Coolant leak in engine valley :-(

Based on the pictures and the fact that the WP was just rebuilt I would suggest that the 2 hoses on the rear of the WP assembly is where you will find the problem. Either bad hoses or loose clamps. Just my 2 cents.

 

As you can see in the last picture there are two 40mm hose links behind the thermostat housing so there are 4 large hoseclips that you could check there - or its possible that one of those hoses has split.

Its not impossble to replace those links without removing anything else but its really not easy. By the time you have messed about it may be quicker to remove the plenum to get to them - but read up on this before you attempt it.

There are two water manifolds on the inside of each head - each with 4 gaskets & these are linked by a cross piece with a further two gaskets. The top 40mm hose connects to this but there is also another hose on the other side of it that goes to the expansion tank. The aluminimum spiggot where that plumbs onto seems to be prone to decay. Another source of a leak might be the water temperature sender which sits in the V.

You may be able to tighten the main hose clamps up without removing anything (a flexible nut driver is what you need) but if that doesn't cure it then I would be inclined to remove the plenum (possibly even the inlet manifolds and the plenum) and then repeat the pressure test & you should be able to find the source of the leak from there.

 

I found that one must tighten the hell out of those clamps in order for them to not leak. Seconldy, there is a very small nipple that bleeds to the coolant over flow tank. That small connection can be full of corrosion and is ignored by the last service because it is so hard to get to. That is also a source of leak. They are all under the center plenum. So, that is where you start.

 

Check the small nipple and hose that goes to the expansion tank from under the plenum.

 

My car wasn't leaking but the hose that went from the overflow to the center of the valley was about to go. I'm guessing it was original and it is hard to get to. I did replace it without removing the plenum. The screw on the clamp was facing the wrong way but I was given the tip of using a hook to pull the clamp to where I could get the screw driver or nut driver to it. It worked for me. Sorry you have covers on all your hoses, sounded like someone added a dress up kit to your car. Mine is an 87 so there will be some differences.

In the second picture it is looking through where the throttle body is, I had removed it. The third picture is looking at the nipple from where the oil filter would be.
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Pull the intake plenum. It's easy and fun because you can clean under there and replace a bunch of hoses.

 

+1

 

Those "cool hoses" are one of the reasons I passed on the car.

Pull the intake.

Word of advise : Replace all those Ricy racecar aftermarket wrapped hoses with proper coolant hose while the system is drained.

Ricambi and Superformance sell hose kits ( different quality).

i wonder what else is wrong.

Good luck.

 

yub...like others said: take off the plenum

had the same problem, whole work takes 4 hours and you`re good to go

 

You wonder what else is wrong? Wow.
Nice try. You didn't pass on this car, you made a ridiculous offer of $24K and never mentioned anything about the engine. FYI, these are not "ricy racecar" aftermarket hoses, they are superior to the stock OEM rubber ones, do a search on F-Chat. They have nothing to do with this problem.
Sorry Mitch, I won't let anyone insult your car.
Everyone else, thanks for the tips, this is the reason I love this forum.

 

+1
And I'm curious how that big blue end fitting is secured to the thermo housing outlet that has no threads. Braided sst armor is put on industrial hoses to protect from abrasion and does nothing for hose strength. I'd rather be able to inspect the hose itself...and see the spec stamp.

 

Tongue in cheek? Sacarsm? I have never had the opinion that any ferrari workshop manual is informative or detailed enough.

 

It should be able to hold more than that. The expansion tank caps are now 1 bar (were 0.9 Bar originally) so that's around 15-16 lbs.

 

Negative. I work on Bizjets. Those are NOT AeroQuip hoses and fittings.

They are cosmetic sleeves over cheap rubber hose, IE Ricer crap.

I tried to explain to you what they were when I went to see the car, and you refused to listen.

If they are so great, why is he having leaks?

Why are so many of them loose? .

The hoses, paint that does not match, carbon fiber crap and MISSING HEADRESTS is why i offered $24,000 cash. Joe Frazar and i would have to fix and replace all of that.

You sold the car to the perfect guy : a first time Ferrari owner who does not know any better. The market is moving up, but i bought a very clean euro 308 QV for not much more than what you sold your car for.

Nothing wrong with making a car like you want it, but dont expext the rest of the Ferrari market to embrace all that aftermarket stuff and it not affect the value and appeal of the car.

He did no PPI, and he has no experience with 308s. I am on my 8th Ferrari 308.

I wish him the best with the car.

 

Nonsense. Why would anyone replace OEM tubing with lesser quality just for cosmetics? Am I missing something here? Tifosi please chime in and set this guy straight.
Bottom line is you wanted to buy it so it couldn't have been such "crap" as you call it now.
The buyer is well informed and has done his homework, I am happy the car went to him for under market with a fresh major. His PPI was a safe 700 mile drive home.
OK, I am on my 28th Ferrari. I think I have the experience, and I don't buy only 308's either.

 

Well, you asked us to "chime in"....I'm not taking sides, but there's a few things wrong here. The leak occurred as a result of the 700 mile drive home, so if that drive was a PPI as you say, it's a PPI that says the car has some issues. The coolant leak is indisputable, there's a problem. Hopefully, it's probably just a hose. But the photos also show non standard parts. You sold the car, so you need to let it go now. Any argument you have needs to be taken offline, as it is distracting from the fact that 60cyclehum is a newb that came here for help with a problem. Otherwise this is going to turn into a pee-ing contest whenever someone tries to help 60cyclehum out and tells him something you don't agree with.

60cyclehum that blue/red fitting needs to come off and get thrown in the garbage. Remove the water pump and gooseneck and see what's going on behind there. You need to continue your investigation. Don't rule out removing the plenum. If it were me, I'd start a project that includes changing all coolant hoses. I'd expand this to do the same for all fuel lines as well.

There's a Gates hose that you can buy to cut down into sleeves to replace that blue/red fitting. If you need the part number let me know. It comes in a 3' length and you can cut it down to make just about all the coolant sleeves the car needs, except for the one going into the top of the radiator (the elbow). There's a Gates hose for the elbow as well, but I don't have that part number.

Dave Helms also has kits for all hose systems in the car, you can purchase these through Ricambi.

 

Read my post. I asked "Tifosi" to chime in, not you. Unless you've owned this car, you don't know anything about its history. I stand by the fact that these upgrades helped more than cosmetics as you seem to imply.

 

What? No reply?? Come on!! I was getting the popcorn ready!! LOL.....

 

+100

Aren't those lines 1.5" I.D.?

 

Italian car - 40mm . 1.5" would be a slightly snug fit but would probably work just fine though

That hose on the thermostat housing is hideous, why on earth would you put something like that on a car like that? There is nothing needs improving with that hose link.

Seems whoever did the cooling system work didn't check his work very well - you won't see leaks like that if you pressure test.

And if the hoses under the plenum are new, why have they got scabby old hose clips on them? Why would you skip just replacing them with new ones?

I also suggest the owner has a good look at the long coolant pipe to make sure its not now fouling on the RHS fueltank or on the heat shield in front of the engine. Clearances are very tight with that & the pictures seem to me to indicate that the hideous fitting is quite a bit longer than the original hose would have been. If so that might have brought the fixed pipe a bit further out to where its in contact with the fuel tank. It wouldn't be the first such pipe to wear a hole in a tank.

 

Good point

He needs a break, he didn't do it. He can certainly undo the bling-fest though. It will be best in the long run.