Wednesday 1st September 2010

Wrong Type Of Glue Blamed For 458 Italia Fires

Official recall underway as Ferrari reacts to 'thermal incidents'

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Pesky inflammable heat shield glue...

An official recall has been instigated for all Ferrari 458 Italias, so dealers can replace a rear wheelarch liner and its associated heat shield.

The move is Ferrari's response to the five flambéed 458 Italias (charmingly referred to by the factory as 'thermal incidents') that have been plastered all over the web in recent days, apparently following analysis of the victims' mortal remains.

According to the company, the problem is caused by high ambient temperatures combined with very hot engines, when the wheelarch assembly can be deformed by heat.

This deformation pushes the wheelarch liner heat shield closer to the exhaust, causing the glue used to fix the heat shield to melt, smoke, or in a few cases catch fire.

The fix is a replacement heat shield for the wheelarch liner that's attached mechanically, and not using inflammable glue. (Would this an appropriate moment for a Homer Simpson-style "D'oh!"?)

All 1,248 cars built to the end of July are affected by the recall (that's when the factory shut down for the summer hols), and all future cars will have the fix built in.

Ferrari says it will replace any burnt-out 458 with a shiny new one 'as soon as possible', as long as it can be proved the er, 'thermal incident' was the result of the problem addressed by the recall.

 

 

 

 

[dvance]

And how do you prove that, if your car was reduced to a pile of rubble (as some of the burnt down ones have)?

[Gridl0k]

http://ezinearticles.com/?Forensic-Arson-Investiga...

[Guvernator]

I've said this before and I'll say it again. Lovely looking though they are, the build quality or reliability of Fezza's leaves ALOT to be desired.

My question would be, why wasn't this picked up in endurance testing?

[TheEnd]

CSI Modena

[Oddball RS]

oopty,

Why does the wheel arch deform in the first place? its a super car its going to get hot!

[Gridl0k]

Guvernator said:

My question would be, why wasn't this picked up in endurance testing?

I've yet to see any form of testing that replicates just how stupid actual customers are.

[Ed.]

It is an odd comment, if the five that have caught fire have been analysed to find the cause what more proof is needed? Perhaps future incidents not yet reported?

[Jasper Gilder]

If the wheelarch area can be deformed by heat there is more than a glue problem here

The car was not designed to have deformed (or I guess deformable) wheelarches so either they're made out of the wrong material - or there is a fundamental design fault

It looks like heat related problems will continue to plague the car. I guess melting is better than burning.....

[Amizade]

My preferred option would be line the engine bay with gold-leaf, surely an aftermarket mod from Mansour? although they wouldn't stop at just the engine bay

[Otto]

Gridl0k said:

Guvernator said:

My question would be, why wasn't this picked up in endurance testing?

I've yet to see any form of testing that replicates just how stupid actual customers are.

Or, it could be that Ferrari did not understand what could be the worst case scenario. They undoubtedly tested on the track, putting the engine and chassis under full load, but it may well be that the worst case scenario is being sat in traffic, with no airflow (which they may not have covered so thoroughly!)

Also, this could well have been a cost reduction after their validation testing... changing from mechanical fasteners to glue.

[Stablelad]

Conspiracy theory-tastic!....

What if Fezza decided to roll out the 458 a little too hastily due to the impending release of the new Macca?

I find it almost unbelievable that this design fault didn't manifest itself in any of the test mules...unless of course the products for the construction of the wheelarch weren't finalised until the Production-Line...

Pretty bad PR for Fezza.

[Eviltad]

I wonder which supplier is getting reamed for that issue.

I used to work for company who made wheel arch liners for Toyota and used to enjoy their quality paperwork immensely.

[Alfanatic]

Rated a perfect 10 for giving me a good chuckle

Nice one, chaps! Credit also for admitting the mistake and doing right with affected customers.

[plg]

Otto said:

Gridl0k said:

Guvernator said:

My question would be, why wasn't this picked up in endurance testing?

I've yet to see any form of testing that replicates just how stupid actual customers are.

Or, it could be that Ferrari did not understand what could be the worst case scenario. They undoubtedly tested on the track, putting the engine and chassis under full load, but it may well be that the worst case scenario is being sat in traffic, with no airflow (which they may not have covered so thoroughly!)

Also, this could well have been a cost reduction after their validation testing... changing from mechanical fasteners to glue.

Erm... they fully road test the cars around the factory region with no respect for speed limits, etc - the local police turn a blind eye. They have many many cars in a compound behind the factory and the cars can be seen out extensively, both current production and late stage development cars. As with any other manufacturer.

[MadRob6]

Why did they think using glue to hold a wheelarch liner on was a good idea in the first place? A few screws and job's a goodun! Also makes them removable if need be for work further on down the line.

Still surely the liner shouldn't be deforming anyway.

[Otto]

plg said:

Otto said:

Gridl0k said:

Guvernator said:

My question would be, why wasn't this picked up in endurance testing?

I've yet to see any form of testing that replicates just how stupid actual customers are.

Or, it could be that Ferrari did not understand what could be the worst case scenario. They undoubtedly tested on the track, putting the engine and chassis under full load, but it may well be that the worst case scenario is being sat in traffic, with no airflow (which they may not have covered so thoroughly!)

Also, this could well have been a cost reduction after their validation testing... changing from mechanical fasteners to glue.

Erm... they fully road test the cars around the factory region with no respect for speed limits, etc - the local police turn a blind eye. They have many many cars in a compound behind the factory and the cars can be seen out extensively, both current production and late stage development cars. As with any other manufacturer.

Yes, I understand that, but how often do they sit in gridlock traffic around Maranello?? Road testing is all well and good, but it is extremely difficult to experience EVERY type of condition a vehicle can be put through. My point was that this is even more likely with Ferrari, who probably focus very heavily on the 'fast driving' rather than sitting in traffic (and I am just using this as an example)

[Gridl0k]

MadRob6 said:

Why did they think using glue to hold a wheelarch liner on was a good idea in the first place?

Have you ever seen an Italian car?

[tobster911]

There are an awful lot of Lamborghini's that burn too, it seems to be a supercar trait!

[Luca Brasi]

1248 built already?:O

[plg]

Otto said:

Yes, I understand that, but how often do they sit in gridlock traffic around Maranello?? Road testing is all well and good, but it is extremely difficult to experience EVERY type of condition a vehicle can be put through. My point was that this is even more likely with Ferrari, who probably focus very heavily on the 'fast driving' rather than sitting in traffic (and I am just using this as an example)

Fair point, but most cars undergo extreme testing - both static and under load - they subcontract or run their own environment chambers for static testing that can do hot/dry, hot/humid, cold/dry, cold/damp, etc to some pretty far extremes (pretty much any range)

My guess would be a new glue type that doesn't match the formulation used in the R&D phase, or it was incorrectly applied (wrong glue to wrong place).

To the other posters - nothing wrong with using glue (instead of fasteners). If you don't like the idea then don't fly on a modern plane!