Maintaining A 348

If you're handy, they say a 348 is a breeze to work on. I'm not, so I couldn't tell you first hand. 348s had various "issues", but 99% of the 348s on the street today have long since had those inherent "issues" sorted.

The most important thing with the 348 is the 30K service, which is actually done much more often than ever 30K miles - more like every 3-5-7-10 years depending on who you ask.

My 348 has been as reliable as my Lexus RX300 - never had a single problem.

Find you a good 348, and it will be the most fun car you ever owned. A bonus is it will likely be the cheapest car you ever own. The values are rock solid - the cars are bringing at, or slightly above, what they were 5 years ago. My first 348 I drove for 2 years and made a $1K profit on it. Contrast that to the "superior" 355, the value of which has plummeted $20-30K in the last 5 years. Ouch. The 348 is pretty cheap entertainment.

 

You can learn a lot about the 348 just by browsing the threads in this forum. Spend a little quality time and you can educate yourself in short order. For any specific topics, use the excellent search function.

Also don't forget to read everything here: http://www.club348.com/

- Eric

 

It's easier for me to work on my Ferrari 348 than on my 1979 Jeep CJ (which has power steering!).

You can see and remove/change the 348's clutch from the rear...no engine or tranny dropping required.


348's don't have airbags...don't have power steering...don't have power seats...don't have power tops...don't have electronic shocks...don't have F1 transmissions.

The 348 is the last of the manual Ferraris, yet if you buy a 348 that has the Motronic 2.7 engine computers, you'll get built in self-diagnostic codes so that you know which part needs attention or changing.

 

Autocheck.com and carfax.com are your friends...more than half of all used Ferraris for sale at any given time have title or odometer issues.

In this Internet Age there's just no reason to get burned by the old frauds.

 

I am no no doubt, but I can tell you they are a blast to work on, I have done a few small projects, the satisfaction of "working" on a ferrari and driving it when you are finished is great

 

I just bought my 348 one week ago - its still sitting at the Mercedes dealership in Chicago waiting to be shipped. I only have minimal mechanical skills but with the internet (this and other 348 specific sites) I am not worried about working on this car. I think the biggest thing is knowing when and what you dont know. I hope this is the case anyway. My car has 27000 miles on it and I'm going to jump right in to the 30k major as soon as it gets here. I can't wait!

 

The 348 is a total do-it-yourself car. I have done just about everything you can think of on my 348. Engine out major, rebuilding the rear axle hubs, gearbox rebuild (with the help of my fellow Stooges), shifter assembly rebuild, alternator rebuild, etcetera, with the latest thing being the removal of the gas tank and fuel pumps. Oh yeah, and all of it has been WITHOUT the use of a shop lift. If you are handy with a wrench, the 348 won't be a problem to work on.

 

Ernie - I think I read your gearbox thread with Fatbilly 3 times. That was incredible! The gb worries me most about my new purchase. At some point I would love to try cracking the gb to do a preventative maintenance inspection. Do you know of any other good gb threads that go indepth?

 

Don't want to get on too far of a tangent, but for peace of mind on the gearbox, I just removed the bottom inspection cover on mine, and also removed the 2 side covers. You will probably need to remove the 2 half shafts to get the side covers off, and to clean and inspect the oil strainer on the left side, and bearings on both sides. May also need to remove the starter on the right side to get covers off.

Based on posts by FatBillyBob and others, I checked to make sure the 4 ring gear nuts on the sides were tightened and staked down, since that seemed to be a major cause of failures on our gearboxes. Mine were great, and my gearbox also looked very clean, with little signs of major wear that I could see. I just cleaned the strainer and reassembled it, and now have peace of mind that I can drive it, and just listen for any increase or unusual noise from the gearbox. Until I hear anything, I figure I'm good to go other than regular lube changes! Here are a couple pics... hope this helps:
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Thanks for those tips - really great pics as well. Would you say that the gearbox is the biggest item to keep your eye on as a 348 owner? I think that it is really smart to do this inspection.

 

From what I have learned here on Fchat, yes, the gearbox is the biggest concern with them. My ex-neighbor has an '89 that had the gearbox blow up twice, although he did track his car some. He solved his problems by upgrading to some 355 components in his gearbox the last time it was rebuilt. However, I've also read here that if you do these inspections, then listen carefully for any unusual noises, change the lube regularly and inspect the gearbox then also for any signs of metal or unusual wear, these gearboxes should work fine. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

 

Okay, I dunno how many times I've asked this but, what 355 parts?????????????????? Did he use 355 bearings????? I also have read that but the poster has never responded as to what specific 355 parts.

