456; White smoke emanating under intake manifold

This morning I took my 95 456 for a spirited drive around the SF Bay Area back roads and noticed white smoke coming from engine compartment. This was right after I drove the car a little hard passing slower traffic.

Once I popped the hood I noticed smoke mostly coming from under intake manifold and my guess is that it was coolant steam as it did not smell like oil/gas and the color was white. I waited for the car to cool down and smoke to subside and fortunately the car made it back home safe.

I know the car loses coolant and once it is a little low on coolant the coolant temp goes beyond 190 in stop and go traffic which kicks in the fans. At highway speeds and beyond the car runs cool.

It seems there is a hose that is going from the back side of water pump to somewhere and I was wondering whether there is a leak in that area. If so, to replace the offending part, do I need to remove the intake?

Any insight would be appreciated.

Thank you, David


Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat

 

Thanks. I suspect to replace the hose, I have to remove the intake manifold. I found a very nice write up (pdf) on the forum. I guess it is time to get acclimated with the V12.


Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat

 

Thanks for the suggestion. Once I pull the intake manifold, I will report back.

David


Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat

 

Yesterday I managed to pull the intake manifold on the 456. Thanks to the prior post on the forum outlining how this should be done. Very helpful.

I see the hose highlighted in blue going from the metal coolant distribution junction to expansion tank has swelled up and there is residue around the connection point indicating coolant leakage. I am planning on changing that along with all sensors as has been suggested by others.

What is puzzling are the brownish, burned residue pointed by the red arrows which are around where the coolant manifold (name?) attaches to the head. The residue is around a few cylinders in the center of the V close to the suspect hose. Not sure if the leak from the suspect hose is creating this residue or the coolant manifold gasket is failing and has to be replaced as well. I appreciate any insight.

Also I want to pressurize the cooling system and the pressure tester that I have does not fit the reservoir cap. Was wondering if anyone has any suggestion on how I can accomplish this.

Thank you.

David Image Unavailable, Please Login


Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat

 

Thank you for the insight. This is very helpful and it makes sense as some of the air intake nuts in the center of the V are rather difficult to reach and I suspect tough to properly torque down (soon I will find that out).




Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat

 

Tazandjan, thank you for your suggestion. Changed all hoses under the intake plus all sensors and put the car back together last night. After a scary start with smoke coming from the exhaust manifolds which eventually subsided, it seems all is well. I think the smoke was from all the fuel and coolant that found its way onto the manifold. It was a cool evening but the coolant temp at idle fluctuated between 190 and a little higher (when the fans would kick in and bring it down to 190). This was an improvement as compared to prior to my servicing. Soon I will take it out for a spirited driving and see how it behaves under “load”.

For people that want to tackle this job, my impression (first time to wrench on a Ferrari) is that these engines are beautifully designed and it is easy to work on relative to modern cars. The challenge with this particular job are

1- Reach. The engine is tucked away in the center of the compartment and the car is wide. It is great that your contact point on the fender is plastic lining and not the painted surface like most cars. Irrespective some of your body parts will be strained.

2- Access to the intake nuts (24). Magnetized 10mm socket is a must as well as wiggly adaptor and an extension. I suggest using a small torque wrench (1/4 inch) for installation. Headlight lamps is very useful for proper illumination to aim the socket onto the nut. Also you need time and patience.

3- Gas leak/smell. As pointed in previous thread you must remove the gas cap when you detach the fuel lines from the fuel rails (after fuel rail is depressurized). I had occasional fuel leaks even with cap loosely screwed in. My attempts of effectively caping the fuel lines failed. Anyways there was a slight constant fuel smell in the house for the couple of weeks that I had to wait for parts and time to put things back together. My family was very tolerant and I had to leave the garage door slightly open which invited a raccoon to steal some dog treats.

Otherwise no problems [emoji6]

David


Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat