New Testarossa Owner: Belt Service Questions

first of all would be great to introduce yourself a little - thanks

F says belt change every 3 years

I think every 5-7 years or 40.000 km would be still ok
but this is only my opinion - no warranty ! ! !

 

I bought a 512 TR in August and discussed belt-servicing with the workshop manager at Ferrari Monaco.

He told me that while he was in the shop, his recommendation was every 3 years, and that were he to step outside, he would say every 5 years. And that is with "normal" mileage.

With the very low miles your car has driven in 5 years, I would feel confident to push it to 7 years, assuming you're not going to be using it intensively yourself.

If you are planning on using it intensively (lots of miles + high engine compartment temperature) then I'd do the engine-out service.

Just my opinion.

 

I've stretch my luck up to 9 years with my 308 with no problems and the belts looked new but the tensionner were about to break and were much older than 9 years because the last time they were not replaced.

I bought my TR last fall and the belts were also done in 2009 like yours. I plan to replace them during winter of 2015-16 which will be 7 years. And I'm very comfortable with that.

 

600 miles on belts even if they are 5 years old isn't much. I would go for two years if I had to chose between now and then.

 

Yes you can but to do it properly means the engine has to come out

P

 

One thing to make note of.
If you have any oil leaks in the general vicinity of the belts, that will contribute to the need or even urgency to correct the leak and change the belts. As a neighbor with a TR discovered the hard way, oiled belts are a shortcut to disaster. After the fact, he was able to sell 48 bent valves to enthusiasts. The monetary difference between doing a servicing and doing an engine rebuild is exponential. Even though he did most of the labor himself, the cost of machine shop work and parts alone were enough to put a tear in the eye.
russ

 

48 bent valves? so both belts going wrong the same time? this I can not believe. and even if only one belt is going wrong there are never all valves bent then on this side.

 

REM9 is correct....belts exposed to oil or coolant will fail. As for bending 48 valves...no he did not bend them all, but I believe he did replace all the valves...and sold the old ones. You should be able to loosen up the rear belt covers enough to put your finger on the belts and see if they are dry or "filmy". If they are not dry.....CHANGE THEM.

 

I'd bet you can snake an inspection camera in behind the belt covers.

Anybody ever try it? Any camera views of value?

If (at a minimum) one could detect a leaking tensioner bearings it would be of value to know about it.

Rgds,
Vincenzo

 

Vincenzo,
Good idea. Just one question:the bearings are sealed, so by leaking you mean the seals failed? Mine did that and the bearing was rusty; I was about 100 miles away from you-know-what

 

Rather than snake a camera in there it may be better to put on a "mechanics stethascope" on to the cam cover exposed bolt that holds the bearing and listen to the bearing. If its not "wining" then its running okay..

IMO

P

 

good idea Phil ! ! !

 

Romano, we should spend some time together over a few real German Weiss beers and talk Testarossa.
I am sure we can solve the worlds Testa problems................hic.







P

 

Jerome... its Petey...

Get the belts done dude.... its nothing but a drop in the bucket for you and worth it just for the piece of mind alone.
Not to mention all the little things that will probably need some attention while the engine is out.

Just do it.

 

right phil ! ! !

but only 2 German Weiss beers - the first and the last - and between we will not count

you are pretty invited to visit me here - easy jet is flying daily from london to basel-mulhouse ( BSL ) and this airport is only about 10 km from me away.

so let´s talk testarossa

have fun at the race track this weekend

 

+1

 

Can you introduce yourself F friend ? It helps if we know if you live in Europe or f.i. Japan

As Rookie, did you read all important info here yet ?

Why save a few Euro's if you risk loosing f.i. Euro 20.000 ??

Did you read about the gearbox problems yet ?

Do it all in one go and go on SAFE !