Section 05
Known Issues
Every model has its list, and the F355's is well-documented after twenty-plus years of ownership. None of these are deal-breakers on their own — they are simply the things a 355 specialist looks for first. Use this list as a checklist on a pre-purchase inspection, not as a reason to walk away.
Cracked exhaust manifolds (headers)
UniversalIndicative cost · $3,500 – $7,000+ per pair fitted
What it is
The original equal-length tubular manifolds were under-engineered for the heat the F129 V8 throws at them. The thin-wall stainless cracks at the collector and at the flange welds, especially on cars that have been driven hard or run on lower-octane fuel.
How it shows up
A faint exhaust hiss or tick on cold start that disappears as the metal expands. Smell of exhaust at idle. Eventual lambda / CEL faults as the leak unbalances bank readings. Most surviving original headers are cracked or about to be — assume they need replacing unless documented otherwise.
What to do
Replace as a pair. OEM-style stainless from quality aftermarket houses (Capristo, Tubi, Hyperflow) is widely accepted; some owners go ceramic-coated to manage heat. Budget for at least one snapped exhaust stud during removal — it is more or less expected.
Worn valve guides
CommonIndicative cost · $8,000 – $15,000 (heads off)
What it is
The bronze valve guides in the five-valve heads wear, particularly on the exhaust side, allowing oil to weep down the guide and into the combustion chamber. A known weakness of the design and a major reason the engine-out major exists in the first place.
How it shows up
Blue smoke on start-up after the car has sat, smoke under hard deceleration, gradually rising oil consumption. A leak-down test on warm heads will tell you more than a compression test. Plug fouling on specific cylinders is a clue.
What to do
Heads come off, guides are replaced (often with updated material), valves and seats are recut. Worth doing properly with a known engine builder rather than as a roadside fix. Often combined with a cam-belt major to share labour.
Variator rattle (cold-start cam tensioner)
CommonIndicative cost · $2,000 – $4,500 fitted
What it is
The hydraulic variators that tension the cam drive can lose oil pressure when sitting and rattle audibly on cold start until pressure builds. Original-spec parts are the worst; Ferrari issued an updated variator and updated parts have been on the market for years.
How it shows up
A distinct mechanical chatter from the back of the engine for the first few seconds after a cold start, fading as oil pressure comes up. Not catastrophic on its own, but extended rattle can wear the cam-drive components.
What to do
Fit the updated variators. Almost always done at the same time as a cam-belt major because the engine is already accessible — doing it standalone roughly doubles the labour.
F1 hydraulic system wear (F1 cars only)
CommonIndicative cost · $1,500 – $4,000 per intervention
What it is
The early F1 system was the first of its kind and uses a hydraulic pump, accumulator, and gearbox-mounted actuator. All three are wear items, and the system is unforgiving of low fluid level or contaminated fluid.
How it shows up
Slow or rough shifts, rest-position errors, accumulator pressure faults, or a pump that runs constantly. F1 clutch wear is a separate (and faster) consumable than manual clutch wear.
What to do
Plan for at least one major hydraulic intervention every 5 – 7 years on a regularly-used F1 car. A specialist with a Leonardo / SD2 tester should be doing the diagnosis — it is not a guess-and-replace job.
Sticky soft-touch interior plastics
UniversalIndicative cost · $800 – $3,000 to refinish
What it is
The soft-touch coating Ferrari used on the centre console, switchgear, door pulls, and air-vent surrounds breaks down over time and becomes sticky, then tacky, then a mess. Heat and humidity accelerate it. Affects almost every 355 still on its original interior.
How it shows up
A finger leaves a mark on any interior plastic surface. Switches feel gummy. The console picks up dust and lint and refuses to clean off.
What to do
Strip and refinish — chemical removal of the original coating, then a re-coat in a more durable finish. Several specialists do this as a routine job. Replacement OEM parts are scarce and will simply degrade again.
Spider hood mechanism (Spider only)
CommonIndicative cost · $1,500 – $5,000
What it is
The Spider's powered roof relies on a chain of microswitches, hydraulic rams, and a small electric motor. Any one of them can fail and stop the cycle mid-operation, leaving the roof half-deployed.
