Good Afternoon, After 6 years of lurking and reading some wonderful threads I have jumped in and bought a crash damaged 550, I know the guy that crashed it we were all supposed to driving to the Nurburgring that day but he never made it, and I managed to buy the car back from the insurers. I am confident (ish) that I can put it back together, however when in 12 months time I still have a lovely looking but non moving car on the drive I have people lining up that will say "I told you so !". I am good at unbolting and bolting things but would not be prepared to do internal engine work. I now have the car at home on a lift so can start to inspect the damage. External Damage was limited to rear bumper and wheel -tyre is still inflated. The gear box is in the boot - not an ideal location for it.... Included in the damage report was rear suspension, but other than being a little scruffy there appears to be no damage, creases or cracked paint on any of the arms. The right back box has had the studs snap where it connects to the rest of the system, so I will get them drilled out and replaced. The bumper and wheel are off and on their way to be repaired - it is a heavy bumper, and what is in the back boxes to make them so heavy? Their are a few gear boxes out there ranging form £3500 with 30,000 miles to £5500 for brand new. Is new really worth £2000 more especially on what will always be a car with history ? I need to check the clutch - the gearbox seized at 50mph and spun the car. When we viewed the car the engine started built oil pressure and the mechanic checking it seemed more than happy with it. The clutch pedal even seems fine but I have budgeted for a new clutch as I would like to think this was destroyed in the crash. Looking at it and the parts diagram it seems tricky to get at, their are bits of exhaust in the way, and the prop bolts look to be difficult to reach. What do I need to remove to get at it ? There does appear to be a little inspection hole and there aren't bits of clutch plate falling out of it ! The drivers seat bolster is worn, door handles are a mess the gear knob has been scratched by rings, the HVAC cover is lifting, the passenger air bag cover is starting to lift. Although the dash leather is good and there is only a small amount of tackiness to some of the interior parts. I will post pictures as I go. Thanks Del Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Looks like you have a very good car. It looks like the real damage was confined to the gear box. I would pay the extra and buy the new box and enjoy driving a great car that you don't have a lot of money in compared to what it would have cost for a comparable car off of a lot. I hope you got it for a good price and you will enjoy it for a long long time. I would put the new gear box in it and have a four wheel alignment done on it to see if anything is bent and take it out for a drive before I took the clutch apart. At 50 MPH it probably just stalled the engine without damaging the clutch. Keep pictures of everything and get writen estimates from inspectors so when it comes time to sell it you don't have to sell it as a crashed car just one that took some mechanical repairs with a bump to the right rear, and you shouldn't even get hit that hard on the price drop. Chuck
Any idea why the gearbox seized? The center pipes and cats need to be taken down to get at the 8 torque tube bolts that fasten the tube to the clutch housing. The torque tube really needs to be supported while you're doing this - otherwise you're putting it and the clutch/flywheel in a lot of distress letting it hang like that and it's a heavy piece. I just removed all this two weeks ago in order to pull my engine. I removed the clutch housing after the engine was out, but once the cats are out of the way, along with the torque tube, you should be able to get that housing off without any trouble. The 575M WSM does a very good job of detailing all this - it's much better than the 550 WSM. You should purchase one from Daniel @ Ricambi.
