rear of cylinder head coolant hoses

James- If your 550 has not been updated with 575M silicone plenum hoses or Scuderia Rampante Innovations hoses, probably time to do it before one blows and does not just weep.

To change those plenum hoses, you need to remove the intake manifold to get good access. Good news is there is a much improved intake manifold cover gasket with metal in it that should last quite a while, so getting double duty changing the hoses.

 

Get the Rampante ones. I wish I had when my cooling hose let go about 6 months. The dealer put in the latest factory parts, I didn't know about the upgrade options until work was done.

-dsd

 

Hi Earl

I had the same problem 4 years ago.

With this small plenum hose damage you will have water at the rear of the engine, the water flows to the rear.

Check the hose which is between the coolant tank and the radiator, it's the same hose diameter, you have to change. If the radiator hose wasn't changed in the past, you can see what bad condition does these 2 hoses have. Mine were hard a nearly closed in the inside. The plenum hose had a crack which opened only at a temperature over about 100° C, so the leak was only at hot engine with enough pressure at the system.

You have to remove the manifold, like Taz said.
Change the Thermo switches also, minimum the 2 switches which are responsible for the fans.
These 2 are cheap (about 15 Euro each).

Daniel

 

Hi Earl

I had the same problem 4 years ago.

With this small plenum hose damage you will have water at the rear of the engine, the water flows to the rear.

Check the hose which is between the coolant tank and the radiator, it's the same hose diameter, you have to change. If the radiator hose wasn't changed in the past, you can see what bad condition does these 2 hoses have. Mine were hard a nearly closed in the inside. The plenum hose had a crack which opened only at a temperature over about 100° C, so the leak was only at hot engine with enough pressure at the system.

You have to remove the manifold, like Taz said.
Change the Thermo switches also, minimum the 2 switches which are responsible for the fans.
These 2 are cheap (about 15 Euro each).

Daniel

 

I've searched the forums with no joy. Please advise where one may find the improved manifold cover gasket? And is this different from just a "manifold gasket?"

Thanks,

~Troyce

 

Troyce, pretty sure Taz was referring to the updated intake manifold gaskets. They should be the current part number at any Ferrari parts vender. Replaced mine last November with 15k miles on the car and fixed with new plugs it is a different animal.
There is an excellent independent in Eustis, Maranello Autosports, should you need.
Bill
FL

 

I just replaced mine. I'm not so convinced they're much improved, but the newest gaskets are black rather than green with a red silicone bead. 324050 is the current part # according to Ricambi.

FWIW, I also did the SRI hoses and have mixed feelings.

 

Chris- The latest ones have a metal center and rubber like material over that. The old ones were paper gasket material and quickly broke down. The break down was exacerbated by the light torque on the fasteners, which tended to vibrate loose, helped by the paper gaskets dissolving.

 

Hi Taz,

Perhaps the rubber and metal gasket is part # 225462? That has been superseded, and the gasket I received was a black treated paper and did not feel like it had metal inside. Although the green and silicone bead original gaskets cannot be reused and are NLA, it seemed a lateral move to the newest part.

 

Thanks much, Bill. ". . . fixed with new plugs . . " Spark plugs? Guessing would that have helped because the intake leak would have affected the spark plugs?

I have just ordered two of the gaskets from Ricambi.

Does this look like the right coolant hose kit? -
Ferrari 550 Maranello 575 SiliconeCooling Hose Kit - AW5550000 | eBay

Thanks, Bill, All!

~Troyce

 

Thanks for that part number, gaskets should be on the way soon.

~Troyce

 

Thanks, Taz. The ones I'm getting from Ricambi appear to be an asbestos (or whatever replaces same these days) material with metal ring inserts surrounding the intake holes. That would be similar to gaskets used on many of the motorcycles on which I've worked.

