Ferrari 458 and California recalled for crankshaft failures

Little detail is provided thus far as to the specifics such as model year or build dates of the Ferrari 458 and Ferrari California supercars affected by this newest recall but the Italian automaker has stated that roughly 206 vehicles could contain the imperfect crankshaft. The company has discovered through long term durability testing that over time, the crankshaft in these V8 powered Ferraris could develop a vibration due to a machining error during production. If a crankshaft vibration is left unattended – especially in a high revving, high performance engine like the Ferrari V8 in question – the problem will generally worsen and cause further problems like bearing failures and total engine failure.

Ferrari will contact the 206 individuals who own the recalled 458 and California sports cars, asking them to return to their local dealership for repairs. Considering the nature of this recall, the engine will likely need to be removed to have the crankshaft replaced so this won’t be one of those quick in and out recalls. That being said, this is the kind of recall that owners will want to make sure that they honor as having to drop your Ferrari off for a couple days at the dealership is better than having to have it towed back with a blown engine. This work will be performed free to charge to the owner.

Luckily, Ferrari has had no reports of these vehicles being affected in the hands of a private owner but after experiencing this crankshaft problem during internal testing – the company is making the call to recall the 206 unfortunately affected Italian supercars to prevent the problem from getting worse. The 206 vehicles included in the recall are a relatively small portion of the 13,000 Ferrari 458 and Ferrari California models built over the past 4 years…so it is a fairly small batch of vehicles affected. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has yet to issue a formal statement but if they do – we can expect a few more details to be included.

This is the second recall of the Ferrari 458, with a much larger recall coming in 2010. In the 1,248 458s recalled at that time, there was an adhesive used around the rear wheels that was prone to overheating and catching fire. The vehicles that showed signs of this heat damage were issued new cars while those that had not yet run into the issues had that adhesive replaced with mechanical fasteners.

Source: Autocar