The reason put forward by the main dealer was; "The technician advises that the gearbox oil should be checked annually and changed every 2nd year or at every mileage service It is possible that if the oil level was low or lack of lubrication it wouldnt take more than a couple of miles of driving to get the gearbox into a position where it would be hot enough to cause failure. The technician advises that the gear box oil filter was broken up inside the box, this could have cause the pump to fail if the particles from the filter became lodged in the pump, which in turn would cause lack of lubrication We removed approximately 3 litres of oil from the gear box however it was black which would indicate contamination. Oil in the gearbox is not burnt as it can be like engine oil , the only way the level could be low would be a leak or not correct when last filled up." The gear box is going to require a complete rebuild, Reverse gear has seized onto the pinion shaft , destroyed the pinion, bearings the shaft , the crown wheel and reverse gear itself. There is also evidence of overheating which has caused damage to other bearings and 4th & 5th gear. We would need to do a complete rebuild and there is the possibility that the gearbox casing may crack in trying to remove reverse gear from the shaft." Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I have found a small engineering firm that would be prepared to have a look at it. Whilst I wait for that I removed the interior door handles to re finish. In my 6 years lurking I have read most sticky interior threads, and I thought I would try a Matte Black powder coat finish. Del
If "only" 5500, I would seriously consider the new box. It is difficult and costly to set up a box properly, especially the crown and pinion, the partslist on this box will soon be in the thousands while uncertainty remaining on other parts such as the internals of the diff, oil pump etc; these may all have damage/wear and not last very long. Some of the cost of the new box you will be able to recoup by selling the old box, in parts or in full. Going new will also ensure you will have good synchromesh on all gears, an important thing in how worn a car feels. Last, new will give you a warranty on the repair and will remove any doubt on the box on behalf of future buyers. To me it would be a serious plus when looking for a car, compared to a serious minus if it were to have a box recovered from serious damage. If the mileage of 30k can be proven it might be an alternative, mileage on second hand mechanicals is very often incorrectly represented and notoriously difficult to verify. Indeed have a look at the clutch at the very least, a new one will feel much nicer and the current one may have had a hard life. What is nice about this is that you will have most of the driveline in very good shape, it always strikes me how important the driveline is in how a car feels. Good luck.
I would not even consider rebuiding that transmission. Total waste of time. Find a good used one. Even if you need to take it apart and install new syncros you will be money ahead. 550 transmissions due to their internal structure are very easy to underfill. It is quite a common problem. There is no way the clutch was damaged as a direct result of the crash or transmision siezure but the transmission is already out of the car. Unless the clutch had more than 75% of its life left I'd replace it.
Brian, Thank you Clutch and release bearing where replaced last year so should be good - could I ask why it would not be damaged ? The service history also shows a top end rebuild in 2010 for £10,000. Thanks Del. Del
I have a better question. Why would it be? A transmission failure has as much chance of damaging the clutch as it does damaging the door handle.
550 transmissions due to their internal structure are very easy to underfill. It is quite a common problem ^^^^^, The very reason, we fill, wait, recheck/fill, roadtest, recheck/fill in all these cars. Oh wait, we're overcharging our customers, shouldn't do this according to the internexperts! Pictures above are certainly a lack of oil, simply need everything replacing, buy a used one!
Hi Del Mar. Did you get the car back on the road? How difficult was it to take the gearbox out? I considder to that myself. Thanks!
Apologies for the delay. I didn't take the old one out, but i did fit the new one. To refit, if i recall... Lift it up a jack, the rear had to go in first and it is hassle to wriggle it backwards, space it tight, but you need to clear the splines at the front where it connects to the propshaft. It was then just a case of of wiggling and hitting it with a lump of wood to get it to slide into position, then just bolt it in. Connect up the oil cooler pips, fill it with oil. Driveshafts Back boxes have to go in next - they are very heavy, and then connect the exhaust centre pipes. Nothing was hard. Removing the box is the reverse but you are likely to damage the studs on the backbox, they will just snap. It only cost £40 to get them drilled and re tapped. Where do you live ? Del
There is a used 575M transaxle for sale in FerrariAds above. Basically an upgraded 550 transmission with improved synchros in the lower gears and many parts shared with the Enzo and 599. Form fit and function replacement, requiring only a couple of plugs for sensor holes for the F1 system not needed for manual use. F1 and three pedal 575 transmissions are identical except for that.
I live in Oslo, Norway... I know what you mean. These parts are quite heavy when laying on the ground. I replaced the clutch myself and it took some houres and some energy to get everything in place. When taking the propeller shaft off, the exhaust must come off, the gearbox backwardsøike you did, but also the catalyzers must be taken out, and they were quite tricky to get in and out... Erik
The locations of the fittings for the oil cooler are different. May require using the 575M hoses/cable ends.
