F430 New owner diary inc. maintenance & upgrades

One of the bulbs in the HVAC unit of failed, so I replaced it. Some of the bulbs are standard twist-lock types, but two are soldered on to the PCB, and it was one of those that failed. They are incandescent bulbs with a green cap and I tracked down a match at RS.
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16M HiFi wiring harness complete and installed.
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I wasn't happy with the condition of my window switches after removing the coating, so I decided to fit two new switches.
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New Bonnet
I commissioned a new bonnet that is a take on that fitted to the F50 GT. There are other versions of this bonnet available but I found they were either fibreglass, a mix of fibreglass and wet lay carbon, or wet lay carbon - none of which would suit this project - so I found a supplier who was willing to manufacture the bonnet to my spec in vacuum bag carbon with a mix of fabrics to match the OEM carbon parts.
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The original aluminium bonnet painted but stripped bare weighs 6.9kg. The carbon bonnet in its bare form weighs 3.81kg. I will cut out the vent areas and fabricate mesh grilles, initially blanked off behind with a piece of thin carbon, but my plans for later will involve functional testing from the front of the car and some wind tunnel testing.

As with all aftermarket parts there is some tidying up to do and I spent a few hours getting the alignment perfect. Next steps are paint including the stripe using the OEM 16M paint mask kit. The centre of the stripe on my car is black, but on the new bonnet it will be (lacquered) exposed carbon.
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Fitted (in this photo I haven't yet started work on alignment).
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Engine Lid
The coupe/berlinetta F430 had available an OEM carbon fibre rear engine lid with Lexan window; sadly there wasn't a version offered for the Spider. I planned to commission a Spider version so have stuck on temperature measuring strips to determine if temperatures at the window area are within the usage range of polycarbonate, however given the news about changes to cars and upcoming regulation I'll most likely start to wind down car projects and focus on a new hobby.
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Sure, this type of change is always very personal. I've never been entirely happy with the large expanse of relatively flat bonnet at the front of the F430; I love the rest of the car but feel this just completes the package.

 

I sure have I plan to make the ducts functional but only if wind tunnel testing proves that they work with the overall existing aero package; if not, then I will add drain tubes.

 

I've been really lucky by finding a used example of the exact exhaust I was going for. I will fit it next weekend.

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I've been driving the car so I'm now catching up with some old updates. Passenger door panel installed:
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Black HVAC control knobs and new window switches installed (head unit not yet fully seated):
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Alpine amplifier installed:
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I never did post of my new Alcantara trim installed, so here it is (previously this was all black carpet - no stitching):
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As a present my OH bought for me a Scuderia glove box storage net and iPod interface lead pocket. I had both re-stitched in red (from the factory the iPod pocket is only available with black stitching):
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Thanks Seong. They are original 16M panels and speakers. I still have the original but incomplete Scuderia panels, handles, and nets. I plan to add the missing insert and sell them with the speaker set.

 

I put off a complete suspension arm refresh until next winter with the exception of the front upper bearings/ball joints. I was very fortunate to find a company in France who were selling off their stock of OEM kits (joint and OEM boots/circlips) for £30 each, so I bought the lot. I don't use my car in the wet so the lack of stainless content isn't really an issue.
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The bearings are held in by circlips with integrated boots but they aren't actually an interference fit within the arm, instead there is clearance for a layer of Expoy, and of course when replacing the joints the residue must be cleaned off. I wasn't about to spend an hour or more carefully removing the old epoxy from a soft alloy wishbone so I used the strongest acid I have in stock that doesn't hurt aluminium within a short time-frame (strong acid softens epoxy).

It was interesting to note that the 2008 cars have the F430 Challenge/599 type upper arms which are stronger around the inner flambloc area - this was originally done for the higher cornering loads possible on Challenge due to their slick tyres and aero.

Synstyp is nasty stuff but ten minutes on the epoxy softened it enough to be removed with a blue Scotch-Brite pad, which had the added benefit of keying up the aluminium (max shear strength quoted on expoxy adhesives is usually with a keyed surface).
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Whilst the Synstryp was working I swapped to working on the other side and I actually managed to have both sides finished and the wheels re-fitted within one hour, though I did leave the car up on axle stands for over 24hrs to enable the glue to fully cure.

 

Capristo Scuderia Exhaust and 200 Cell Sports Cats - 02FE 023 03 006
I have the Capristo manifolds on my car and I'm not particularly impressed with them - they are good enough but quite agricultural, however I'm really impressed with the Scuderia exhaust system; the design, build, and fit are excellent.

