Latest victim of the 348 gearbox curse

Dude, I own a drift park. I drift my 348.

If burnouts can kill 'em, I'll let you know (already posted my blown engine from a year ago).

Perhaps you are thinking that hard launches are the same as burnouts...that's a common misconception.

But a good burnout slips the clutch a bit more than does a hard launch, and that means far less instantaneous stress on the internals (which are steel...generally considered to be stronger than the rubber on your tires).

I'll shoot some video of me drifting my 348 in the next week or two.

These cars are tougher than most of their owners.

 

Dude ...dont know what a drift park is . You may be drifting over to the parts store soon . You must have the only trans that is good ,cause evryone elses is scrap , there is NO MISCONCEPTION , thanks for the lesson on the strength of rubber & steel , although unnecessary . My point is that burnouts, are a bad thing to do , (although fun )especially for a transmission designed so poorly & assembled as it is .The way the torque is multiplied from the engine to the rear wheels is , being kind to the geniuses at Ferrari , stupid . It has 1 too many shafts, 3 too many shift rods , & 200 useless extra parts . Unfortunately , its also not reasonable to repair . A new one is 13k last I checked . A repair can be more easily . Is it really worth it ? Whatever , have fun its a fun car .
Make it a good video . Ive only seen one nut with a 355 spinning in circles on testshoot.com .

 

You've got to shop around!

A new 348 gearbox is $5,000 here: http://www.eurospares.co.uk/partsListing.asp?M=1&Mo=693&A=1&B=41179&S=&ID4=1687304

A new Ferrari 430 F1 Tranny is $13,000 here: http://www.usedferraris.net/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=2636


A used 355 6 speed gearbox is $6,000: http://www.usedferraris.net/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=28_73&products_id=673

 

Not sure why burnouts damage a tranny but having spent $15,000 replacing a tranny on my M5 that my former assitant destroyed I can say they definately do. Good luck with your repair and go fast but don't abuse these cars- they bite back!

 

Nice progress mate!!
Ive said it before and ill say it again.........the 348 Brotherhood ROCKS!

 

Bah..............smoke it up!!
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You're a wildman !!!!!!!!
Looking Good !
I'd be too afraid of a loud noise & then towing it home .

Hey , arent you on the wrong side of the road ?(chuckle)

 

The bigger fear should be of wasting away in a life of boredom!

 

I flippin KNEW IT!!!

That makes like 6 gearboxes that I know of that have had this EXACT same failure. We have got to figure out why it is this same bearing that keeps failing. Either that or figure out a better bearing to put in there.

That was VERY smart of you Reiner. You saved yourself some BIG dollars. Don't forget to check the gap between the synchros.

Yup.

Just get the number off of the side of the bearing race, take it to the shop in Torrance, and order a new one. Or you can order it from Daniel.

Glad I could help.

 

Please show me EXACTLY where I said "burnouts are a 'great idea' ".

 

LOL!

 

Cheers man.
That was a 'one and only' smoke run for ol pappy. Tires were bald, road surface was not too rough, thats the only reason I did it and I had to get a pic of it, as I dont really want to do it again. 3500rpm and pop the clutch.
If I blew up the box, then sh*t happens I guess.

+2!!

Would it pay to replace that bearing with a C3 bearing Ernie? I have a feeling that the bearing is already a C3 in the gearbox, but I could be wrong? SKF make good bearings, so I wonder what is really causing this failure? When I do my major next year, I think I will replace that bearing the same time to avoid any future hassle with hte bloody thing.

I musta been feeling rich that day.

 

Reiner noticed shrapnel in his old tranny fluid at least two changes prior to the dreaded "whining" sound hitting.

Would be interesting to know if 348 Brothers with the other gearbox failures saw similar...

 

Yeah, wonder if they all had the same sort of shrapnel leading up to this?

 

Count me in. I have my transaxle out and had a slight whine that started after spanking a Testarossa at the drag strip (a Ferrari event no less).

I got home and drained the fluid, found some minnor bits / changed the fluids. Drove it 15 miles and pulled the fluid again. More bits. Parked it till now.

My bits look like bearing material so I am assuming that I will be #7.

By the way, Mondial T's do great burnouts too.
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My box did not have a catastrophic failure, nor was it oil pump related. Rather, it was the clutch shaft beating itself to a pulp. I do believe a prior owner was extremely hard on my car. I also believe folks who do burn-outs in a 348 (whether they have new shafts or not, and whether they have kryptonite clutches or not) are courting a very expensive repair bill.


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Do you think it was because of a loose ring nut?

At different times, I have had to rebuild both of my rear axles. I each case it was due to a loose ring nut. The first time the axle connecting flange was what took the hit, and the second time, the hub shaft looked like your clutch shaft. The teeth on it and the connecting flange were chewed up REALLY bad.

But I think Reiner is on to something.

 

That makes sense. Since you mentioned it, I think that the bevel gear is actually getting pushed off of the main shaft. It has got to be happening because of, as you said, the torque being put on it by the pinion shaft. When you pull out the main shaft you have to bang it out, to side of the gear box, all while holding the bevel gear in place. So what I'm guessing is that, over time all that pressure is sort of forcing the bevel gear off of the shaft, and the only thing holding it in place is the bearing, on the oil pump side, and the ring nut. Eventually the bearing cage or race gives in and fails.

When you go to get the bearing, ask them if there is a bearing, that will work in our application, which can withstand higher degrees of lateral pressure.

While you have it apart, have a look and see if there is any space between the side of the bevel gear, towards the middle of the gearbox, and the small lip on the main shaft that the bevel gears gets pressed against.

 

Somebody here should come up with less a less expensive solution. I have never seen a new or rebuilt gear box for 5K, that is cheap. Are you sure about that, and it is not pounds? This may sound stupid, but it would be great if someone would re-engineer these boxes, hell, even a conversion.

 

$5k is cheap. Click on the link: http://www.eurospares.co.uk/partsListing.asp?M=1&Mo=693&A=1&B=41179&S=&ID4=1687304

 

It's the bearing. I just looked at the exploded parts diagram and checked out the difference between the bearings in a 355 gearbox, and the bearings in a 348. The bearings in the 355 gear box are definitely bigger, more robust looking. I'll bet that we can retro fit the 355 bearings to the 348. Someone is gonna have to mic the 355 bearings, and then mic the 348 bearing and compare them. It won't surprise me if they measure the same. It seems as though the 355 outer bearings are the large needle type, the same that are used in the center of the gear box to support the inner part of the shaft. The outer 348 bearings are ball bearings. However this is only looking at the parts diagram, I don't have the actual bearings in front of me to see.

Say Daniel-son, how about it bro? Could you have a look at the bearings?

 

We need to get a tapered roller bearing in there I reckon. They are best for radial and axial loads. Wouldnt be hard to measure one up to suit.

 

Amen to that !