make sure. Thanks again for everything guys. I'll keep ya posted.
