[ze_shark]

Trying to gather some objective stats on 355 exhaust headers/manifolds (collecteurs in french). I had both replaced on my car in 2003, and they are leaking again ...
I ran a similar poll on fc, with interesting results. More than 30% respondents had one failure at least, the record stands at 6.

 

[ze_shark]

Come on guys, 3 other 355 owners only?

 

[Dj Dirk]

hmm, i'm pretty sure there are a lot more here

 

[AHG]

355 EXHAUST MANIFOLDS

When my 355 was about 4 years old with about 40,000K the RHS Exhaust Manifold cracked.
The dealer (in Australia) quoted about A$15,000 to replace with factory parts.
I decided to repair it for about $2,000.
This did not last long...and when I took it back to the dealer he told the LHS was also gone!!!
I was at this stage tempted to go TUBI for about A$9,000.
I decided to repair them both once more, this time by top quality racing car exhaust experts for about A$3,000.
So far the results have been good.
The dealer told me the repaired exhausts are now better than the orignals.
The dealer also said this was common in 355's especially the RHS.
They said it was heat related, that the pipes are thin and very close to each other and when the get hot they expand, touch each other, fuse together and then crack as they cool down again.
Hope this is helpful.
Would appreciate any comments.
AHG

 

[Boxer]

I had a F355 for about 3 years. The headers were both replaced once.

 

[SWE355]

F 355 Gts -97

Hello Ferrari freaks !!

Have just bought a F 355 -97 GTS 58000km It is a dreamcar of my oppinion !! The manifolds and the katalysators Where rebuildt to better than new. Lower price and much better than new ones.

I`ve been told that I dont ever have to do it again. www.autocura.se
A very good swedish mechanic, he could be consulted for further information, how to do.

Best regards Loffe Ystad Sweden :drive:

 

[CDF]

The factory headers on my 1995 F355 lasted 41,000 miles. Just last week I started seeing bad symptoms of cracked headers. Now I'm trying to get the Tubi replacements. Sigh, time to sink 8 thousand more into my 60 thousand Ferrari.

 

[Boxer]

There are a couple of companies that might be able to rebuild them. Might be a cheaper option.

 

[Ferrari328GT]

GT Car Parts in Phoenix has rebuilt headers for about $1,000 (each), I think. I know one person who put them on, and they were OK over a year later. He has since sold the car, so I don't know the present status.

Their phone is (623) 780-2200

Steve

 

[CDF]

Thanks for the suggestions earlier. As it turned out (long story), I had new headers made by Forza Motoring in Toronto for $3000. Removal and installation ran another $1k. OK, that's better than $8k--but I would have paid that much for the Tubi headers if I could have gotten them somehow. It's very hard obtaining the Tubis in the U.S.

As someone said elsewhere, even if you repair a header, then the rest of the header is just circling the drain. Might as well spend an extra thousand or two and save money + time in the long run by getting new headers.

 

[Fabrizio Carugati]

F355 Manifolds

As a professional I sold many 355 and they ALL have the problem no exception. It usually appears between 35'000 and 55'000 Kms. Sometime both side at the same time and sometime one side... but the second one almost allways follows soon after.

If you order new one from Ferrari they'll last 35k or 55k Kms but the problem will come back again because they never corrected it and they keep selling them.

Tubi can sell good one but usually the delivery takes a very long time.

If you send your broken manifolds to Quicksilver in England they'll send them to you back in 3 weeks usually and for a cheaper price and a very good quality that last "forever" if I could say so.

When the problem appears DO NOT DRIVE your car anymore and bring it directly to your garage. If you keep driving it and wait to change the manifolds the engine will go down.

I had the problem once a customer bought me a Maranello and I took his car as a trade in. I asked him if he changed the manifolds of course (40'000 Kms) and of course he did at the Ferrari Agency (with cambelts, service, ...). I sold the car soon after and the new owner lost his engine after 2'000 Kms of driving. The car was under warranty so I paid the repairs but then I decided not to buy any F355 again.

It is a shame that a so beautifull and enjoyable car has a so big problem that the factory perfectly knows and never corrected.

 

[CDF]

Why do the F355 manifolds fail? Stupid question perhaps, but there is manifold repair on ebay (link), and the auction says

"We also have first hand knowledge of why these exhaust manifolds fail on the F355's and it has nothing to do with the manifold."

Anybody know what they are getting at?

 

[Fabrizio Carugati]

Why do the F355 manifolds fail? Stupid question perhaps, but there is manifold repair on ebay (link), and the auction says

"We also have first hand knowledge of why these exhaust manifolds fail on the F355's and it has nothing to do with the manifold."

Anybody know what they are getting at?

The answer is quite simple : They are too thin.

The thickness of Original manifolds is 2mm if I remember well and Tubi and Quicksilver use 4mm.

That's it.

 

[wetpet]

has everything to do with the manifold. and the valves, or valve seats if i remember correctly. Never owned one.

 

[Killer58]

There's a good photo showing a typical manifold failure due to heat stress. I thihnk Josh from ECS posted it. You can clearly see that high temps finally did the thin tubing in.

Do a search and you should find it.

 

[Boxer]

Just don't replace them with OEM manifolds or you will end up having to replace them again is a few years.

 

[tazandjan]

Fabspeed sells sets for ~$3K.

FABSPEED: Ferrari 355

 

[StefVan]

From the 355 up to the 430, all Ferrari headers are prone to fail (let's see what's gonna happen for the 458).

The main issue is not directly the headers themselves but how the entire exhaust line is fixed on the engine. As the exhaust line can’t expand, all the pressure goes backwards to the headers. Knowing that the stock headers have a quite poor design (major hot spots in the collector pipes curves), they will end cracking. Here’s a picture of cracked F355 exhaust header pipes.

To resolve this issue, both main problems must be considered : how the exhaust line is suspended and how the headers are designed. The F355 has a third design issue : the operation of the exhaust valves create a huge vacuum in the exhaust pipes.

With no affiliation whatsoever with Capristo, I know that they are currently redesigning entirely the F355 headers and designing a new exhaust bracket system (I saw the CAD’s and mock-ups during my factory visit last summer). They’re taking this issue very seriously and found a solution to resolve the vacuum generated in the exhaust muffler when the exhaust valves are opening. Wait and see but I truly hope that this product will go in production so that the F355 owners can get out of these permanent headers issues (which can have serious consequences on the exhaust valves of this 5 valves engine).

 

[tazandjan]

Stef- I had no idea Fabspeed's headers were made in Taiwan. Thanks for the info.

The real question becomes, are they worth the money ($3K)? Other similar products are very expensive and the OEM headers are going to fail again if used.

 

[StefVan]

Stef- I had no idea Fabspeed's headers were made in Taiwan. Thanks for the info.

The real question becomes, are they worth the money ($3K)? Other similar products are very expensive and the OEM headers are going to fail again if used.

Taz, you're welcome. It's difficult to judge if they are worth the money. But these F355 headers are bought at 600$ in Taiwan...difficult to imagine real good quality at such selling price. Fabspeed headers I'm affraid won't hold the lifetime of a car with stainless steel produced in China. With headers made of real quality stainless steel and a good design, even more expensive, the ROI will be quite fast anyway if at other side, in the lifetime of a F355, you'll have to change several times the OEM headers.