Hi All, My QV is running hot. Instead of +/- 195° it seems to settle at the next hash mark up, approx 225-230°, and in traffic can creep a bit towards to the limit...maybe 240° I am going to have the radiator rodded out but until I can do that, would it seem safe to drive the car short distances? I think the manual says approx 230°-240° is the max so I'm kind of always hovering right around the limit. Just curious what others here are comfortable with on their cars. I will likely try to not drive it much until I get it sorted but it's my only car at the moment. :/
I would never let one get to 240. Repairing a Ferrari engine that has been damaged from overheating is the most expensive repair possible. MC Hammers TR engine was a total loss because he got it that hot. In my opinion 230 is only OK to get the car out of traffic otherwise the key should already be off. Is it that important to still drive it?
Hi Brian, No it's not. I can rent a car. Thanks for the input. The advice of my new mechanic was the same as yours. I was just curious as to what constitutes "acceptable" levels of hot.
Yikes. That's terrifying. It only crept above the 230 hash mark for a minute while sitting at a stop light. I didn't have much of a choice at that point. I picked the car up yesterday morning and drove it out to see a friend. It ran a bit hot but not too bad-just over 195. I started my trip home from the middle of nowhere in the desert and on the highway back to L.A. at 90mph it stayed right around 195. We even played chase a bit and got up to about 130mph here and there, and the temp still sat around 195. The trouble started when I got off the freeway. I was stuck in traffic in Hollywood...nowhere to even pull over really... and as soon as I saw the temp rise I was just trying to get it home. It was cooler when it was moving so I tried to just find the route with the least traffic and keep in motion. FWIW, my oil temp was fine. Hopefully no damage was incurred. I have read here about guys fully overheating their Mondial's and 308's to the 250 limit, and actually boiling over. Not that I'm advocating that but my car didn't get that hot. Either way I will just let it sit until my mechanic can go through it and I can get the radiator rodded out. Thanks.
Other than the fans not coming on, I would bleed any trapped air. There are bleed screws on the radiator, and on the engine. There is a coolant hose that goes from the expansion tank to the intake under the plenum. This hose can become blocked from corrosion of the fitting. Look carefully for that. Coolant loses it's anti-corrosion properties after a couple of years, so it's best to replace it. The stock system works amazingly well as long as all of the components are working properly.
I see you are a long-time FChatter. You probably know that many of us confronted this overheating problem. When we open the door to that problem we have a whole list of potential issues - which are contained in the many, many FChat topics and threads - so a walk through those weeds might be prudent before attacking anything. Clearly — pls don’t drive the car. It is interesting that you were literally in the desert - which may be the primary reason it ran so abnormally hot; and/or the desert heat caused some system to fail - which was about to fail anyway. My first thought upon reading was - I wonder if only one fan... but am glad you have two. My own belief is - every QV should have two fans. My car had one up until about six years ago. Cooler is better. Everybody who has had overheating (sometimes symbolized by green vomit at rear) tends to have a different idea of what fixed the problem. (I think I counted more than 11 potential or claimed “fixes” from my FChat readings, including the FChat 308 lane.) So go slow. Please don’t fall into the Fix that; shucks! Fix this; shucks! Fix the other; darn it! [$ spent so far = $1,950]. And ever on, and on .... to about the $12,000 range. Look through the FChat discussions as warm-up (pun intended) homework on your part - then approach the issue with your money still in your pocket. Best wishes, SG Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat
I would get it sorted fast. I get concerned anytime the dial goes past the upper hash mark (like the 2 o'clock position.) Happen to me once when my fan motor died. Drove home right away, and replaced the fan.
Yeah that's when I got a bit panicky as well. That hash mark you refer to is what I am calling 230 - roughly mid point between 195 and 250. That mark I can live with, especially in stop and go traffic on a hot day, although I think 195 is where it should be if everything is working right. i will park until I can get it rodded out.
Sound advice in the abstract, although my own personal experience tells me if you're going in to fix something, just "pay the $2" and fix all possible culprits, as you will likely have to go back in to fix it all anyway. I'll check the thermostat. The fans both seemed to be working. There was plenty of water in the tank. The hoses are all new. My guess is it's the radiator but we'll see. FWIW, it was actually much colder out in the desert than it was in the city.
In case like this, you can open your windows and put the heat on in your car, put the blower on maximum, so water temperature will drop....
Make sure both fans are turning in the correct direction. When I first got my 308, driving it home, the temp got that high when in traffic, but dropped down at speed. Next morning had it in the shop...one of the fans had been connected in reverse so it was fighting and push the air the wrong way. My mechanic flipped the wires and it ran perfectly.
I have an 85 QV. During the summer months here in the DFW area, my car will approach the 210 mark, especially in stop-and-go traffic. My solution is to find an open stretch of road (or freeway/tollway), accelerate to about 60, put the car in 5th (to lower the RPMs), and then drive like that as far as necessary. Usually after a minute or 2, the increased airflow would lower the temps. I also bleed the system after every drive, using the bleeder screw on the radiator. There's always air in my system. I'm gonna have to figure that out someday. We're gonna do a major service this spring, so maybe I'll replace all the coolant hoses, and have the radiator checked for leaks (although I don't see any fluid from the radiator). I'm gonna replace all the vacuum lines this time (I have a leak), so might as well make replace the coolant lines also. Because I have made it a habit to bleed the system, I've also gotten into the habit of leaving the front hood and engine cover up, after every drive (in the garage). I don't know if it helps with a cool-down, but since I gotta open the hood to bleed the radiator anyway, I just leave it and the engine lid open. During the cooler months, my temps never approach the 210 hash mark. Even with "spirited" driving (Italian tune-up!). My QV seems to be really happy when the air temp is in the 60s. She really likes to run strong. Sid
I don't get there often either. Seems that the Market Place gets more traffic than the technical stuff. Anyway I'm down to my last Rolex and it is a keeper. When I had my 308 it was my daily driver...never gave me an issue after the initial running hot. I bought it with 88k on the odometer, sold it with 124k on it. I got seduced by the speed of a faster car...and regret it to this day. Enjoy yours. This is a great place to get technical help from people with lots of experience. Be well.
Another aspect of overheating a QV as indicated on the gauge - it can be a faulty or degraded gauge itself. My 308 QV temp gauge would show hot temperatures occasionally, ~210 - 220, then after a period would suddenly (in 1 second) drop back to 195 indicated. It would also jump 10 degrees indicated if I turned on the parking or head lights! In October I pulled the instrument panel out, cleaned (fine emery paper to abrasively remove surface corrosion) all the connector blades on the wire ends and on the gauge backs, tightened the female connectors, used Stabilant 22a contact enhancer on all connections; and added another ground wire from the instrument panel ground circuit to a stud under the dash frame bar. The end result was that the gauges don't shift at all any more when I turn on the lights, the coolant temperature gauge indicates lower than it did pre-refresh, and I don't see any overheating intervals any more. Previously, while chasing the overheating intervals, I'd gone through 2 or 3 thermostats, a new water pump, and installed a Nicks Forza Ferrari aluminum radiator. I'm sure those all helped, but it was the wiring refurb which got rid of the random indicated overheating. Cheers, Gordon
Have a look at the thermostat, or just replace it. I have replaced thermostats again and again on various cars, mostly leaky ones where the temp does not rise and changes a lot with speed. Even the authorized service shop of a well known brand tell me the thermostat is ok when it is not. Replaced it myself to make the car run in its optimum temp range. The temp should get to 190 or close within a few minutes and stay there regardless of speed. In heavy and slow traffic, the temp should rise a bit until the fan kicks in and maintains a fairly low temp just above 190.
Following up on this old thread. The car (83 Mondial QV coupe) was off the road for a while and we did a bunch of work to it in the interim, but now that I have it back it is still running too hot (mostly sitting at that 210 mark instead of 195 and cooler). What has been done - 1) Radiator rodded out 2) New thermostat installed 3) Two 348 fans mounts to radiator. This was a custom job to increase cooling and the fans kick on properly every time. 4) Bled air from system. 5) Performed chemical test to rule out blown head gasket. Car passed. That's not it (thank god) Sitting at idle prior to doing any driving - the car seems pretty ok. Eventually it hits the 195 mark (12 o'clock) and then the fans kick on and it drops back down a bit. Normal. However, every time I actually drive the car it immediately raises to 195 or above on freeways, and then as soon as I hit any traffic it jumps to that 210 mark (2 o'clock) and sometimes edges beyond that. It has not been particularly hot out so I expect in the summer months it will only get hotter. Oil temp climbs as water temp raises. Oil pressure is fine. We have normal/good movement of fluid in the surge tank. Fans are kicking on. Water pump pulley belt is intact. Radiator guy said core looked good and didn't need to be redone - and rodding was adequate. The two fans are way beyond stock capacity. It burps out some fluid after it heats up but never a big boil over. Next move is to install a 328 thermostat as they open up at a cooler temp. beyond that maybe re-core the radiator anyway. Maybe the pump is bad? But I am admittedly stumped. I was walked through the cooling system today and it seems pretty minimal and straightforward. The only other thing to note is that aside from this issue the car is currently running beautifully. Smooth, powerful, exactly what you'd hope for. Stumped. The manual says its ok but my experience with my own earlier Mondial and others opinions is that this is too hot. If anyone has any ideas or experience solving this particular mystery please chime in again. Thanks
Hose blockage between radiator (front of car) and engine (rear of car) which starves the engine at speed, perhaps. So sorry this problem not solved yet. SG Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat.com mobile app