How it shows up
Roof refuses to start a cycle, stops partway, or completes but throws an error. Hydraulic fluid weeping from a ram. Slow, laboured operation.
What to do
Diagnosis first — chasing the wrong component is expensive. Microswitches are cheap, rams less so, and a full hood replacement (fabric, window, mechanism overhaul) sits at the top of the range.
Fuel tank seam weep
OccasionalIndicative cost · $2,000 – $5,000
What it is
On cars that have sat for long periods with low fuel, the seams of the saddle-style fuel tank can weep, particularly where the rubber filler hose connects.
How it shows up
Faint smell of fuel after a fill-up, especially when parked nose-down. Visible staining around the tank in the engine bay.
What to do
Inspection first. Fix can be as simple as replacing perished filler hoses, or as involved as dropping the tank for reseaming. Keep the car with fuel in it during long storage to keep the seams wet.
Motronic / dash electronics capacitor failure
OccasionalIndicative cost · $300 – $1,500 (rebuild) / $2,000+ (replace)
What it is
Era-typical electrolytic capacitors in the Motronic ECUs and the digital dash leak as they age, causing intermittent faults, stored codes that don't match symptoms, or pixel dropout in the trip display.
How it shows up
Random CELs that won't clear, dash pixels missing, intermittent no-start, fuel-pump prime failures.
What to do
Send the affected unit to a specialist for a capacitor rebuild — much cheaper than replacement and restores original behaviour. Several known shops in the US, UK, and Italy do this work routinely.
Air-conditioning weakness
CommonIndicative cost · $800 – $3,000
What it is
The 355's A/C system is marginal even when new, and on a 25-year-old car with original components it is often not coping. Compressor, condenser, and evaporator all live in heat-soaked locations.
How it shows up
Cools well at speed, struggles in traffic, completely overwhelmed in summer. Slow loss of refrigerant year-on-year.
What to do
A proper service — vacuum, leak test, R134a recharge, condenser fan check — fixes most cars. A failed compressor or evaporator is a much larger job because of access.
Cam-belt service interval (engine-out major)
UniversalIndicative cost · $7,500 – $14,000
What it is
The F355 famously requires the engine and gearbox to come out of the car to access the cam belts, tensioners, water pump and ancillary services. Ferrari's interval is typically every 3 – 5 years regardless of mileage. There is no shortcut: skipping it is the single biggest gamble an owner can take with the engine.
How it shows up
Service history will tell you immediately. A car without a documented major in the last 5 years should be priced as a car that is owed one. A snapped belt on a 40-valve interference engine destroys the top end.
What to do
Treat a fresh, documented engine-out major (with photos and an itemised invoice from a marque specialist) as the single most valuable line item in a 355's history file. Combine variator, clutch, header replacement, and cooling-system refresh while the engine is out — labour is the dominant cost.
Clutch wear (manual & F1)
UniversalIndicative cost · $2,500 – $5,500 (manual) · $4,000 – $7,000 (F1)
What it is
The F355 uses a twin-plate clutch that is a wear item by design. Manual cars are forgiving if the owner doesn't ride the clutch; F1 cars wear noticeably faster, especially in stop-start traffic where the system slips the clutch to creep. The Leonardo / SD2 tester reports F1 clutch wear as a percentage.
How it shows up
Manual: high biting point, slip under load in higher gears, judder from cold. F1: wear percentage climbing on the diagnostic readout, slow take-up, harsh first-gear engagement, eventual no-drive.
What to do
Have the F1 clutch wear percentage read on every PPI — it is the single best indicator of remaining life. On manual cars, ask when the clutch was last done and check the bite point on the test drive.
Snapped exhaust manifold studs
CommonIndicative cost · $400 – $2,000 added to header job
What it is
The exhaust manifold studs corrode and seize into the heads after 25 years of heat-cycling. When the headers come off (and they will), the studs frequently snap flush with the head — sometimes one or two, occasionally all of them on one bank.
How it shows up
Discovered during header replacement, not before. A specialist will quote the header job with a contingency for stud extraction.
What to do
Pick a specialist who has the right extraction tools and ideally a TIG welder for stick-welding nuts onto snapped studs. A good shop expects this and prices it in. A cheap shop will hit the contingency and the bill grows.
