458/488 Brake Recall

And watch the dash messages closely in the interim. But don’t freak out!

 

this is the language in the recall notice that I don't understand
the dash message comes on when 52% of the brake fluid is gone
however, it only takes a tiny amount of brake fluid to leak from the master cylinder to the booster, break the vacuum, and result in a dead pedal (and crash)
thinking we are OK until 52% of the brake fluid is gone does not compute

am I misunderstanding something here?

 

Bingo Todd

When people on here say it's a small percentage of cars , are they assuming everyone with a 458 or 488 is on F-chat?

I don't think so.

 

I guess no one knows. But Ferrari did the right thing. Issued the recall and will handle any repairs.

 

Feels a bit like Ferrari doesn’t want to issue a “park it” order because that opens up a loss of use exposure for Ferrari multiplied by a lot of cars?


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I agree 100%. That's why I plan to have Ferrari do the recall once they get their **** together.

In the meantime I've got a brand new master cylinder & booster that let me enjoy the car to the fullest and sleep well at night. I'm confident that even if the part is not a revised version it will work without defects long enough.

 

The only update I know of is listed in the NHTSA recall Chronology of Defect dated November 4, 2021, that reported in October 2021, Ferrari was contacted by an authorized Ferrari dealer regarding a used MY 2018 Ferrari 488-owned by the dealership which experienced a loss of braking capability and that the vehicle is being shipped to Ferrari for inspection by Bosch. To my knowledge, Ferrari has been notified of brake failure issues in March, June, July, September and October and no remedy exists at the present time.. Also, reported in the Chronology of Defect was that Ferrari has been made aware of one event where a client, by communication dated July 29, 2021, reported that he was injured as a consequence of this issue.

 

Where are you seeing this %? This is a cut and paste of the notice I received.....

Dear John,



We wanted to inform you that Ferrari is investigating whether a problem exists in certain Model Year 2010-2015 458 vehicles. The vehicles involved are equipped with a braking system that could potentially leak brake fluid, which may lead to a total loss of braking capability, and result in an accident. We want to assure you that your safety is our priority, and we are committed to correcting this condition in your vehicle if it exists.

Our records show that you are the owner of this vehicle. Ferrari is conducting further research to determine the root cause and possible scope of this problem. We will contact you as soon as we have further instructions for you. In the meantime, if a message appears on your dashboard, “Brake fluid level low, Go to dealer slowly”, please pull off the road as soon as it is safe to do so. Then contact Ferrari Roadside Assistance at 1.866.788.6760. Your car will be taken to the nearest authorized Ferrari dealer and inspected free of charge. If necessary, Ferrari will perform any necessary repairs to your vehicle for free.

Note: The vehicle’s electric parking brake can be used as an emergency brake when the vehicle is in motion. See your Owner’s Manual for further information.

If you have any questions, please contact your local authorized Ferrari dealer. You can find a listing of them at https://www.ferrari.com/en-US/auto/dealers

Sincerely,
Ferrari North America, Inc.
Aftersales Department

 

Ferrari says that customers should be particularly concerned once the "Brake fluid level low, Go to dealer slowly" message appears in the car's cluster display, accompanied by a warning light and an audible signal. This means the fluid level in the reservoir has dropped below half of its normal fill level; the warning triggers at exactly 48%, Ferrari says. Dealers and customers will be notified as soon as a remedy has been determined.

https://www.autoblog.com/2021/11/01/ferrari-brake-failure-recall/

 

Did I miss the official 48% - the first mention seems to be from Autoblog NOT any Ferrari or NHTSA document

 

99.9% of members on this board seem non-technical. For the 0.1% of us, please post some kind of diagram showing the internals of the booster showing this membrane failure mechanism. I think it will help with understanding the risk.

 

good point. my Ferrari tech confirmed the 52/48 dash light value.

 

there is a picture in this post

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/intermittent-brake-failure-fixed.639751/

 

10k likes!

 

As a technical person, what’s your assessment after seeing the photos?


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From the photos it appears that fluid can get by the seals breaking the vacuum eliminating power assist. There may be potential for fluid to enter into the vacuum system and appear somewhere else so you can detect it was happening. Seems fluid level would have read lower. Still do not fully understand but the pictures were helpful.

 

I saw in another post on the forums from today where someone had the recall done. Are they able to check affected cars by year or vin, or are you supposed to just wait until brake failure and then bring it in, lol?

Frankie

 

he had his brake fluid changed, nothing more
not part of the recall
he is mistaken to state otherwise

 

We had a 488 in the shop a while go with this hard pedal problem where the car would not stop. I did new pads and did several brake fluid flushes. Eventually when the car cam back again with the brakes going back to the hard pedal we flushed it again. This time we found an issue with the front caliper bleeding. The caliper checked out good and finally a small piece of debris came out with bleeding. It was a very small piece of rubber/silicone that came out of the brake system. I have no idea where it came from but I would assume that it was something that dislodged in the brake mechanical system from somewhere. The brakes were working finally after that.

 

..and you didn’t check the brake booster? If there is a foreign object in the brake fluid if it were my car I wouldn’t rest easy until I knew where it came from

 

Good morning and I am the lead Plaintiff in a class action lawsuit being filed this week against Ferrari/Bosch related to brake defect complaints and if you have a copy of your Ferrari Authorized Service Invoice that you'd like to send me along with your contact information and you'd like to be a part of the lawsuit please call me at (314) 540-4639. My name is Jeff Rose.

 

There IS a recall...
There is NO fix..but it is a recall. See the PDF in post #1. Clearly states that Ferrari is "recalling"...

 

I have at least one 458/488 that I believe is suffering from this lack of braking power. It was checked by the dealer and they reported no problems last year. For me personally, I think it’s too soon to participate in any legal proceeding. I’ve had a long and positive relationship with Ferrari and I think as a good client it’s important to give them a reasonable amount of time to investigate and solve for the issue.


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Uk post - I’ve forwarded the recall notice to Meridien (Southampton dealer) asking for their thoughts. Will update with their response.

I’ve a 2015 458 spider with a VIN in the range mentioned


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