MajorCommonCooling

Ferrari 458: Brittle coolant hoses, weeping thermostat housing and a whining water pump

Brittle coolant hoses, weeping thermostat housing and a whining water pump is a common cooling fault on the Ferrari 458 on the 2010–2015 cars, and we rate it major. Putting it right costs $1,200 to $4,500 at New Zealand independent workshop rates. Below is what goes wrong, the symptoms to notice on a test drive, where to look, and what to ask the seller before you hand over any money. It is one of 9 documented faults on the Ferrari 458.

Vehicle: Ferrari 458
Years: 2010–2015
Fuel: petrol
System: Cooling

This page covers the Ferrari 458 as a model. Some faults only affect particular engines or build years — enter a plate below to narrow the list to one car.

All Ferrari 458 faults9 documented faults on this model

What you are looking at

An annotated photograph of an automotive engine thermostat identifying the wax capsule and both disc valves. — A double-valve engine thermostat, labelled: the wax capsule is what sticks.
Dougsim · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

What goes wrong

By the time a 458 is a decade old the rubber coolant hoses around the thermostat housing, the lower radiator hose junction and the throttle-body coolant lines have gone hard and started to weep at the clamps, and the water pump bearing announces itself with a whine before it fails. Owners on the forums report coolant appearing under the front bumper, where the radiators live, well away from the engine. Specialists recommend replacing the hoses preventively at about 60,000 km or eight years, whichever comes first, and a mid-engined car that is allowed to overheat does not give much warning.

What you would notice

Coolant puddle or drips under the front bumper after a drive
White or pink crust around hose clamps or the thermostat housing
Coolant level dropping between checks
Whine from the engine bay rising with revs
Low coolant warning on the dash

How to check it

Where to look. Coolant hoses at the thermostat housing and throttle bodies in the engine bay; radiators and lower hoses in the nose; water pump on the engine

Look under the front of the car where it is normally parked for coolant stains, because the radiators are in the nose and that is where a leak shows. With the engine cold, check the coolant expansion tank level and look with a torch at every hose clamp you can see in the engine bay for pink or white crust. After the test drive listen at idle for a whine from the engine that rises when it is revved gently, and watch the temperature and any coolant warning during the drive. Ask whether the coolant hoses or water pump have been replaced and at what age.

Parts involved: Thermostat, Water pump.

What it costs to put right

$1,200 to $4,500 at New Zealand independent workshop rates. That is for this job on its own, not for the car.

An estimate, in NZD, for the repair as normally carried out. What a specific car costs depends on which part has failed and what it damaged on the way — treat this as the floor for a negotiation, not a quote.

Ask the seller

“Have the coolant hoses or the water pump been replaced?”
“Has the car ever lost coolant or run hot?”

Now check the Ferrari 458 you are actually looking at

Everything above is true of the model, and it is free. What it does not tell you is whether THIS car has been looked after: its odometer history and whether the reading has ever gone backwards, whether there is still money owing on it, whether it has been reported stolen, how many owners it has had and what it is really worth today. That comes from the official records for that plate. Enter the plate for the free details, or get the full history and a market valuation from $13.49.

Not sure what you would be paying for? See what a full KickTyres check includes.

Where this comes from

The failure described above is documented in the sources below. The inspection instructions and the cost estimate are KickTyres’ own interpretation of them.

Foreign Automotive — 'Ferrari 458 Italia Common Problems: A Specialist's Field Guide'
FerrariChat — '458 Coolant Leak' thread
FerrariChat — '458 - Coolant leak coming from front left of bumper' thread

Ferrari 458 buyer questions

Is brittle coolant hoses, weeping thermostat housing and a whining water pump serious on a Ferrari 458?

We rate it major and common on the Ferrari 458. By the time a 458 is a decade old the rubber coolant hoses around the thermostat housing, the lower radiator hose junction and the throttle-body coolant lines have gone hard and started to weep at the clamps, and the water pump bearing announces itself with a whine before it fails. Owners on the forums report coolant appearing under the front bumper, where the radiators live, well away from the engine. Specialists recommend replacing the hoses preventively at about 60,000 km or eight years, whichever comes first, and a mid-engined car that is allowed to overheat does not give much warning.

How much does it cost to fix on a Ferrari 458?

$1,200 to $4,500 at New Zealand independent workshop rates. That figure is for this job on its own. A car showing the symptoms on this page is usually worth either walking away from or negotiating down by at least the repair figure.

Which Ferrari 458 years are affected?

Our research records this fault on the 2010–2015 Ferrari 458. Build dates move around, especially on imported cars, so treat the range as the years to look hardest at rather than a guarantee either way. The official records tell you the exact build and first registration date for the car in front of you.