Greetings Tifosi. I've noticed a little vapor on the driver's side (left side from rear) exhaust upon cold startup. Once the engine comes up to operating temperature the idle drops to a nice 900 rpm rumble and the vapor completely disappears. Any suggestions on what I might be looking at to reduce or clear this vapor condition? It is only happening on the left side which comes from the front bank on the motor. Additionally, I was looking to swap out the plugs just to keep everything happy. My regular spark plug socket was a pretty tight fit when I pulled a plug from the rear bank. I gave a very tiny squirt of silicone spray to the outside of the socket to help snuggle it in and it worked better. Anything I need to know or watch out for when pulling the plugs from the front (****pit side) engine bank? Thanks in advance for your reply. Cheers-Colin Firth-Ontario Canada 1982 Ferrari 308 GTSi, Rosso Corsa, Tan, 57K, complete service records, books, tools, jack roll and spare. I put 7,000 trouble-free miles on it this summer and every mile was a smile
Its nothing to worry about and is quite common, especially if the car has not been used for a little while. When mine started doing it I thought I had a water leak which caused it. If you do a search there a several threads on this and it will put your mind at rest.
Collin, Just changed my plugs out; both banks. The front bank 5-8 were just as easy to change out as the rear bank believe it or not. Perhaps easier. I worked in the "crack" created between the rear deck and the back of the cabin when the rear deck is open. Looks tight but there is more than enough room to work. You will likely have to seperate the plug extension from the plug wire to get those loose and out of the way. This is actually a PLUS as I found a couple of mine VERY dirty in that joint and maybe a reason why a couple of cylinders did not sound as good as I thought they should. Cleaned those contacts and BINGO!!!! Use a can of compressed air to blow out the plug well BEFORE you loosen the old plug. Other than that, watch your paint and ROCK-On!!! I just needed two different length socket extensions (1-short and 1 medium-long) and a swivel extension. My plug socket has a huge rubber "washer" inside it to hold a plug firmly in place during installation. This washer does not easily let go of a plug so I fabricated a "plug socket fishhook" out of a wire coat hanger to extract the socket when it got hung-up on the new plug after tightening as it would pull off the extension and not come out of the well. Also, could not use a torque wrench due to space available so I did the front bank all "by feel." Oh, I used gap 0.025in as suggested in another thread by desire308 (I think) and changed the injectors for new and I am VERY, VERY happy so far with the results. It is like it is a new car. mwr P.S. Mine makes vapor out both pipes too until warm.
