Month: November 2021

Singin’ in the rain

Even though it was a wet and rainy day things couldn’t be better because the F355 is back and fully operational!

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The failed hose ended up being Part Number 161609 (pipe from tank to radiators delivery pipe).

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Which has now been replaced. The split appears to be right at the point when it bends up from the transverse pipes as shown above.

At the same time, the re-conditioned cats were re-installed as well as the suspension warning light being rectified. All that now needs to be done is to replace the broken gear in the air conditioning unit. At the moment I do have a replacement gear for that but I’m having a number of copies made, just in case!

The car will need to go back to Sal in about a month’s time for its annual service and registration. Hopefully, by that time I’ll also have the replacement gear, which can finally be fixed, and that should be it!

It looks like it is going to take about a year, mainly thanks for COVID, to get the car fully operational without ANY residual issues! However, in the meantime, even though it was quite wet today, it was a joy to take the car out for an extended drive. It’ll be even better to do likewise when the sun is shiny, but that is for another day. I’m stoked that the cats are back, there is no warning lights on the dash and no green liquid under the car.

Next project is to get the 3D print of the broken gear sorted. Updates on that when it happens. Stay tuned.

Green, green go away

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After a month’s wait for the opportunity to be repaired, I decided that the safer bet was to trailer the F355 over to Sal for a diagnosis of the coolant leak. Watching the temperature gauge constantly while driving on the freeway and potentially having to pull over is not my idea of fun.

Loading onto a tilt tray is always a nerve racking experience and this time was no expectation. Inching along, holding the car by the clutch is not what these cars are designed for. However, being manual, it is probably much easier that using a F1 gearbox. The worst part is simply not being able to see where to align the wheels and relying on someone else’s hand signals, again, is not fun. But, we got there and up on the trailer she went.

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Even on such a short trip onto the trailer, the car was still losing coolant as you can see.

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The puddle created, when stationary, is about mid-vehicle. This means the leak is somewhere between the engine and firewall.

I waved the car farewell and awaited word.

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The diagnosis is that the top hose to the header tank (driver’s side) had a small hole resulting in coolant being sprayed upwards into the engine bay. Luckily, not a major job after all.

Hopefully, I can also get the cats refitted and the suspension warning light resolved.

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I am still in the process of getting the cog for the A/C control 3D printed, so I have a backup of this rare part. The replacement of this cog will have to wait till next time it seems. Next time, in fact, won’t be too far away as it will soon be time for the annual service and registration.

At the moment, the car remains at the doctors having the coolant leak, exhaust and suspension repaired. That hopefully won’t take too long and we’ll be back on the road again after many weeks.