From experience I've found there isn't really a perfect answer to exhaust heat insulation, at least not within the confines of a car engine bay:
- Capristo blankets wear from the inside out;
- Heat wrap degrades at the high temperatures found on manifolds and cats, is unpleasant to work with (the fibres can't be good for lungs and irritate the skin), and leaves fibres all over the engine bay;
- Ceramic coating doesn't work as well as the Capristo blankets.

As per my previous Capristo cats I've installed the blankets and then wrapped over them with heat wrap secured with stainless ties.
For the rear silencer I've first added two sheets of ceramic wool insulation (the type used in ovens), and then wrapped over the top, again securing with stainless ties. This time I'm trying something new: aluminium tape over the top of the heat wrap. It made installation significantly more pleasant than with the exposed heat wrap and after a couple of long drives it is holding up OK (the heat rating is within spec if installed over other forms of insulation). Let's see how it works out.

Photos to show the various stages of insulation:
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Complete and installed:
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Thank you, Dan! Nice of you to say.

Thanks Seong - that looks really good!

 

Spider Roof Problem: Warning Light With Roof Down
My previous issue persisted: a roof warning light with the hood down. The warning light is triggered if one of the many position-indicating micro-switches provides an unexpected reading for the current roof position. Sadly, my diagnostic device can't read the codes from the roof module so I came up with an alternative approach: I studied the wiring diagrams and noted that all the roof micro-switches simply switch to earth so I made a test chart and used a multimeter to check continuity to ground of the various switches with the roof in up then down positions.

The test revealed that the switch that indicates that the top part of the roof has been folded back was not reading correctly.
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In order to access the switch I partially opened the roof and lifted up the top canvass.
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Clearly, the switch was damaged. The actual root cause was not the switch itself but one of the roof tensioning cables was too slack and had fouled the switch as the roof closed. I've ordered a replacement switch and cable.
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This particular cable (part #67047300) is actually adjustable behind the rear buttresses, but in my case it was too late.
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I will replace the switch and cable myself but the car is booked in with http://www.kbaggstrimming.co.uk for replacement of all of the elastic tensioning straps and a check of the rest of the cables.

I haven't spent any time to-date learning the roof but this incident has promoted me to master it.

Spider Roof Problem: Canvass Chaffing On Roof Tray
This could happen on either side but on my car the canvass had ceased to fold correctly and was sticking out and brushing on the hood tray as the roof folded away. I really should have attended to this earlier as it had rubbed away some of the seam at the lower part of the hood buttress.
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Upon investigation I found that stiff canvass pieces are bonded to rear of the outer fabric but with a small gap in between, which upon lowering the roof coerces the fabric to fold at that specific point to clear the hood tray. On my car these stiffening sections had become to peel away from the outer fabric leaving the hood to fold in a non-ideal way, and foul the edge of the tray.
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I re-bonded the stiffening fabric with PU adhesive and left overnight secured by clamps. This solved the issue.
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I managed to trim off the excess fluff and make good with PU. It's not perfect but it's pretty good.
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My car was missing the passenger floor mat securing clips and the drivers side never stay put, so I suppose it's not a surprise that that they've been lost. I ordered a new pair but before fitting I put a dab of black PU adhesive on the back of them. So far it seems to have done the trick.


Roof Issue Addressed
The rew roof cable and micro-switch arrived:
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Upon close inspection of my old cable it had started to fray (green arrow).
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I didn't have a workshop manual to hand so I had to figure out as I went, however the job wasn't too difficult just fiddly and time consuming.
The cable runs from above the passenger headrest to the tip of the rear buttress and there are in total four guide rollers, each having a sheath to hold the cable in place, and these must be removed to withdraw the cable due to the size of the eyelet fitted to the forward end.
he largest of the rollers at the rear of the hood must be removed from its pin which, to my surprise, was made from aluminium, so care must be taken when re-assembling.
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Two guide rollers at the base of the buttress are held in with circlips.
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All in it was a couple of hours work, but it has addressed the issue that triggered the fault code. I will leave the roof closed until after my visit to K Baggs for replacement of the elastic straps.

