Help! My poor 360 sounds AWFUL post-major...

DAMN BOY, YOU CAR SOUNDS LIKE ****.

Take it back to the shop and have them REDO everything that they did? Might be an idea. This sounds so strange that it's hard to think that it is a mere problem with exhaust being blocked somewhere.

Has the timing been checked?

Oh, grats on having the 1st Ferrari to sound like a Honda

 

Wow..somthing is not right. How does the engine idle..is it smooth or does the car seem to shake more then normal. When cold..how does it start? When hot how does it start..It almost sounds like a crossed ignition wire or 2..but thats kinda hard to do with the 360 as it's coil on plug..and I really can't see then putting the wrong connector to the wrong coil...the harness won't allow it, unless it was forced over some how..

 

I listened to the sound clip again..and you have a noticable exhaust leak..or what sounds like an exhaust leak. This in itself could be the problem. I would agian have that looked at. You should under no circumstances have a noise like that. I know that even the smallest leak on the 355's cause major havoc with the exhaust scavenging. It also causes falses readings for the 02 sensor which dectects a lean condition. When an O2 sees lean is tries to richen up the mixture..but the o2 is NOT at fault for this..the exhaust leak is. I would get it checked again..I think you will find this is your problem.

 

The sound clip was taken with a high powered shotgun micraphone, you may be hearing valvetrain noise and not an exhaust tick.

 

These are all symptoms of a major exhaust or vacuum leak. My semi-educated guess: Either a vacuum line was left disconnected, reconnected improperly, or split during removal/reinstall when your car was being serviced... or you have an exhaust leak at one of the manifolds.

Either way I would go back to whoever you had service the car and have them go over their work step by step, because they obviously made some kind of mistake.

 

Sounds really flat, but you comment that it still goes ok......?

I'd say check the cam timing for a start. On a 360 it's not so hard. There is no crank TDC mark from factory, so you need to put No.1 on TDC and make your own mark. I do this by using a Dial gauge in the plug hole on to the piston, then when the crank is on TDC I put TWO tiny chisel marks on the crank pulley, right where it runs very close to each little jack shaft. I just mark the point of the flange overlap.

Then, to see the cam marks, you need to remove the rear end caps of each cam cover, at the rear of the engine. You may need to replace the gaskets, but maybe not if you're lucky.

Once the rear covers are off, look for a hand scribed line on the surface of the camshaft that refers to the moulded notch in the cam cap. It's on the vertical top surface and is hard to see, you may need a mirror and a torch.

These marks are the engine builders marks and are done after dialling the cams in. The build referance notchs are under the main cam covers at the front and need the covers removed, using the builders dialed marks is both quicker and more accurate here, so it's a win win.....

If the cam timing is ok, then we can move on.

 

I'm nowhere near the caliber of the other folks who've chimed in on this thread... but, it sounds like an exhaust leak to me. I had a hairline crack (I mean TINY) on one of my test pipes and the whole car's sound went to crap. Once the crack was properly welded back, the sound returned to normal.

You might try taking the car to a totally different repair shop -- go visit a Porsche or Lambo dealer. Without divulging too much information, ask them "hey, what do you think of this exhaust sound?". Sometimes it just takes a fresh set of eyes and ears to diagnose this stuff.

I agree -- the "after" sound clip is tragic.


-Daniel

 

Cam timing is a good start if the major repair included cam belts... You will not notice a major change in performance unless you have dynoed the car before and after. What about exhaust valves? I think his headers were repaired at least once and if he drove excessively with exhaust leak he could have damaged them.

Noah, Did you replace your headers since the last crack or did you repair them? If you replaced them you may have gotten the later version with pre-catalytic elements included in the headers and could also effect the sound.

 

I can't help any technically. I don't know squat about this stuff.

But, did you take it to a Ferrari Dealer for the service? If so, didn't that service come with a guarantee/warranty?

Have you played the first recording for anyone who's looked at your car?

If we can use it as a diagnostic comparison, so can they.

There's no denying the difference when you hear those two back to back.

Sad sound to hear. I hope it gets better soon.

DM

 

You can use soapy water (look for the bubbles) or a wooden broomhandle as a stethoscope for tracking an exhaust leak. Don't know how I'd feel about pouring soapy water on that beautiful engine if I were you, though.

 

You paid a lot of money for that service, it should not matter who did it, dealer or not. The shop that took your money needs to make it right. While everybody here knows it does not sound right this is an impossible venue to diagnose it. If it weren't, Tom, Phil and I could make a lot of money sitting at our keyboards. If your shop does not think there is a problem with your car they are incompetent, If they do not admit there is a problem they are dishonest. If they will not stand behind their work, find a good shop to fix it and take legal remedies to get financial satisfaction.

Algar has a very good reputation, not knowing anyone else in the area I would take it there.

 

da ec will help u get it fixed. we'll go to F of CNJ together after i get my car back from the 30k and engine recall issue.

 

can't think of much other than these:

- Cam variator problem - has the effect of eliminating howl of 360
- 'melted' exhaust manifold channel(s)
- semi collapsed baffling in a silenced cat-replacement pipe (happened before on a 360 capristo set I know of)
- exhaust leak (most likely)
- water in the works?

 

That sounds just like my 308 did when the catalyst went bad. I'm no expert, but you can usually see if it glows red at night.

 

I hate to say this, but it sounds similar to my 355 when I knocked a chunk out of an exhaust valve. I also heard the tic tic tic months before, and fixed that by doing the QV header fix. May have led to the valve problem, in addition to the valve guide going bad. Hope I'm wrong in your case. When the valve went, the whole exhaust tone changed and not for the better.

 

One thing that I and I'm sure the other techs on the site will agree is..alway check the basics first. You must find the source of that ticking noise and repaire it..then go form there. Think of a car like a house. You can build the most beauitful house in the world..but if the foundation is cracked then all the fancy furniture in the world is not going to fix it.

 

Wow! How'd that happen? Was your timing/belt off?

A compression leak down test would diagnose this problem. I hope you get it sorted out. If it's just a valve guide that's gone bad you can pull an replace them with the head still on the engine. http://www.toyotool.com/valvemaster.htm If you bring the cylinder you're working on to TDC and fill the chamber with compressed air (as you would for a leak down test) the valve wont drop into the cylinder and you can do the procedure. You need a lot of air pressure though.

My guess would be the cam belt might be installed one tooth off or cam belts not aligned as posted above. If that were the case you could have a valve opening or closing late or early when it shouldn’t be. That would effect the airflow and sound.

 

You should research what a valve guide is. That tool won't do it, and it cannot be done with the head in place.

 

Also just so you know, that number does not take into account any problem that may exist in the intake cam timing.

 

Rifledriver you are the man.