Hi there! This may seem like a silly question but after 10 months of ownership I've never had to top up the windscreen washer fluid. I recently ran out of fluid so opened the front lid and could not obviously locate where to put the fluid in. On my car, there is an open ended pipe next next to the spare wheel well but as it doesn't have a lid, I presume that this is not the top-up resevoir. Anyway, can anyone help with this? Thanks a lot. Paul
Hi Paul, I have a 328 (late '88 model) - It sounds to me like the open topped pipe *is* the washer top up pipe. Its too late and I can't be a*sed to go unlock my garage and take a picture, but from memory the neck of the washer bottle is white plastic, about inch and a half diameter (maybe a touch bigger) and is towards the front corner (hinge end) of the front bonnet opening, on the driver's side (I note you're in the UK). Maybe give it a sniff and see if it smells of fairy liquid? There are no other pipes/fill-up bottles built into the wheel well surround - so that must be it. I'll take a pic of mine and post it tomorrow if you want extra evidence(?) Cheers, Rich. (P.S. - congrats on your ownership - 10 months, was it a slightly early Christmas present?)
Paul, 'ere you go, mate. It's black, not white - I obviously have too many cars... Regs, Rich. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Cheers Rich. What confused me was that my car does not have a cap for that pipe. I presume its still OK to top it up while I look to source a cap? Paul Image Unavailable, Please Login
Mine didn't have a cap either. I just stuffed the "childproof" cap from a washer fluid bottle over it. It's just about the right size. The top from a 100 count "Centrum" vitamin bottle fits the brake reservoir, too. But the childproofing leaks air, making it useless as a pressure bleeder adapter. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Paul - you're very welcome - hey, yours is red too! Should be fine to top up (but not too full) without a cap - if you look down the pipe you'll see it very quickly does a tight 90deg bend and disappears somewhere, so I can't imagine it'll slop out. DGS - nice mod! - I can see how both yours and Paul's have the caps missing - the design doesn't have a little retaining ring and hinge-type cap as most wash caps do these days - maybe to save the weight of the extra material!! Speaking of which, do you both drive around with the spare wheel in the well? I took mine out and found the car a little lighter on the front end - only really makes a difference when parking, but once you've tried to park in town with the heavy steering and *everyone* watching you, lighter steering becomes attractive!! Plus the wheel/tyre combination on mine has never been used - tyre technology was not so advanced back in 88 and my spare weighs a ton. It's not the wheel part because I lifted a set sans tyre and they're pretty light. Cheers! Rich. Edit: DGS I notice yours is black with black wheels (well, the spare at least) - that must look awesome - would you post a pic?
I have a US model with the "space saver" donut spare. Only the spare rim is black, the others are the regular non-ABS aluminum alloys. I like the black http://www.toosilly.com/ferri.html. I think the black manages to look better under a wider variety of lighting. In some lighting, the red sometimes starts to look faded after a while. And the red ones come factory-equipped with a police car in the rear-view mirror. The donut spare doesn't weigh much. Even an old fogie like me can hold it out at arm's length. The previous owner added a stereo amp in the extra space, but I'm not sure how well a rear wheel would fit in with the amp if I had to change.
Hi DGS, Sorry for the slow reply - that's a tidy motor but as you say the first service was indeed a big one! Still wondering what black with black wheels would look like (saw a picture of a 360 that was black with black wheels once - fabulous!) No problems with Police so far, however I have an Audi quattro as well, and for some reason the police always seem to spot it a mile off (maybe because its bright red too?). Cheers! Rich
Judging by my spare, black painted rims must need frequent touch-ups. Or maybe it's just that a dinky donut spare gets lots of abuse. If you really want to see cops go nuts, get a bright red ricer. My EVO is also black, and that's been pulled over several times -- once for 20 in a 25 zone, because it "looked fast". No tickets from the stops, but the Ferrari hasn't even been pulled over in five years, and the EVO's been rousted three times in two years. And they're always surprised to see an old fogie driving the EVO. Now that I think of it, though, every speeding ticket I've gotten has been in an Alfa Romeo. I think the "disco volante" shape messes up radar. Do the 330GTSs have that problem, too? Or are they aluminum skinned?
Reproduction "Salva" caps available for the late 328 washer reservoir necks @ Maranello Auto Parts. The part number is the reservoir number with an "L" after it, don't remember price though.