Also,

Did you pull those side covers with the gear box still attached, or did you pull it?

 

Make sure you check out the gearbox thread - known weak spot on the 348.

Also, the timing belt service Husker mentioned above is especially critical with 348s -- unlike the Ferraris that came before and after it has a single timing belt, and if it fails things get expensive.

I think the early dual-plate clutches are extremely expensive to replace, so you might ask one of the resident 348 gurus here about the VIN of the car you're considering.

Finally, check out parts prices before you dive in. There are no bargain Ferraris, but you'd be astounded to know what something like a 348 targa latch or windscreen costs.

I'd also recommend you look at the 328, which is in the same price range. It's an old school car -- tight cockpit, no ABS till the last ones, no engine computers, etc. -- but in terms of maintenance it's regarded as one of the better Ferraris and would probably be easier on your wallet overall. My two lira...

 

I see him every month or two, Ernie. I will ask if he has a list of parts, but he may have had one of the local well-respected independents do the work for him, at least the second time it failed. So he may not really have a list of parts.... If I learn anything, I'll let you know.

Yes, I pulled the side covers without removing the gearbox. I did remove the halfshafts, though, since I wanted to at least inspect and regrease them anyway. It may be possible to at least slide the covers back enough to inspect the ringnuts if the halfshaft is removed at the gearbox, but not sure. Still should remove the left cover to clean the strainer anyway.

PS!!!!!!!! - one thing I noticed was that the front shaft on the left side has a groove machined and what seems like a high-carbon spacer ring outboard of the speed sensing wheel. See upper left corner of the 2nd pic I posted above. The ring can slide around a bit and could block installation of the cover if not centered. I think forcing the cover could fracture the ring. I finally put a dab of grease on it to keep it centered while installing the cover. See upper left corner of the 2nd pic I posted above.

 

Just went through this on mine! Ricambi lists dual disk clutch @$2300. GT Car Parts said they had a couple coming in (may have been spoken for) at substantially less than that, and then Ferrparts finally got back to me and even beat GTCP out of the water. This was for a new factory AP clutch. I think I just hit Ferrparts at the right time, but the price really was not that bad. Not sure what a single-disk is, but Daniel at Ricambi said they are getting extremely hard to find... worse than the dual-disk. Perhaps lots of folks retrofitted the single disk, and that has affected availability... not sure.

BTW - Ferrparts did say they have a single disk available. However... you would also have to buy the single disk flywheel which is, by itself, over $2k I understand, if you wanted to replace your dual disk with a single disk clutch. The dual disk flywheel will not work with a single disk. Overall, it made sense for me to keep the dual-disk, and I was actually not disappointed with what this cost me to do. Not that bad, compared with many 348 major parts prices.

 

Yeah, that ring has two hooks on the ends of it that join together. You need to make sure that they are hooked before you put the cover on. Once they are hooked the ring stays put pretty well. The way that I hooked them was squeezing the ring until the two ends to touched. Then I lifted one of the hooked ends up and over the other one, then locked it down in place.

 

I could move my ring up and down some... didn't realize it had hooks... do you think it sounds like mine was not connected properly? Hate to take the cover off, but I'll do it if I have to in order to be sure it's right.

Also ... I didn't mention that I had also removed the exhaust headers/cats. Wanted to get them out of the way, and it was very easy to remove the whole shebang by just removing the headers.

 

It's up to you.

If it was my car, and the engine was still out of the car then sure, remove the cover and have a look. It could be that the little hooks broke off. When I did the rebuild with billybob, they were busted off on mine so I ordered a new ring from Daniel.

 

You are better off at FerrParts. I don't even own an Fcar yet and I have already been told by several people thet GT Car Parts are total Bafoon's.....we're talking KeyStone Cops here. They would have most likely taken your order and jerked you around for 6 weeks. You're better off not buying from them.

 

I appreciate that you are trying to help. However, I live in the Phoenix area, and have dealt with Bill and Dave since 1978 when I purchased my first Ferrari - a 275GTB. They were always of immense help to me and always willing to try to take time to provide free advice and information in the interest of keeping these cars on the road. I even rec'd a few free used parts from them!! This was at a time when I was a poor Engineer just a few years out of college.

They still do business in an old-fashioned manner which can be cumbersome, and only began using email a couple years ago. They still don't have a web page. It can be frustrating sometimes in dealing with them, but I still would have no hesitation in doing business with them. In my view, they are down-to-earth, honest guys, trying to provide quality parts at a fair price. They will always try to make things right for the customer, in my experience.

Good luck with finding a Ferrari, but I'll have to consider your opinions on GTCP to be what they are; uninformed, and from someone with no direct experience in dealing with them.