Hello, My name is Felipe, from Brazil. My car is a beautiful 1999 355 Berlinetta 6 SPD, Blu TDF over light grey (almost white, not ivory) I have owned the car for about 2 years now, and it has 16K KM. I drive around 400 miles per year, and I do service it regularly, with oil/filter changes once a year, and have it inspected every 6 months. Also had a major done when I got the car. Apart from a faulty AC compressor, the car has worked faultlessly for this period of time. Lately, I have noticed that the water temperature (gauge between speedo and RPM) seems to be climbing up to midway beween 90 and 130, which is 3/4 of the gauge, whenever on traffic or standing still. On the move, when air is flowing through the motor, the temp sits as usual at 90 or below. Also, the temperature keeps climbing up to 3/4, then goes back to 90 when the secondary fan kicks on, and keeps doing that routine from 90 to 3/4 and back to 90 in a closed loop if the car is stopped. Is that normal? I live in São Paulo, the weather here is hot, but not crazy hot, around 20 to 30 degres celcius. I don't remember this happening in the past, but maybe i've been so excited with the car, and just noticed it now. Thanks for your help! LFP
Have you verified that your radiator fans are working properly? It could possibly be the temp switch in the radiator is bad and not allowing the fans to kick in.
Take a look at this. https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/348-355-sponsored-bradan/154217-355-water-temperature.html
Since it seems to be fine when you have air flowing, I agree that it is most likely a fan problem. My understanding (at least in the 348 world), is that you have three circuits for fans, two for radiator and one for an oil cooler. Each has its own relay. I'd start there. Check your fuse box, bypass each relay and see if the fans kick on. If so, you know they are working. Then, check your relays- swap or bench test them if you know how. If all of that is good, check the temperature sensor on the radiator itself. It has been known to have a bad connection/bad isulation, and is completely independent of the Motronic AND the dash gauge temp sensor. Good luck, and let us know what you find. Should be easy to track down with patience.
If both fans are working as they should then you may have a small leak in one of the water radiators. Is your coolant level normal?
Hmmm Sorry for the stupid question, but where is the coolant level reservoir? I will measure it tonight. Should I leave the car on or off? Sorry for the ignorance, and thanks for the help!
Car should be OFF and COLD!! Don't open the cap when the car is hot or running, you might burn yourself. It's on top of the engine in the middle. Remove cap, stick finger in, coolant should be at first knuckle I think.
When I first got my car the temp would be about what you describe. There was a coolant leak and when I checked the coolant level as this says , it was low With the car cold, use your index finger as a dipstick and coolant level is one knuckle deep. Start with this check first.
Yes, I asked about coolant level as I had the same problem. Car started to run hotter than normal but both fans were working as expected. I had a tiny coolant leak from the top of the RHS radiator and the coolant level was low as a result. Hope you figure it out.
I Will be back in town tomorrow evening, and i'll report here when I haver some feedback. Thanks, you all have been very helpful!!
Correct coolant level should be approximately 6cm below the top of the filler neck on the expansion tank. Do not overfill...in fact it is probably preferable to be at around 7cm below the filler neck. If you over fill, it will spit and spurt out the overflow tube on the ground when hot. Do check the radiator fan fuses. These are 30 amp rating, there is one for the left and one for the right fan. The fuses are notorious for failing. The reason is the fans, as they age, will draw more and more current, causing frequent fuse failures. The cure is the replace the fans (please do not put higher rated 40 amp fuses, you could melt your fuse boxes or worse). There is a thread I started on using a slightly lower rated SPAL (oem brand) fan, that will not have this problem...it draws lower current. It will still cool that radiators just fine, and no overheating will result, even in the desert of Arizona or Nevada.
Ok so I just checked the level, I was not able to touch the coolant with my finger all the way down the reservoir, so I guess my coolant level is on the low side. Im filling it up tomorrow with water to check ir there are any leaks. This sounds stupid I know, but please bear with me. Car off, fill it up around 7cm from the top, and after run the car for a while to check for leaks, correct? Thanks once more guys, FChat has been very helpful.
Fill it up like you say, drive the car for a while normally (to get it up to temperature) then park up and check the undertray/ground just in front of each rear wheel. Mine would leave a little puddle of coolant where the radiator was leaking, a few minutes after I'd parked. Edit: don't just use regular water though...
Update: Took it to my mechanic today. Both fans are working. The coolant reservoir was really low, so he filled it up, and checked for leaks, and apparently he did not find any. This afternoon he is going to check with a pressure pump the whole system to check for leaks, after the car cools down. Let's see what happens.
Update: Radiator hose had a small leak, but it was getting larger and larger. Eventually it would let go, and I would be by the side of the road waiting for assisntance. Fortunantly we were able to spot the issue prematurely. I'm picking her up tomorrow morning, Saturday drive The 360 will have to wait untill thursday or friday..
As an extra precaution ...... make sure those those two small hoses coming out of the front of the reservoir tank are in good shape ...... the originals are known to swell and restrict flow .....
Yesterday suddenly had a rise in temperature until the red light of the water. oil remained around 100 degrees. Pulled over and spotted a water leak under the engine behind the driver's seat. Let it cool down and then top it up with the engine running. Got home safely without high temperatures. Leak still needs to be repaired
There are quite a few rubber hoses at the front of the engine which may have split. Was it a big leak or little leak? Can you see anything from the top of the engine? Image Unavailable, Please Login You may be able to lift up the coolant tank and inspect the seals on the oil cooler, etc. (tools required). Water pump failures are usually indicated by drips coming from the pump case How is your coolant level? Any signs of contamination?
I had to refill almost two liters so I was not able to detect any contamination. I also don't know how many liters the whole cooling circuit should contain? Think there is a leak in the left radiator(hose) behind the driver's seat because I saw a small puddle coming out of that. waited to cool, started engine and toped up with the engine running . Then the water temperature has remained below 90 °C while driving home. I'm going to deliver it to the garage as soon as possible.
According to the Workshop Manual, when cold, the coolant should never be more than 6cm from the coolant filler. I think they mean the top of the coolant filler neck. Looks like you have a suspension system warning light, too.
Three gallons of coolant in the car, that's about 12L. You probably have a leaky radiator. Time to replace that.
I shot it down and whas really affraid thanks die al thé help and reply . It wil be repaired and Geys all rhe Care needed Image Unavailable, Please Login
