Hi Gents, Excited to be buying my 1st Ferrari. I have had it inspected by a reputable 3rd party Ferrari only workshop. The car is 10 years old and most of the issues are small and cosmetic but the most concerning one was that the valve covers were leaking. The technician with over 20 years of experience at the shop said the gasket should be replaced. The dealership has a good reputation and the sales person has been a straight shooter and informative but they are balking at fixing this. I do not want this "non issue" to become a big issue of have to get it taken care of on my own dime shortly after purchase and be without the car for x amount of days/weeks. Are they leaking valve covers something that would not be an issue for 1-2K miles/Year and what larger issue could it become? Thank you for any responses. Chris
It is a fairly large job to replace the cam cover gaskets on a an F430. The rear upper subframe must be removed in order to remove the valve covers to change the gaskets. One thing to check before replacing these gaskets is that they are the cause of the oil leakage. There are four cam variator solenoids that protrude through the cam covers. Over time these can fail and oil will be pumped up through the wiring harnesses and out onto the cam covers. The oil then runs down and rearwards on the cam covers. You should check all four connections for the variator solenoids to make sure that there is no oil inside them. If there is oil in the connections, then the variator solenoids should be replaced, as the labor is the same (removal of the upper subframe and both cam covers). The variator solenoids are not cheap, so be prepared for a large bill if they are leaking.
Thank you Motob. I was quoted $1400 to replace the gasket. It sounds like this could be 2 possible issues to the oil leak. The Gasket or the cam variator solenoids. Would the Tech know without lifting the sub frame if the cam variator solenoids are leaking since he only suggested replacing the gasket? Thanks again.
I would expect that he did not check for additional leak sources. The cam cover gaskets get replaced either way but you get a bigger bill if there's something else going on while he's in there. Welcome to our group. Fill out your profile so we know where you're at.
