Gold Kit still in use?

It was and is a scam.

 

OK John, we'll put you down for a "no" on the kit.

 

What is your feedback on it?


My understanding is the “gold” provided more clamping power, which resulted in better connectivity, not necessarily because the gold itself was conducting better.

 

Huz...search it. We have discussed this to death. The naysayers have zero experience with the gold kit. A few have experience with diy alternatives. I have a positive relationship with the gold kit innovator. I have places a few kits and helped a few other diy guys with their kits. I placed 2 kits in 2 of my cars back in the day. They were positively transformative. I still own one of those gold kit cars and it is still a perfect car with no electronics failures. You can go back and search the threads on my maranello that's how many years the car has been perfect. My other sold gold pinned maranello was effortlessly driven to its mew home cross country into canada in the snow. That's not a special feat for a chevy but an accomplishment for a ferrari. Even my 20 y/o corvette racecar with minimal wiring suffers electrical issues with aging wiring. Yet my similar maranello remains problem free. I think the gold kit has passed its long term test.

 

Would you mind elaborating on your assessment?

 

Two things that irk Johnk: Gold connector kit; F355 Berlinetta prices going up.

 

You 355 owners are responsible for the rise in 355 prices because of your dedication to fixing all the shortcomings Ferrari left you with. Kudos to 355 owners! The gold kit started on the 348/355 because this line was the beginning of the "modern" ferrari with lots of wiring...early OBD and electronics not quite up to a 100hp/L race motor in a 355 street car. Gold kit development was on the 348/355 as a "ghost buster." Gold kit was an evolution that started with unclipping and reclipping connectors, to connector cleaners, to stabilant-22 contact enhancers, to the final gold connector kit. If it wasn't for 355 owners tackling all that surrounds mixture control with resultant header and head damage the 355 would be a worthless Ferrari today. The rise in 355 prices drags up its cousin the 348.

 

It works amazingly well and corrects many electrical issues many have had with their 355s. It also preempts electrical problems before they happen. I installed mine back in 2009 and still works great and despite many saying that the two metals wouldn't work will together, well I pulled some on mine and they are as perfect as they were in 2009. Ive also installed it for others and the improvement is incredible. With this mod I would definitely say to forget about the naysayers as enough time has passed to be able to call this a must do mod.

 

Oh no!

 

There is, of course the issue with dissimilar metal corrosion over time, lots of white papers on mixing tin and gold connectors out there including from Bosch. That issue aside….

While I have not used the gold kit I did re-pin few things on my car with brand new quality connectors from DigiKey, it made a difference, especially on the MAFs.

I often wonder if with the gold kit, is the issue the gold….. or is it simply new modern connector's with good clamping force. My gut feel it’s new connectors.

I’m not claiming one way or the other I have just pondered.


Btw you can buy the correct connectors from digikey in tin or gold. I have both. The gold does not clamp harder, it’s the same, same mfg just plated with gold instead of tin.

Either way the gold kit helps, no question, more than new tin pins? That’s the question..:: but the gold kit comes with EVERYTHING. I get why it’s used.

 

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/ferrari-gold-kit-for-348-90-complete-for-sale.686203/#post-149427179

 

You haven’t given us any feedback on it.

 

Sure. First you can buy everything in the kit for a fraction of the price charged. 2) Even Ferrari was smart enough to recognize you don't mix metals on electrical contacts, to wit, check the plug to the throttle position sensors of your 355. Chances are the contacts in the TPS are gold plated (on my car they are) and the pins in the connector are as well. All connections have the same metal on both side and mostly they are (it not all others) tin. If you have a problem with connections it's not because the contacts are tin. It likely because they are weak (clamping force), dirty or corroded.

 

So for those who have been mixing the metals for probably a decade now, has any corrosion occurred?

 

It's not that it is going to corrode. It's just that it can if it get moist. With tin on in there is no possibility of galvanic corrosion. With tin on gold there is. Why do something that introduces the potential for a problem where none existed previously when there is no up side?

The simple point is, it does nothing beneficial for the electrical system. It may not do any harm, but being gold doesn't make it better. It's a waste of money and probably wouldn't have a cult following if the kit contained tin pins. The only reason it ever sold was the glitter of gold and the accompanying marketing hype.

 

What if gold inherently gave significantly more clamping power over tin, but had a tiny % risk of corrosion? Worth the risk for improvement?

 

Image Unavailable, Please Login Check out all that dielectric grease from the factory Also if you look close, the connectors are open and have lost most of their clamping force. You cant expect these to keep working properly. This type of connection will give you intermittent problems that are very hard to trace.

 

What if, what if, what if. Rather that trying to defend the gold with hypotheticals, how about a real benefit.

As for higher clamping force, why would you choose gold over tin when both are available in the same spec. And if gold did have higher clamping force, is higher clamping force better? You have to answer that first.

 

What's the point?

 

The point is to show what is happening with the connections and to give insight to anyone that may be looking for help now or later when they may pull up this thread. Im not about to get into a long drawn out discussion with you about gold vs tin ect ect ect that will only lead to another 6 month long thread that will only end in confusion for everyone not in the know. The car will run better no matter which connectors are used as anything is better than the crap Ferrari put in. The question one may ponder is which one will be better in the long run and all I can say is that mine have been in for almost 15 years and there is no discolouration or corrosion. As for the clamping force....Well Dave Helms said that he sat there watching TV and clamped and unclamped various connections and the ones he sells went well over 100 connections and disconnections before losing any clamping force.

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It’s not a hypothetical if people are still reaping the benefits a decade later. It might have been a hypothetical 10 years ago.


If I recall correctly, from the papers I read 10 years ago, gold did provide higher clamping force and higher clamping force leads to higher connectivity.

 

Did you notice improvements once installed?