83958 Major - 2016 - Tear Down

Pulled the plugs and ran a scope inside to check for corrosion. You may recall that this car has been in storage for years while I was overseas.

Fortunately the Fogging Oil worked as planned. The enclosed pic shows an internal cylinder wall.... you can still see the factory cross-hatch!

After the scope, I followed up with a short squirt of Marvel Mystery Oil. It'll soak overnight and eventually the excess will be vacuumed out.

Once the cam covers are off, the cam lobes will be lubbed before turning over the engine.

After the existing cam timing is determined, the cams will be pulled in order to get some oil on the bearing surfaces and (hopefully) fill the oil galley to get some fresh oil to gravitate towards the crank journals.

This beast will smoke in a big way once it is started!

rgds,
Vincenzo
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

So far... So good!
rgds,
Vincenzo
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

That is an ideal solution - but I have not figured out a reasonable way do it. Suggestions?

Before startup, I'll spin the engine with the plugs out and the fuel pumps off. That will pressurize the system before it sees any significant load.

My only concern is adequate lubrication while spinning the engine by hand. My concerns are likely a non-issue.... once I get the cam covers off (and likely cams) I'll know more. If the cam lobes still have an oil film, the crank bearings should be good to go.

Thanks,
Vincenzo

 

This is a pic showing the witness marks on the tensioner that I had made at the last major.

You may recall that at that time, upon dissassembly, the bearing shaft had shown indications of scoring due to the bearing rotating on the shaft.

Upon reassembly, the fit was a slip fit on one shaft (the scored shaft) and a light interference fit on the other. The bearing was reassembled with Locktight 680. The tensioner bolt was carefully torqued to spec.

http://www.loctite.co.th/tht/content_data/327273_UPGRADE680EN.pdf
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

This is a pic of the tensioner bearing today. Note that the witness mark has moved.

Apparently, presumably, this demonstrates that Ferrari intends that the bearing be an interference fit.

New bearing shafts are on the way from Ricambe... it will interesting to see how they fit the new bearings.

What has been your experience on these tensioner bearings? Slip fit or interference fit?

rgds,
Vincenzo
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Spoke with Daniel at Ricambe today. Just to be sure, all the parts associated with the tensioner shaft will be replaced. Any and all galling needs to be eliminated.

During the discussion Daniel asked if both washer and spacer were to be replaced.

"What washer?" I ask.

Turns out that the 'pro' that did the service in '97 tossed aside the washer and only used the spacer. When I personnaly did the next service, I repeated the error. It never occurred to me to confirm the assembly by way of the parts manual!!! My bad :-(

The washer is a pretty important piece of kit because it is likely hardened and designed to resist galling while it is being torqued and will thereby ensure a correct torque.

I suspect a bad torque value is why the bearing spun on the shaft and the shaft subsequently galled after the 'pro' completed the service in '97. Same thing for the shifting witness marks at this service.

LESSON LEARNED: Compare all critical assemblies to the parts manual. Don't ASSume that it was right from the previous service!

Rgds,
Vincenzo

 

As expected - the valve train was dry as a bone!

Good news - no sign of corrosion.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

a squirt can of fresh, synthetic oil fixed that!

Now i can spin the engine by hand (no plugs - no compressive load) to get a baseline on the cam timing.

I will plan to later pull the cams to lube the bearings and fill the oil galley with fresh oil. First though, I need to baseline the current valve timing......
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Ricambe - for the routine parts
Scuderia Rampante - for fuse box modifications & Gold Connector Kit

rgds,
vincenzo

 

I'm getting old:-(

Today I started to pull apart the timing system.... The washers that I did not recall were in fact, in place. My memory from 2008 was at fault! The pro did just fine!

Life Is Good ---- but the 60's and '70's are still a blur,
vincenzo

 

Here is the backside of the cam sprocket. Silicon was used to back up the O-ring since it is a pressurized system.

Note the area in the unused pin holes - it appears as though it is wiped clean of the silicon.

Irrespective of the torque, the sprocket apparently moved to take up the lash until the pin halted further movement.

My witness marks indicate that the washer rotated even more than the lash would have accounted for. This is puzzling to me.

Any ideas why?

Yes, the sprocket bolt was correctly torqued. As a double check, the breakaway torque was recorded on the cam bolts.

The original makeup torque was 73.8 Ft-Lbf
The breakaway torques were: 137.1, 125.8, 128.4, 142.1

Given that a small amount of locktight blue was used on the outermost 4 or so threads - these breakaway torque values are in line with expectations. Nothing was loose!

LESSON LEARNED:
Rotate the engine multiple times BEFORE tightening the cam sprocket. Ensure that the lash has been consistently removed at each final install and at each check of the cam timing.

Life Is Good,
vincenzo
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

This is the witness mark on the same cam sprocket and bolt/washer that is shown below...

Some 40 to 60 degrees off...

Any ideas as to why it moved?

Life Is Good, but a bit puzzling...
Vincenzo

PS: ALL of the cam bolt/washer assemblies as well as the tensioner bolt/washer assemblies have moved since the last service. All of the breakaway torques were approximately 1.7 to 2x the assembly torque.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

As I review the witness marks and breakaway torque values - it is more than puzzling. It is essentially impossible. Things can't move around that much when properly torqued, pinned and slotted!

Thinking back to 2008, I recall the time crunch. The first engine-out resulted in a water pump leak (wrong seal). Another R&R was subsequently required with only days (literally) before my move overseas.

It is seemingly more and more likely that the witness marks were not refreshed after that 2nd R&R. It makes sense. My photo library has very few photos of the second R&R and as such, nothing can be reconfirmed (1st vs 2nd sets of witness marks).

With that revelation - this issue put to rest!

THAT is why this Major is being documented in great detail.

Looking Forward,
vincenzo