Disaster averted, but I still have a problem!

Jim did you tighten up the bolt?Where is the oil leak coming from?

 

Just because the nut is loose doesn't mean the bearings have gone bad. They are a self locking nut but the QA on them is not very good so that feature does not always work. I install them with Locktite. If you are not set on tearing it down anyway you might just tighten the nut with some Locktite on it, feel the bearings and continue to use it until you feel like ripping it apart.

Good catch by the way.

 

Jim I hate to break this to you, but I had this exact problem and the fix is a PITA!!

Because the nut is loose you will have had the drive pulley knocking on the woodruff key in the shaft, At best the woodruff key is damaged...... usually however you get wear occurring on the drive shaft and the pulley ........ resulting in everything going out of tolerance. Checking the tolerances is almost impossible on the shaft given the location.

You wont feel the play in the gear until you remove the timing belt as the pulley and shaft is under too much tension, it will also mask any movement in the bearings. You have to take the belt off when everything is at TDC.

I tried to fix mine twice with various loctite materials for filling in wear in cylindrical mated devices, but the torque was such that it never stayed true. eventually I had to pull the engine to replace the shaft and pulley. It is possible to replace in situe if you are a contortionist and have all the right gear.

I hope you have picked this one up quickly enough not to have wear..... make sure you take the belt and pulley off and inspect the woordruff and shaft for damage before tightening the nut (with loctite). I would replace the belt as it will have been shocked each time the engine turns over if you find any play.

I now know of 6 people that have had this happen to them.

 

Good catch. Being the Ferraristi perfectionist that you are, pull it Jim. Here is your chance to do a valve job too. Rifledriver is right, that nut is supposed to be self locking and I installed mine with loctite.

 

YIKES.....just yikes.

Never a dull moment with a 34 year old car, eh?

Glad you found it.

 

My sentiment is the same, but I would not have the additional $460K required for a trade up.

 

Mcmaster for the woodruff keys ... I bought a box .. you can have a few if you want along with the socket if no one's closer ... please be careful with the socket if you borrow mine ... it's easty to damage.

Cheers,

Sean

 

Good catch Jim, and good to hear that all seems to be okay.

And funny you mentioned the F40. For me too, this would be the only car I'd consider to trade the GT4 for. My girlfriend has bought herself a 328. While I really like that car, driving it only makes me love my GT4 more and more.

Anyway, good luck fixing your engine...

 

I'd replace the seal, at a minimum.

 

I would buy a new woodruff key and a new nut. I would also use blue locktite on the threads. While you are in there replace the seal behind the bearing and the outer drive bearing.

 

I'd still replace that seal. But, I'm just unlucky that way.

 

Jim, that crank seal looks ancient! No one I know would have put in bearings and not replaced the crank seal, even if it looked new. How sure are you that that work was accomplished?

I would proceed with caution. Its January and you wont be driving the car for several months yet. Now would be the time to solve problems.

 

Hey Jim,

FR104 here:
http://www.baumtools.com/pdf/FERRARI_CAT_2008.pdf

Looks like you found one to borrow, but my philosophy on this is buy the tool when you need it so you can have a growing tool collection!

My $.02: Fix it, drive it. Unless you plan on spending your entire life working on the car, I wouldn't dive into valves when they don't need it.

I'm not sure I buy into the theory that the oil came from the drive gear being loose. Oil gets past a seal somehow...

How hard is it to do the outer drive hearing and seal? I have never done that job. I might do them just in case they were damaged.

Birdman

 

Damn, always a good read your posts. I guess you caught it in time and now we all know what to look out for that and the valves and... the rest.

Lee

'77 GT4

 

This string is giving me the willys. About 4 years ago on a beautiful Feb. day the temps got up in the 60s. I decided to take my 86 328 out for a spin. Going along about 80 and I hear this loud bang and look in my rear view mirror and see a nut and washer bouncing behind me. I think, did I just run over that? Was the bang from these pieces being up in the wheel-well or was that from me? I slow down to turn around and go back and see if I can find the pieces and try to determine what they might be off of.

The pulley balancer is hard to see, plus it is now getting dark and the sun is disappearing as well as the warm tempatures. I start hearing some crazy noisy belt sounds.
Normally I would have parked it and waited for a tow truck, but we had tickets to Bill Cosby (my wife's idea not mine). So I limp it the 8 miles back home. (I couldn't find the parts bounding behind me). I can go about 3 miles before my temp starts spiking. I sit and let it cool down and get another few miles up the road. I get home and still can't see what is wrong. I reach up under the right rear wheel and there dangling in a spider web of belts is my harmonic balancer pulley. The nut had let loose. You would think the direction it spins it would be self tightening. Nope.

I had the car shipped to the dealer. Finding a new balancer was laughable. The groove inside the pulley was all messed up from when it came loose. A used balancer....$1800. That was 4 years ago and about 5000 miles. No problems since. But every spring I take off the back tire and make sure that friggin pulley nut is still tight. They used loctite on the replacement.

I think I was DAMN lucky (so to speak) driving it for 8 or so miles without the balancer. I must have a pretty good balanced driveshaft. That little episode about put me down for the count with owning Ferraris. But I got over it.

Brad

 

Yup, you can never have too many tools. I rarely have to borrow tools, but if I find that I need to borrow the same tool twice, I buy it instead. I have a friend that uses me as his own private tool crib. I could, of course, stop it, but it amuses me more than anything else.