Don't Ignore - Case for 348 belt change

Can't tell from those pics what happened but that piece is only used on the 3.4 motor. With the long single belt they have and the routing of the belt it has a rather small wrap on the intake pulleys. With the very long belt, no active tensioning device and short wrap it was to prevent the belt from riding up the teeth and slipping when the belt streches with age. It is supposed to be adjusted with an air gap to prevent contact under normal running.

It has obviously been in contact with the belt for some period. Good catch, nothing good was coming from it.

 

Wow!! Having just purchased a 348 I am glad that your story had a somewhat happy ending. Great choice to do the right thing and pull the engine.

BTW...what jack system do you have? I do alot of my own work on my Ferraris and it would come in very handy.

Jeremy

 

JAGBUFF ---

What kind / brand of car lift are you using there? Where are they available? It looks pretty slick.

As for catching that potential grenade in time, all I can say is "Go out and buy a lotto ticket, right now, before it wears off!!!".

 

get the metal covers then it will not happen and set the riders properly too.

 

I don't believe the 348's ever used metal or alloy timing belt covers, but there was an updated version of the plastic covers.

 

Thats only because you never had to sell replacements because they never broke.

 

1989-1990 used the metal covers. My car has them.

plastic began later. Metal, I believe is NLA as a new item. I have plastic sets sitting on the shelf at Ricambi, because they seem to always get brittle and break when folks remove them (unless they have the delicate touch of a surgeon)

 

I am interested in the lift that you got. Is this the same one:

http://eagleequip.com/page/EE/PROD/LI-LM/MD-6XP

 

Giovanni, dont mean to butt in, but Bend Pak makes almost the same US made lift delivered for 1415.00. Check out www.asedeals.com/mid_rise_lift.html

 

That lift looks like a really good deal!

 

Anyone got a spare set of the metal covers to sell??

My Spider had a similar problem, rubbing noise on startup which went away and then just got worse. It was due for cambelts so out it came, found that the area around the water pump pulley was broken and was sitting on top of the pulley causing the noise. Belts and tensioners were fine, plastic front cover and camcaps are rubbish!!

Regards,
Phil.
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You would think that the timing belt cover on a $100,000+ Ferrari would last the lifetime of the car. That's just seriously ridiculous and inexcusable!! To take an aluminum cover and replace it with a cheap plastic cover - hell, Ferrari...why not make it out of cardboard?

There was a lengthy thread a while back about the shoes for the timing belt. I don't believe we ever came to a conclusion about the proper way to set these up. There is nothing in the manual. But obviously the shoe should NOT be set up to cause wear on the outside of the belt.

 

I was wondering the same thing...How much air gap should be placed between the belt and the guide??

And where does one find an aftermarket or upgraded timing belt cover???

 

Unless you find a metal one, then that`s it, I`m thinking about making a copy in a Carbon and kevlar mix for mine.

Regards,
Phil.

 

i am thinking of buying this one. it is selling for $1850 plus free shipping.
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I mean no offense, so please do not take this personal, its just an observation. I am looking at the pics of your engine out of your car. I dont know what you have for records or service history, but it appears to be very dirty and oily, and shows signs of minor corrosion and rust. If the car had a engine out service within even the last 10 years and had been cleaned up as it would be expected, I just couldnt believe the motor would look that bad in that short of time. It does not appear to ever have been out before, and if not, you may in fact be a very very lucky man. That oil around the bottom would appear to be a crank seal, and was probably throwing some oil mist onto your belt, so if one thing wouldnt have gotten you, something else would have. More pics and perhaps some input from some other of the guys here as to what these motors generally look like between regular services might be helpful.

 

Definately switch to antifreeze with distilled water, and maybe some Royal Purple "Purple Ice" treatment......

You Lucky Dog!

As much as the 308 guys fret about belts that 348 single system would have me lying awake nights! Even with the car turned off!

 

Yeah, the 308 only wrecks half the motor when a belt strips. But on the other hand, the 348 has some real HP thats difficult to get very easy out of a 308. HP isnt cheap nor easy. Yes, very lucky to have caught this before it popped.

 

Another sweet upgrade for the earlier cars! Whatever the updates for the newer 348's are I think they are pretty much offset with the other changes (seat belts, seat design, cam belt covers)
BT

 

We had a pretty big discussion about this very subject one year ago. http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=89204
The conclusion was that, at least a 1mm gap between the belt and the guide should be good.

 

The early 348's had some advantages and some disadvantages compared to the later 348's.

Pros:
dual clutch
metal cambelt covers
seat belts
cheaper bearings/hub replacements for the wheels

Cons:
timing/oil system bearing weakness
tranny bearing weakness
Motronic 2.5/single TPS
exhaust/dual mufflers
weaker wheel hub design
insufficient wheel offset/handling

 

I swear I read the most interesting article in SCM yesterday. The article said the timing belt issue was hogwash. No kidding. The three year rule is invented to rob you of money. Yes, I personally know people who have come out on the short end of things....but..