My 328 - I should've listened

Hmmm.....I take it for $2,700 they are REPLACING said exhaust manifolds, instead of re-welding them. You do have that option - I suspect the lion's share of the bill is getting-to, and removing, the headers. Even on the 308 the front headers are rather buried. This is tough, but its not huge - you didn't break a timing belt or something....

 

I think I'd call RS Autosport in Jupiter 561-743-6441 or Tim Stanford in Ft. Lauderdale 954-764-7824 and how much they would charge for the job, just to be sure. $5k sounds expensive for what you got done.....

 

That's too bad - sorry to hear. But as a previous poster said, at least it's
not something truly major - i.e., inside the engine or the belts. I too had lots
of gotchas with my own 328 and can relate. I agree to perhaps seek a quote
for welding over replacement, if that's possible.

Good luck to you,

Jedi

 

I think a cracked exhaust manifold is very rare. You could get a second opinion. At the very least (if it were me) I would go down and have them show me the crack. Some theory as to how it came to be would be good as well. The price doesn't sound crazy off hand. there is a lot of labor and I'm sure Ferrari doesn't sell the manifolds cheap.

Good luck,
Dave

 

Hi Max,

Very sorry to hear of your woes; believe me, you have my sympathy. It is, indeed, frustrating when you take all the recommended and appropriate steps --- ppi, major service, etc, and then something out of the blue bites you in the ass. The general consensus seems to be that you have to bite the bullet on getting your car sorted out, no matter how well you THOUGHT you had it sorted, and then the real fun begins! Of course, there are always going to be things that "pop up" but, hopefully, they're little, niggling things, rather than wallet-busters. Sounds like you might want a second opinion on your exhaust manifold. I'm not sure if you've read my threads but, if yu do, you'll see that we are brothers, of sorts...

My best,

Scott

 

As long as that price is for a new manifold, then that is likely the going price for part and labor. Must be the "328 curse". I had a PPI and all that, and ended up with issues with my 328 as well, but got all the issues corrected by Carlo at Alfa of Tacoma, and all was right in the world again.

I will tell you when I decided to step up to a 355, I decided I would only buy from an authorized FNA dealer. No expressed warranty, but I knew most will at least work with you. Sure enough, I had a few rather expensive issues with my newly purchased 355, and Ferrari of Seattle stood behind the car and took care of me in exemplary fashion! I am a customer for life now.

 

Lesson learnt. OTOH, after $7700 you should have a well-sorted 328 you can drive with confidence, and as others have posted it could have been much worse. (Although $7700 isn't trivial...)

I spent $45 getting mine sorted -- bad courtesy light switch and a dirty power window switch contact.

I knew very little about these cars, and there's always a lot more to learn. But I spent most of a year on this site figuring out who the reputable dealers and techs were, and my first criterion -- before price -- was that I would buy from one of those dealers and have the car gone over by one of the top recommend mechanics. Between tech guru Tom Jones at the selling dealer, Sport Auto in NC, and Gary Bobileff here in San Diego, I'd say my FChat education -- before I was even a member here -- got me on the right course. Gary even coached me a bit to get me going on the concours scene, and with great results.

Great post. There are so many places to buy a used Ferrari, and it's easy to slip into price-shopping mode, but saving a few grand up front is nothing compared to having a good dealer and mechanic behind it.

 

I'd say that the most important factor in owning any performance car is having a good mechanic that you trust to handle the regular services.

If you're going to own a Ferrari for more than a year, it'll need service. You need to be able to take it to the shop with the expectation that they're not going to try to sell you new brake rotors every visit.

If you have the good wrench at hand, then you can look to paying a discount up front, and then adding the extra money to have it "made right" by someone you trust to do it right.

Otherwise, you wind up paying a premium in the hopes that the previous owner's shop kept it right, and that you'll be able to get service locally when the time comes.

If you do your own work, you might opt for a car that's already sorted.
If you have a local shop you trust to do it right, then you might prefer to have it sorted after the sale.
Having to finance would limit your options.

The best of both worlds is buying a car that's already been sorted by the local mechanic you'll have maintaining it. But that's a mater of the right place at the right time --- and getting acquainted with the shop (or dealership) before buying (so they can tip you off when one of "their" cars is going up for sale).

