2010 California I am looking to change my differential and coolant next weekend and would like to know what others are using for their fluids. Manual states Shell Glycoshell for coolant and Shell Transaxle for the gear oil however they are both hard to find. Is there an equivalent? I was planning on using Pentofrost E or coolant and Royal Purple 75W90 for gear oil. Any suggestions? BTW, the dealer told me to use Dexcool but my coolant is pink in color.
I think you should send a sample of each fluid for analysis. Blackstone is a reputable firm which does fluid analysis. I believe the factory and Getrag that the fluid is good for the life o f the car. 150,000 miles? The failures associated with the early DCTs such as yours, have more to do with electrical problems, poor heat management leading to sensor failure. The mechanical gear sets as well as clutch packs have been extremely trouble free. I believe the fluids are important in terms of revealing diagnostic information, rather than being a source of problems due to neglected replacement.
I believe its the transmission fluid that doesn't need to be changed as its good for the life of the car. Someone on another ferrari forum posted a copy of their maintenance schedule for the California which shows Replace Gear Box Oil at 65000 miles or 5 years. Unfortunately I do not have a warranty booklet to confirm this to be true. I only have 13000 miles but the car is 8 years old. Not sure if I should changed it or not
I owned a Cali and do not recall seeing a fluid replacement schedule at a particular time or mileage. In fact just the opposite that the factory stated that the fluid is a lifetime fill and doesn’t need to be replaced. 13,000 miles is nowhere near the end of the lifetime of the car. Even 8 years is still young. If you decide to do a fluid analysis, please post those results.
That is what I thought from the searching on the internet however, I attached a PDF copy of the maintenance schedule that I found showing the gear oil change. Can anyone with a Cali can confirm this in their warranty booklet? I personally do not want to change the gear oil if its not recommended.....I think the coolant might be a good idea for now.
I can't help you with the warranty booklet (yet) - I left mine at home when my car was in for annual service the last few years but perhaps I can in a few weeks' time as my car will have its 5th year of annual service then. Regarding the transaxle fluid substitute, maybe you should check RED LINE 75W90 NS GL-5 Gear Oil. Here's what their website says - they also have other compatible fluids for the car: Image Unavailable, Please Login As for the coolant equivalent for Glycoshell, I have seen mention of Valvoline on other forums - best you call Valvoline and check directly with them. Let us know how you make out.
I spoke with the dealership and was told it was lifetime fluid so that maintenance schedule that I found must have been from another model, I'm assuming.
This is what MalibuGuy said, and he probably holds the record (on FChat) for having done the most miles on the Cali, gone though extensive service experiences with the car. Ferrari also officially stated, right from when the Cali and DCT were first introduced, that the DCT is designed to be maintenance-free for the life of the car. The problems that some people have been experiencing with the DCT were all unexpected but in the absence of any problems, no one has reported having had or done any preventive maintenance service on the DCT. The design of the DCT being service-free gave the car designers the freedom to locate it for optimum performance, and unfortunately, NOT for optimum accessibility or serviceability. At any rate, aside from the COOLANT and transmission GEAR oil you mentioned, there's also a special DCT CLUTCH oil. The fluids are expensive. It's also a very labour-intensive service so they won't do it unless there is a problem. Here's a comparison of the service record documentation from the service booklet of my Canadian car (top photo). Even though it includes French language text I believe it is the same one used in the US. It looks completely different from the one you found on the Internet. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Does anyone know what color the coolant is in a 2014 California? I am having a hard time telling if it is red or orange.