Variator Solenoid Failiure - Again
I must admit this grated on me. It has been only a few thousand miles since I replaced all four solenoids with the later part, due to intermittent failure of one solenoid and oil in the connectors of the other three - a common failure mode. This time around there was a complete open circuit on the right bank inlet cam triggered a P1552, and also the right bank exhaust wiring plug had oil in it. Diagnosis on the failed solenoid revealed a break in the connection between the engine loom plug and the solenoid body.
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I now have quite a collection of solenoids old and new, so I checked the resistance of them and found that 11 ohms of resistance signifies a healthy coil - in my case the range was from 10.7 to 11.4 ohms. A known bad solenoid measured 37 ohms. What is interesting is that units exhibiting oil in their connector can measure a healthy resistance, so either the presence of oil and internal failure are separate issues, or the oil signifies the onset of internal failure.
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I knew that Maserati's of this era used the same type of solenoid with the only apparent difference being a slightly longer cable. The Maserati version is £376.88 vs the £565.60 I paid for the F430 version, so fully expecting the part to fail again at some point I decided to use the Maserati version.
I did ponder the issue of oil in the solenoid multiplug, which is a problem that other manufacturers have encountered; for example, Mercedes issued an oil break intermediate loom to solve this very issues on one of their engines. Oil must come either from within the solenoid body, or find its way in from the outside then 'wick' its way along the cable. To mitigate the risk of the latter I sealed off the gaps with RTV sealant (the stuff the sump is sealed with).
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There is an oil restriction valve in the end of the cam cap that houses solenoids, its function is to maintain oil pressure so that the solenoids may immediately react - if the oil leak is in fact internal to the solenoid then another reason may be that the valve causes small oil pressure spikes in some situations, which forces oil past a seal. This is just conjecture - it could of course be simply an inadequately specced part.

On my Spider I found the fastest way to replace the solenoids was to remove the seats, engine bay panel, rear wheel and wheel arch liner. The cam cover can be withdrawn through the wheel arch.
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The solenoids can be replaced via the access panel. I laid clean rags over the top of the engine - loosing one of the securing bolts into the engine would cause a significant headache.
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Variator Solenoids - Complete
A photo to show how I routed the longer cables on the Maserati solenoids. I did pack the solenoid plugs with dielectric grease in an effort to help prevent oil migrating further up the loom.
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The back of the cam cover heat shields were looking a bit worn so I've made good with aluminium tape.
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I didn't expect any issues but I've tested the car over a couple of days and all is well - the code has not come back. Note: there is not a need to perform further tests because the ECUs have a target cam angle and check actual vs target and will throw an error if there is a discrepancy.

Advice I can pass on to others doing this is to make sure there aren't any kinks in the cable between the solenoid and the oil seal on the cam cover, and generally ensure that all connections and cables are properly supported.

Seat Belt Warning Disabled
The seat belt warning is annoying: it beeps as soon as the key is turned to position 2. On the 360 and F430 it's prudent to wait for the self check to complete before starting the engine, so the first thing I do is turn the key, then I put on my seat belt whilst the check completes.

The buckle sensor completes a circuit when closed so disabling is simply a case of disconnecting the plug under the seat, or remove one of the pins and tape it up in the loom itself - I've taken the latter approach so I can keep the plug connected. This is of course reversible if required.
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Dan,
Yes, they do. Functionally identical bar the longer wire. The part number is 212423 and there are two per bank i.e. four in total. If there is a bad solenoid on one bank then Ferrari advise replacing the pair, but do note that as per my previous update I'm not yet convinced that the presence of oil in the electrical connectors actually signifies a degradation in the solenoids ability to regulate the cam timing. Obviously it's best to clean it out.

The DTC codes logged should are specific to one of the four sensors.

I would be interested to hear of the resistance of your failed units.

Mark

 

You're welcome. Enjoy!

 

Catching up with updates...

A new one-off carbon part. This piece replaces the heavy (10kg) fibreglass roof compartment cover with a vacuum carbon part, saving just over 7kg. The stripe is painted on using the OEM Ferrari masking kit.

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I took the car to K Baggs trimming for a health check of the roof and replacement of the elastic straps as a precautionary measure. Kevin reported that it is all in good order.
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I replaced the ageing Supersports with Pilot Sport 4S. Great tyre for the road.
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I've been experimenting with geo and tried some 'fast road' specs out there on the internet, but I'm not happy so work continues. I'll cover this off in more detail in a later update.
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The flocking on the driver's side door trim had worn away so I've repaired it with a flocking fit. I'll report back once I determine how durable in service the repair is.
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