How Major Is A Chip Off One Of The Teeth? | FerrariChat

How Major Is A Chip Off One Of The Teeth?

Discussion in 'Technical Q&A' started by F355 Fan 82, Jan 23, 2018.

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  1. F355 Fan 82

    F355 Fan 82 F1 Veteran

    Jul 22, 2006
    9,063
    So long story short I bought a 575 2 months back. I drove it home 150+ miles and I noticed a whistling sound in 6th gear. I called the dealer I bought it from, took it back to him and he's taking care of repairing it for me but the shop he uses to work on the car, which is one of the most reputable around, their diagnosis was

    "a chip off one of the teeth, looks like a piece of Foriegn matter had been in the oil."

    They've had my car for a week now and just came to this conclusion today and said they're waiting on parts, but how big of an issue is this? Is it common? What is the timeframe to resolve an issue like this typically? How does "foreign matter" get in the oil? What could it possibly have been?

    Sorry for all the questions, the shop is 150 miles away from me and nobody has called me on the phone to explain anything. Thank god the dealer I bought it from is so far willing to fix it free of charge for me.
     
  2. Gran Drewismo

    Gran Drewismo F1 Rookie

    Jan 24, 2005
    3,778
    Idaho
    Full Name:
    Andrew
    A chip off which teeth? One of the gears in the transmission? Rear differential?
     
  3. F355 Fan 82

    F355 Fan 82 F1 Veteran

    Jul 22, 2006
    9,063
    6th gear
     
  4. Qavion

    Qavion F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Feb 20, 2015
    11,484
    Sydney
    Full Name:
    Ian Riddell
    My F355 gearbox was making funny noises, too, but I had a lot more teeth missing (thanks to previous owners). When the gearbox inspection cover was pulled off, it just looked like one gear set, but it ended up being 3 sets (and a main gear shaft and main bearings). If there is only noise in 6th gear, you may be lucky. Despite my mechanic scouring the planet for good deals on parts, it still is a big and expensive job. Everything must be throughly cleaned and inspected. I don't know if your car has an integral gearbox pump and filter and an oil heat exchanger? Depending on the age of the gearbox, it might be a good idea to replace some of the synchro rings at the same time (although that could mean a lot more disassembly)

    I'm not sure what your mechanic means by foreign matter. It's not easy to drop things into a narrow oil fill hole.
     
  5. Merlin Auto Group

    Merlin Auto Group Formula Junior
    BANNED

    Nov 18, 2016
    397
    Atlanta
    Since the transmission has an oil pump and the filter is a plastic screen that you can crawl through, anything in the oil has been pushed through the entire system. This includes that nice cooler in the rear. Cleaning is everything. I have seen the fine debris get packed into the edges and grooves of gears and corners of the box. The oil cooler can be sonic cleaned and flushed. I would want to inspect the broken tooth to try and see if it was damaged by something or maybe just a bad spot in the metal. If it is just a tooth and was a bad spot in the gear, then clean everything, replace the gear and put it back together. Having everything properly set and adjusted is going to make a big difference in how well it shifts and feels. As long as you have confidence in the shop, let them do there stuff.
     
  6. Enzojr

    Enzojr F1 World Champ

    Dec 12, 2013
    14,001
    West of PDX
    Full Name:
    Tomy
    Sourcing parts for an older Ferrari can take some time ;)
    Good luck with the repair, I would think a weekly call to them to inquire about your car would not be out of line.
     
  7. finnerty

    finnerty F1 World Champ

    May 18, 2004
    10,406
    Have they visually inspected the 6th gear ring to confirm that is actually damaged (chipped tooth, etc.).

    Just because there is a noisy gear and a piece of crud / metal was found in the box does not confirm they are related.

    I would want to see pics (borescope) of the damaged gear before I authorized the huge $$$ of a tear down / rebuild.
     
  8. Kevin Rev'n

    Kevin Rev'n Two Time F1 World Champ
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Nov 29, 2009
    22,964
    Honolulu
    Full Name:
    Kevin
    Make sure you get the take off parts to keep for self inspection and story telling. A 6th gear Ferrari part is probably very interesting just sitting there in a curio cabinet or as a paper weight. If anyone you talk to when making this known doesn't understand or pushes back in anyway you are in need of a new repair team.
     
  9. Ferrari Tech

    Ferrari Tech Formula 3

    Mar 5, 2010
    1,114
    Georgia
    Full Name:
    Wade Williams
    Kevin Rev'n is 100% on the repair team. In my many years of working on things for people, I have always told them that if they are not 100% confident in me and my shop, please pick someone else.
     

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