F430 manifolds..... again
Discussion
FezSpider said:
ont dealers talk st. I would love to know how they check the manifolds without removing them and taking of the heat shields that encase the header tubes.
Just staring at heat shield covers while there still in the engine bay will tell one very little.
This tells you nothing about the condition of the tubes under it. One can look at perfectly shiny manifold covers but underneath the tubes are getting ready to burn through.
Taking of the manifolds cant possibly make the tubes within the manifolds worse. Dealers
Back to the OPs original question, I would say that if the dealer is paying for the manifold repair, then just pay for the removal and replace, that wont be many hours work to pay for.
Be sure you ask what exactly has been done to the manifold, because the company that will repair it just may replace the single tube that's blown leaving the other 3 tubes with the potential to blow later down the line. Were as a fully reconditioned manifold will have all 4 of the tubes replaced with better thicker gauge metal/materials.
The standard factory metal is the thinnest weakest crap available.
Bear in mind the dealer will always try to save money.
Smoke test. You don’t need to remove them Just staring at heat shield covers while there still in the engine bay will tell one very little.
This tells you nothing about the condition of the tubes under it. One can look at perfectly shiny manifold covers but underneath the tubes are getting ready to burn through.
Taking of the manifolds cant possibly make the tubes within the manifolds worse. Dealers
Back to the OPs original question, I would say that if the dealer is paying for the manifold repair, then just pay for the removal and replace, that wont be many hours work to pay for.
Be sure you ask what exactly has been done to the manifold, because the company that will repair it just may replace the single tube that's blown leaving the other 3 tubes with the potential to blow later down the line. Were as a fully reconditioned manifold will have all 4 of the tubes replaced with better thicker gauge metal/materials.
The standard factory metal is the thinnest weakest crap available.
Bear in mind the dealer will always try to save money.
Edited by FezSpider on Wednesday 15th January 23:01
Cerberaherts said:
Smoke test. You don’t need to remove them
Smoke tests will only tell you that there are no leaks today, not that they are ready to blow through in a few days time. It would not tell you that these tubes (red arrows) are melting and on a count down to blow.
However I bow to your expertise if you know different
Edited by FezSpider on Wednesday 10th June 20:00
Well you can only test for failure on the day it’s presented to the garage right? Otherwise us techs would be able to forecast every future failure. Smoke test is the industry standard test and I’m sure owners would all be really unhappy if we started replacing parts because they “might fail” we all know the manifolds aren’t great. The choice is either replace them or leave them and get them checked at service time.
Edited by Cerberaherts on Wednesday 10th June 19:59
Cerberaherts said:
Specialist not dealer. However I’ll bow to your experience if you know how to better check manifolds other than the industry standard
Yea mate, take of the manifold clam shells and check the tubes. Edited by Cerberaherts on Wednesday 10th June 20:17
Or just get aftermarket ones and be done with it.
Your welcome
EDIT. By the way you specialist you, the first bit was said tongue in cheek
Edited by FezSpider on Wednesday 10th June 20:32
There is no perfect solution to this. Aftermarket headers come with their own problems especially if you track the car - too loud, too hot, etc. The MkII OEM headers are as good as any in my experience but do need to be checked at every service. Ticking due to failure is relatively easy to detect at startup and unlikely to be catastrophic unless ignored for some time. It's not feasible to cut them open at every service to check just in case hence smoke testing being the accepted test if failure is suspected.
The first thing any F430 owner should do is fit a spring connection to the rear exhaust mounting and get rid of the crazy solid connection that Ferrari fit. Having a piece of metal get extremely hot and then cool with a solid connection at both ends is going to result in one thing: expansion cracks. This is why manifolds fail. It is a design flaw that Ferrari get away with because nobody drives thier cars enough for the cracks to appear within a timescale that makes a claim on a warranty viable.
It is a cheap preventitive measure that could save you thousands and a no brainer. Like many people I found this out too late and did this after I changed my manifolds........
Any signs of the manifolds going you need to get them changed to protect your engine.
It is a cheap preventitive measure that could save you thousands and a no brainer. Like many people I found this out too late and did this after I changed my manifolds........
Any signs of the manifolds going you need to get them changed to protect your engine.
Sorry to resurrect a thread that has been idle for a month, but could those of you that have moved to after market manifolds, give me an indicative price of the cost to do this please? Also interested in the cost of ceramic coating, if anyone has a rough price for this.
I know I could try and search this, but would rather get first hand feedback.
Currently contemplating moving to a 430 and would like to go in eyes open!!
Thanks in advance.
I know I could try and search this, but would rather get first hand feedback.
Currently contemplating moving to a 430 and would like to go in eyes open!!
Thanks in advance.
Don't know what all the fuss is about, if they break, they break at the weld, just pull off the heat shield and weld them up again, then heat wrap them, worked for me and many other 430 owners, aftermarket are to loud for my taste, so I sold my fabspeeds after 8 weeks use, I had them Zircotec ceramic coated, cost was approximately £800.
Gassing Station | Ferrari V8 | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff