Since the roads near my house were dry I decided to take my newly acquired 355 on a short ride down the road and back. As I pull into my garage I have coolant pouring out of the car near the right front tire. I put it on the lift and the coolant was leaking out of the drain for the heater box, which means either the heater core or coolant hoses connected to the heater core are leaking. Not exactly a job I wanted to start the 2nd day after I buy a car. Heater core is removed and I will pressure test it tomorrow to find the source of the leak. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
that's a rough start, but could be alot worse so you still have reason so smile Many Ferrari's aren't driven in cold weather so it's not surprising that a coolant leak up front wouldn't be detected until you actually used the heat. Depending on who you purchased from maybe the seller would help out with the cost since it must have been defective when you took possession.
Sorry to hear that James. I can certainly empathize with how you must feel right now. Take it in stride, it's all part of the "charm" of owning a beast like this. You'll probably be telling this story in the years to come with many laughs and fond memories. So, hey, what kind of lift is that?
I had a heater core leak discovered during the PPI on my 355 last year. It was very expensive to fix due to the labor involved to remove the unit. I guess if you do your own labor the financial costs shouldn't be more than a couple hundred bucks.
Thanks Pap, I'm glad my 355 has recieved me with open arms (or is that an open cooling system) Pressure tested the heater core/hoses today and it was leaking around the lower hose at the heater core. Replaced the factory clamp and it pressure tests fine now. Would have been a lot easier to fix if the ends of the heater core extended past the heater box so the clamps/hoses could be accessed without disassembly (like most cars). Rick, the lift is an assymetrical Bend-Pak with low profile arms. Most lifts are 12ft tall but this one was made at 11ft 5in to fit under my ceiling. (clears by about an inch).
Jim, as others have said, welcome to the world of 'gremlins' and 'why do they do that's. We all seems to have that First week/month crisis but it quickly fades and then it's mostly all big grins and smiles. You have the distinct advantage of knowing your way around mechanicals so I'm sure your transition to ownership will be easier than many, and certainly mine. We look forward to seeing you around town as the weather warms up we all come out of hiding.
NOW you have really done it, to start second guessing the Ferrari ENGINEERS!!!! LOL! Good point about the location of the clamps...it has to do with where Ferrari breaks the sub assemblies with the vendors.. You'll find LOTS of these, if you onw the car long term... Hats off the you for jumping into it.....be happy!!!
is that a chevelle next to the 355? cant tell from tjhis angle4 but she looks clean and has big wheels! perfect for a muscle car! and maybe a toyota t100 or older 4runner?
Steve and Bubba, I've calmed down a bit and it's not that I never expected to have a problem but to happen the day after I got it was just frustrating. With any luck I'll have it all back together tonight and I can relax once again Sean, good eye. Here is the Chevelle- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95W34ylIOY0 And the 88 Toyota Xtra cab- http://www.fquick.com/garages/viewgallery.php?albumid=1&carid=21882
Well, 3 and a half beers later I got it back together and running. No leaks and everything works. I thought I may have messed something up until I realized if you hit the "stop" button for the A/C the heat doesn't work. Just need to put the front carpet/trim/weatherstrip/undertray back in and it's done. Next thing on the list is addressing the exhaust. It has stock cats and a quicksilver exhaust but sounds much much quieter than I expected.
Awesome to hear...wish I had skillz like that (car repairs...beer drinking I have down pat). BTW, love my Hyperflow cats + Capristo = nice combo.
Thanks. All together now but will need to remove the front trunk carpet section again to recharge the a/c in the spring. Took a few pics of the undercarriage while it was on the rack. It's really impressive how they put so much thought into making the underside as clean as possible aerodynamically. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Absolutely, good wind tunnel design and first Ferrari with aero undertrays I read in a Forza issue that they couldn't cover the engine on the bottom due to heat dissipation problems, but that was solved on later models.