Cooling system age — radiators, hoses, header tank
CommonIndicative cost · $1,500 – $4,000 for a full refresh
What it is
The aluminium radiators, rubber hoses, and plastic header tank are all 25+ years old on most cars. The 355 runs hot by design (the V8 sits in a tight bay) so any cooling weakness shows up quickly in summer or in traffic.
How it shows up
Coolant smell after a hard drive, weeping from a hose joint or the header tank seam, fans running constantly at idle, temperature creep in traffic.
What to do
Refresh the entire cooling system as a planned job rather than chasing leaks one by one. Fits naturally into the engine-out major.
Worn suspension bushes
CommonIndicative cost · $1,500 – $4,500
What it is
The 355's double-wishbone front and rear setup uses rubber-bonded bushes throughout. After 25 years they perish, especially the upper wishbone bushes and the anti-roll-bar drop links. The car loses its sharpness long before any single component fails.
How it shows up
Vague turn-in, a clunk over expansion joints, uneven tyre wear, or the car wandering on cambered roads. Often dismissed as 'just an old car' but transformed by a bush refresh.
What to do
Full bush refresh with OEM or known-good aftermarket parts. Worth doing as a job lot rather than piecemeal — labour is similar and the car drives like a new 355 afterwards.
Tired shock absorbers (and adaptive damping faults)
CommonIndicative cost · $1,500 – $4,000 (passive) · $3,000 – $7,000 (adaptive)
What it is
Original shocks are well past their service life on most cars. The optional adaptive damping system (Sport / Comfort button) adds another failure mode — the damper-mounted solenoids and the controlling ECU can both fault.
How it shows up
Bouncy or wallowy ride, particularly mid-corner. Adaptive system warning light. Sport / Comfort switch makes no perceptible difference.
What to do
Passive replacement with Bilstein or Koni is straightforward. Adaptive systems are repairable but specialist — get a quote before assuming a switch to passive coilovers, as the conversion isn't always cheaper than a proper rebuild.
Electric window regulators
CommonIndicative cost · $300 – $900 per side
What it is
The plastic clips and cable runs in the window regulators fail with age, dropping the glass into the door or jamming it half-up. A well-known weak point shared with several Ferraris of the era.
How it shows up
Window slow on the way up, grinding noise from the door, glass at an angle, or the window stops working entirely.
What to do
Replace the regulator — repair kits exist but the full unit is the more durable fix. Door card off is a 30-minute job for a specialist.
Immobiliser & key fob faults
OccasionalIndicative cost · $200 – $1,500
What it is
The factory immobiliser is age-sensitive — flat key-fob batteries, failed receiver units, and lost code-cards can all leave the car refusing to start. Replacement keys are not cheap and require specialist coding.
How it shows up
Crank-no-start with no other faults, immobiliser light staying on, or the alarm refusing to disarm.
What to do
Always insist on the original master key, the red code-card, and at least one working spare on purchase. Resolving an immobiliser issue without the code-card is materially harder.
Dashboard pixel & bulb failures
OccasionalIndicative cost · $200 – $800
What it is
The trip-computer LCD loses pixels, and the small incandescent bulbs behind the gauge cluster blow over time leaving sections of the dash dim or dark. Both are routine 25-year-old-electronics faults.
How it shows up
Gaps or lines through the trip display, sections of the dash that don't light up, dim warning symbols.
What to do
LCD ribbon-cable repairs are well-known and offered by several specialists. Gauge bulbs are an easy DIY swap — replace them all at once while the cluster is out.
Tyres past their date code
UniversalIndicative cost · $1,200 – $2,000 for a set
What it is
Many low-mileage 355s are still wearing the tyres they had 8 – 15 years ago. Rubber hardens and cracks regardless of tread depth. A 355 on old hard tyres feels nervous at speed and is genuinely unsafe in the wet.
How it shows up
Check the date code on every tyre during a PPI. Anything over 6 years old should be replaced before any spirited driving.
What to do
Budget for a fresh set of period-correct sized tyres (Michelin Pilot Sport or similar) if the existing set is dated. Massively transforms how the car drives.
Severity labels reflect community consensus, not Ferrari documentation. "Universal" means almost every car will need it eventually; "Common" means most will at some point; "Occasional" means it happens but is not a default assumption. Costs are USD specialist labour, indicative.