550 running warm - ideas?

My car always was running hot this is how my tech fixed it

Radiator removed & professionally cleaned by a radiator shop.

Then he used "No-Rosion" with Bottled drinking water and 1 liter of anti-freeze.

That's it and the car can stand any temps.

Came back from Vegas Got to the 210 freeway and the temp was 104F traffic stopped major accident ahead, CHP & FD were
behind me trying to get to it.

Needless to say I was going nowhere, it took me about 45 min to get past it once again it was 104 F.

Car was perfect never past 190

I posted this in 2014 and it still is perfect today (of course every 2 years I have fresh stuff put in)

Good Luck

 

I was having similar issues to you when we had 45 to 50 deg Celsius temps. The garage did similar to what wblink describes plus alot of backflushing and it now seems ok. The worrying thing is that neither the fans or radiators are available new and so its a case of really keeping on top of the system.

I am currently seeking a solution to the fans as I would like to change these on the basis that they are 21 years old an run all the time and so must be less effective by now

 

Could be sending unit i/ gauge is not working probably .. have you confirmed with a infra red thermometer .. may not be 100 accurate especially where you point it but it can give you a better idea ..point it a hose it the thermostat and see what it says

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I'm not saying this is your problem, but it's easy to check the sensors that trigger the fans. At what temperature do your fans turn on? There are 2 sensors that turn on the fans. The primary sensor is on the LH coolant manifold and turns the fans on before the coolant reaches 190F. The backup sensor is on the RH coolant manifold and turns the fans on at 220F. If the primary sensor fails, the fans come on late and the car runs hotter. This happened to me a few years back. Start the car with a cold engine and the climate control system turned off by pressing the STOP button. Watch the coolant gauge while listening for the fans to turn on. If they turn on before 190F, it's not the sensor (assuming your gauge is reading correctly - use an infrared gun to verify first). If they turn on closer to 220F, you need a new sensor. You say the car doesn't cool down when moving on the highway. It should if it's just the fans coming on late. You should be seeing normal temp on the highway since the airflow from speed does a better job than the fans, but the sensors are easy to check and rule out before digging deeper.

 

Hi SE16. Are you saying that your 550 can sit in stop and go traffic in 45 deg Celcius and stay at around 100 deg C coolant temp...!? How is it inside? I assume you have full AC on? I am impressed.

 

Hello Kai,

Had you car been sitting not used much before you bought it ?
When i bought mine, i drove it alot in the first few months, things started to happen...leaking shocks, leaking high pressure steering hoses, even the $1000 braded oil pipe(there are 4 of them in our cars)

and now trouble(almost) free as i take it out at least once a month for a spirited run so everything heats up nicely.

 

I am not sure as yet because the weather is still cool here in Abu Dhabi....but it does seem to be running cooler in general...

 

I don’t really understand the cooling system of these cars. When running highway speeds, the temp go as low as 60 degrees. Almost at the bottom of the scale. But in traffic. 115 is normal according to the user manual. I think this is really a wrong way to make a coming system because the 115 degree heat put extreme pressure to the hoses and gaskets. If you compare a 550 to a F12 or 812, the intake area of the grill is about 1/2 or 1/3 of the area. And those cars also have better vents to get the heat up and out of the engine bay which also boost up the speed of the air when the car is standing still.

 

It sounds like the coolant is not circulating through the radiator properly. You could feel with your hand (be careful not to byen yourself!) on the two hoses going to the radiator. The one from the thermostat is usually warmer than the return hose. If both are not warm, then the water goes to the header tank and back into the engine. Try a new thermostat.

 

When was the last time you changed the coolant?

 

Check your water pump too. The leak on mine wasn’t totally obvious

 

Pretty common in Ferraris actually. Never tested my theory but I suspect the springs in the thermostat are not well heat treated and get weak with age allowing early and too wide an opening for any given water temp.

 

First thing I'd do is confirm the temp reading is correct.

 

I said that many posts ago .. totally agree

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Also, usually but not always when you have real overheating you will get some reaction in oil temp. Oil cools the motor too. Makes me suspicious.

 

Really simple. Have you checked the coolant level? Those caps are garbage and it is very easy to believe coolant loss can be a factor.

 

If the coolant was not changed regularly during a Maranello's early life (easy to believe since there was no recommendation to change), the small hoses attached to the filler tank can get clogged. This can cause over-heating. Luckily relatively easy to check, if not easy to replace.

 

Make sure the air bleed hole is positioned uppermost during assembly

 

To follow up with Ferraridriver and Rifledriver, I had this problem and it turned out to be Air in the coolant system. I bled the puppy out (one of the very few easy things to do on this car!!!) and joila, worked perfectly. Image Unavailable, Please Login

In the attached picture, it is not what I am working on, but rather the bolt to the left on top of the coolant manifold.


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