 

Seems strange to me that this problem "just" happened after the service. I would ask them to show me the leak and see if there was any way that they could have caused it. Is the crack at the flange or in one of the header pipes. Is the insulation still on the headers or has this been removed. When they did the WP replacement didi they put to much pressure on the front exhaust pipe under the crank pully. Maybe the mechanic leaning on the pipe. Also unless you get anything rebuilt or if you need to give back a core I have always requested that the service place gives me back the used/replaced parts. So go look and see what is broken. Also may want to see if there is another mechanic in the area. If this is a cracked header then the car should be drivable to get a 2nd opinion. I always use the term "trust but verify" when dealing with service people.

 

The best thing to do is putting a mark on all the parts of your car before leaving it in to a dealership. So, if there is a misunderstanding about a part (changed with or without your approvel), you can always check if the part whas yours. I know its almost impossible to do.
I also had the "feeling" that "things" where changed after leaving my car in a dealership.
Guido

 

I agree wholeheartedly. I have bought 2 Ferraris and 2 Lambos from Bobileff including the near perfect 308 GTS I just paid for yesterday and they all were relatively maintenence free besides a few small issues. Pics to come soon.

 

Find a way to temporarily patch the leak...see if it makes a difference. Also...can you get someone to weld it IN PLACE? Go see the damage for yourself...

 

That was my thought, I wouldn't think a cracked manifold would cause that but I defer to the guys that would know for sure. Could the car have been dropped down from a lift on something that would cause that? I'd make sure they showed you the crack...

Jeff

 

Ive had a 308 for 18yrs and have welded the front header twice. I also have welded the front header on 2 others. I never experienced any engine running problem from the cracks and found the cracks doing routine service. The other 2 times I had the motors out and found the cracks. The cracks can be hard to see and could not be heard. A new header is crazy,the cracks Ive seen were easily professionally welded.Backfiring and knocking? Did they replace the ign pickups on the flywheel? they melt on 328s and should be replaced every 10yrs.

 

First off Don L Leasing has the worst reputation, you screwed up by buying a car from them.

Secondly. Ferrari of Central Florida is an honest shop and it's not their fault you bought a bad car from Don L.

Face it, you're not driving a 2008 car, you're driving a 20 year old car and problems out of the blue will happen. The price they are charging you for the exhaust manifold and labor is about average, there may be aftermarket solutions that are cheaper or you can possibly reweld them.

You gotta pay to play and you bought a Ferrari. I am 1,100 miles away from Ferrari Central Florida and do quite a bit of business with them, you are close to them and should take advantage of the fact that you have one of the best Ferrari repair shops in your alley.

 

That's pretty harsh, don't you think?

It doesn't matter if you think it's true - it's discouraging and unhelpful for the posters current situation.

 

There isn't an independant repair shop anywhere in Central Florida? I'm sure you're getting top quality work from the dealership, but you're paying about 50% more than an independant would usually charge. And yes, I'm speaking from experience but not with that particular dealer.

I feel your pain, I'd owned my car less than 24 hours before it blew the water pump and cost me $2k, and I was 800 miles from home.

 

**** happens. Look on the bright side. At least it's not an internal engine problem. 308s and 328s are now reaching the age at which some people will fully restore them. These restorations will be undertaken for a reason.

 

Hold on here, I have shattered OEM headers that blew to bits like a pipe bomb! LOL!

So yea, they are getting older and brittle and probably gone thru millions of heat cycles by now..

I'l' say FoCF has it handled but do search here and rather than going OEM 328 headers IIRC the TUBIS are top rated by a chatter and there's a company in the UK that makes a nice version as well....


Good luck to you brudda!

Stuff happens, I had to 'stop drop and roll" out of mine.......LOL!

Was getting the international hand symbol from passing motorists of "hey your car is on fire"......

 

Not at all, a simple search on here, the BBB or even google shows how many complaints Don L has.

Caveat emptor

 

+100000

I've never heard of backfiring and knocking coming from a bad header. A cracked header will make a continuous noise in time with engine speed. It will sound at minimum like a sewing machine, and at most like an exhaust leake, but it will be constant. If you have backfiring and knocking, I'd check reference sensors and plug extenders. If a plug extender has a hole burned in it, the voltage will ground to the engine, and your unburned fuel in that cylinder will build up and burn somewhere in the exhaust system, causing a backfire noise.

Maybe your car does have a cracked header, but I doubt it's making your backfiring and running problems.