~Troyce

 

Anytime! Yes plugs was a reference to spark plugs. Prior to replacing the intake gaskets I made sure everything else was in order, pulled MAF's and cleaned, pulled throttle bodies and cleaned, and replaced the spark plugs. The book calls for new plugs on the 575 @ 15,000 miles which I felt was likely overkill. Figured since the throttle bodies were off I'd put a set in. Everything that I cleaned was not real dirty and the old plugs did not look bad. She still needed the intake gaskets which Bruce @ Maranello Autosports handled.
I had thought the car ran pretty good since purchase in 2010 until the vacuum leak came into play. Once back from Bruce, it was simply a noticeably stronger car.
I'm certain the correct air mixture had the most to do with it but suspicious the new plugs were a help too.

Sent you a PM with some details on SRI hoses as forum won't allow me to post the link.
The silicone hose link you posted is someone newer to the game. Maybe someone else can comment on their quality.
Bill
FL

 

Bill- The new iridium plugs do seem to help.

Sounds like the intake manifold gaskets are on their third iteration. Hopefully not just because it was the lowest bidder. At least Ferrari is not abandoning our V12s. Except for wheels.

 

Or blow by hoses.

 

That is in large part because of Roger Penske. Ferrari's traditional business model was to hand off to Maranello Concessionaires the exclusive rights to produce all parts more than 2 or so generations of cars back. Ferrari would hand over all existing stocks of parts and drawings, designs etc. You order at the dealer, the dealer orders at FNA, FNA orders at Ferrari Spa and Ferrari Spa ordered at MC. The parts followed the reverse path back to you. Roger Penske bought Maranello Concessionaires a number of years ago and over time his bean counters decided that was not profitable enough and to a great degree dropped it. Parts for many models are now harder to get as a result and more are being provided via aftermarket suppliers as a result. The parts we can get are getting very pricey and coachwork parts for cars not all that old are NLA.

The 456, 550 etc have entered that point.

 

Maranello Classic Parts is what remains of the parts department of Maranello Concessionaires after Penske split it into separate profit centers, but their parts guru just retired, so not the same thing. I still order some parts from them that Daniel cannot get.

 

If you're considering those new hoses, make sure they're lined, or you get a statement from the supplier that they're compatible with glycol based coolant.

Pure silicone hoses are normally impervious to most engine fluids and conditions, cold, heat, oil, hydraulic fluid, but their Achilles heel is engine coolant

Also make sure you get wider clamps than the usual 1/2" worm type radiator clamps, and/or get the type that have rolled edges, as silicone is so soft that normal clamps can easily cut through a hose if overtightened.

 

Yesterday, before reading this, I changed out the thermostat. Here is what I have for the two large hoses to the radiator. I looked up "Tubi Gomma Torino (I worked in Torino!) MVQ and near as I can tell, it means silicone. I didn't know to check for a lining, but did the usual cursory inspection of the inside and it showed no degradation. Likely the hoses under the intake manifold have not been changed out, but wonder if these are ok. Also, sturdily tightened, the clamps shown did not seem to be squishing the surface of the hose material. I've seen material coming up through the clamp screw slots, and this doesn't seem to be doing that.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Those hoses are very good quality and no need to replace if they are in good condition but you are assuming all the hoses are the same and the same quality. They are not. Some of the hose used by Ferrari is unmitigated trash and no riding lawn mower company stoops to use such poor quality.


You are severely overthinking this and ignoring some very good advice.


For those that revere Montezemolo, this is the sort of thing he did to the company. The bean counters at his behest knew no bounds in the purchase of cheap products to build the cars.

 

Got the PM and replied, thanks, Bill.

Will do as Terry recommended about getting further info on the eBay hoses before diving in either way.

Another forum recommended replacement of all the accessible temp sensors while the manifold is off, so I'll do that too.

~T

 

Not enough thought is given to clamps! My personal fav is the Gates powergrip. I have never found anything better. I use them everywhere I can except on race cars where more frequent on/off of hoses happens.

 

Carl, your exception is the only reason I haven't tried those hoses, otherwise I think they're a great idea.

Curious if Gates has any recommendations, or special tooling for getting them off, without risking slitting the hose too?