Hey guys. Please I would need some help... I am a (very) happy California owner that i bought second hand few months ago (5000km, Y2009 model), and was horrified this morning when I saw this ugly oil leakage on the floor under the engine. It wasn't there last time i drove the car (last week), and it is a mix of oil and water - still wet. Engine is working very well, but i heard a strange noise last week while turning at a very low speed. I was wondering if someone would have an idea where it could come from... TB Image Unavailable, Please Login
Right. Probably not oil but probably water from the AC mixed with dirt and heat off the engine/exhaust. I have the soot on my floor too but it is not oil... Sv
Just checked in my basement after a ride today. Unfortunatelly, oil mixed with water but this is surely oil (and very dark, probably not from engine). What is weird is that it happened suddenly and it is 50 cm from the AC leaking place. Never drove the car in rain, and never had this until last week - it happened suddenly...
the key is location. If the spots are at the rear of the car; it is the exhaust. My F430 spider did it all the time. I have my Cali ordered for early 2012 delivery. I hope not to have the same problem. If the location is toward the front of the car,. get the car to your dealer ASAP Let us know what you find out
Really big thanks to all, the location is in the mittle front of the car. Just contacted my dealer, will keep you informed - by the way, electronical fault with the lights as well. Luckily this is still covered by the warranty.
It is an exhaust leak. Happens with most of them. Dealer will try to seal the joints in the system but leak will come back, at least mine has. Best to forget about it.
Yep, if sort of just aft of the engine as I remember it is exhaust soot. It will come and go. This stuff dries totally after a couple days leaving only carbon. If it is oil then it will never dry. Rick
Mine does the exact same thing. It looks like soot brought to the floor via water. I'm not too worried about it!
I have black dotted stripes into/out of my garage from the sooty discharge under the car. Dealer tried to seal exhaust a few times, to no avail. Mine usually does it from a cold start, and drips backing out of garage and up driveway. Mine is not oil, but a very dark carbon/water substance - feels very slick on fingers though. And the water drops are usually bigger than the black soot in them - like balsamic in oil looks. Hopefully yours is same thing and not a real leak.
Hello to all and thanks or your answers. I just checked again today, no oil on the floor and you are right this is probably exhaust soot. Some very dark water and carbon liquid, that is leaking under the exhaust. I am wondering that many of us experienced this already and Ferrari never fixed it, I will wait for the answer of the dealer tomorrow and hopefully there is a way to have it repaired. Many thanks, I feel much better knowing I didnt break anything
There is no real way to fix this. It's the way the catalytic convertors work. When you have a very powerful exhaust, you're going to get condensed water shooting out the back pipes. It's nothing new. In fact, on the F430's, quite often this sooty water drips onto the rear lower section of the car making it looked streaked.
When we had a california we experienced the same thing, the 458 does it too. Better to be safe than sorry though.
Just received the answer of my Ferrari dealer. Based on the picture he is writing me this is water leaking from the AC. You are obviously more helpful than my Ferrari dealer and I will recommend him to register to FerrariChat ! Thanks for your posts.
