[Boon]

Hi folks,

First real post on the site so hello to everybody...

Having been the most reliable car I have ever owned, the 355 finally decided it had got bored of being so reliable and decided to drop its coolant all over the road at the weekend. The car is in the w’shop being looked at now. Hopefully nothing too serious but you never know. The coolant didn’t come out of the radiator cap and the AA patrol was able to show the coolant system was not holding any pressure.

Any of you folks experienced this problem? I should add that is has only been a short time since it had the engine out cam-belt service, so if I am lucky it is just a hose that has come loose.

Best,

Boon

[Barry]

Can't add any educated comment to your own suggestion/assumption above Boon. But I'm sure someone more informed than me will be along shortly. Let's hope it is only a loose hose.

Welcome to Ferrari Life in any case!

[Boxer]

I had my old F355 do that once. It was a hose in the front that came loose and dumped a few liters of coolant into the luggage area. Reattached the hose, refilled and bleed the system, and it was fine. Took a bit more time to get the front of the car clean and desented though.....

[il Capolino]

When something happens it is normally after a major service. The coolant situation happened to me as well and the reason was that somehone had forgotten to tighten the top-up cap properly, so the coolant vapourized off in a hurry.

Hoses and hydraulic tubes are classics: they forget to tighten one or more because there are too many other things going on in the shop interrupting the work. During my F-ownership time in Spain they would always want to save their skin by saying something else broke to have me pay for it. After a service on my ex-355 I lost all brake fluid on the road. I had to pay for it cause it was word against word...

Check out what your workshop has to say and take it from there. Good luck!

[Boon]

Thanks for the support guys. The coolant came from the engine bay, but not from the cap, so hopefully just a hose. Let’s hope the ‘shop will comes good. They have been servicing the car for 12 years and it hasn’t been anywhere else. I must confess it was all pretty spectacular. I was ‘giving it the beans’ overtaking a line of cars down near Goodwood when steam began pouring out from the engine cover. Needless to say I pulled over pretty sharpish. Within a minute or two I had a good few litres of coolant lying on the road. It certainly wasn’t going anywhere after that.

My nine year old daughter who was with me, and often enjoys coming out, found it all very exciting..... kids eh!

Boon

[Barry]

Originally Posted by Boon

My nine year old daughter who was with me, and often enjoys coming out, found it all very exciting..... kids eh!

Kids indeed. No sense of fear and no appreciation of potential wallet emptying effects of a Ferrari breakdown. Just the way it should be, that's what parents are for.

[Boon]

A final update on the loss of coolant on the 355. The problem was identified as a failed seal on the water pump necessitating a full engine removal. Ouch! I hear you cry. It is somewhat ironic as the pump was only replaced at the end of last year when the cam belts were replaced. Fortunately there is a silver lining, at least for me if not for Ferrari. Because the new (OEM) pump and new seals was fitted by a Ferrari dealer it came with a full 12 month warranty, not only the part but the labour cost to replace it. In this case 24 hours of labour to drop and refit the engine – a tab picked up by Ferrari themselves without any quibble. I have to say the main dealer, did a great job. Main dealers come in for a bit of stick on the forums on occasion so I am happy to redress the balance a little.

Cheers.

Boon

[il Capolino]

Excellent!!

Let us know when a proper test run has been carried out.

[Boxer]

Originally Posted by Boon

A final update on the loss of coolant on the 355. The problem was identified as a failed seal on the water pump necessitating a full engine removal. Ouch! I hear you cry. It is somewhat ironic as the pump was only replaced at the end of last year when the cam belts were replaced. Fortunately there is a silver lining, at least for me if not for Ferrari. Because the new (OEM) pump and new seals was fitted by a Ferrari dealer it came with a full 12 month warranty, not only the part but the labour cost to replace it. In this case 24 hours of labour to drop and refit the engine – a tab picked up by Ferrari themselves without any quibble. I have to say the main dealer, did a great job. Main dealers come in for a bit of stick on the forums on occasion so I am happy to redress the balance a little.

Cheers.

Boon

Good news, which dealer did you use?

[FBI]

Wow Boon, your a lucky guy for that! Hopefully you'll be back on the road soon enough.
And kudos to the dealer for sticking with there word/warranty. I always figured they would blame it on something else failing.

Cheers

[Boon]

The dealer was Maranello’s in Egham.

Funnily enough I needed to pop out for a new toothbrush on Sunday, and seeing that I had been deprived of the my pride and joy for a few weeks, I decided to take a small detour to blow out the valves and give the coolant system a good workout. 100 miles later.... but still minus a tooth brush... I returned home. It is funny how these things work out, but you can never find a toothbrush when you want one. That was my excuse, anyway, but I must confess that the home front wasn’t entirely convinced by my story...

Boon

[Boxer]

Originally Posted by Boon

The dealer was Maranello’s in Egham.

Boon

They are actually not far from me.

I had heard that Maranello's has been trying harder. They did get a lot of negative press in the last several years.

[Barry]

Glad to hear it all worked out in the end. Good PR for your dealer...

Keep driving and looking for the perfect toothbrush, you can't be too careful about dental care - even if that means putting a few extra miles on the 355.

[gothspeed]

WOW!!! glad it worked out for the better!!