Please help! 360 Engine failure after main dealer belt change.

Thanks Diablo,
Assuming the variator has broken I wonder where I stand if either the variators have not been replaced or have been replaced with these faulty units? The car has a full UK main dealer service history has been serviced on time and schedule throughout its life and has never been serviced or worked on outside of Ferrari.
If the variator has failed what kind of damage can I expect? I assume plenty!!!! Things like valves and pistons.....Even the cylinder head??? You should have seen the amout of oil on the floor.....It was like the exon valdez oil slick......

 

OP,

If the car was serviced within the ferrari dealer network stay within the dealer network. Don't touch the car anymore so nobody claims you helped create the problem. Don't touch it let the pros at it.

 

Thanks for your input and kind wishes,
The car has a full UK Ferrari service history and has always been serviced on time & schedule (inc belts, majors etc) within the UK Ferrari main agent network. The last service was performed only 100 miles ago in January 09. (car has 27k miles). The car was then shipped out to me in Perth Australia and arrived late Feb. I have not driven the car until this week as I had to get it complied and registered prior to being able to drive it on the road. Hence not much chance of the mechanic who did the work in UK now inspecting the car in Australia. We only have 1 Ferrari agent in all Western Australia. If I get them to inspect the car what chance will I have of any recourse from the UK Ferrari dealer?

 

If that major was done by a Ferrari dealer and they reused those poor quality tensioner bearings that might be indicative of additional short cuts.

Those is bad bearings man!

 

I would think if they inspect it, you have the best chance of recourse.

 

Ok, mate. I understand where you are coming from if you have already had an unpleasant experience with them.

And I have no doubt that the German Master Mechanic can fix this problem, trouble is...........if he touches the car, you may void ALL warranty for work performed to your by the Ferrari UK dealer. You dont want to go down that path mate, especially if he is not a Ferrari certified mechanic.

If you stick with the dealer this time, I am sure you will have a better chance of getting this issue fixed promptly and at no expense to you.

Thanks mate, that is handy info!

+1! Yep yep, let the dealer sort this one out!!

I reckon if you let Barbagallo inspect it first, that will be the best course of action mate!! You can work it out from there as you will soon find out if Ferrari UK is responsible and if they are going to pay for their mistake.

If they are not at fault, if you really want........pay Barbagallo for their time spent on your car and take the car the box of parts to your German mate and let him fix it.

 

Yes, well, it's the "remove the carpet" part that I was wondering about . I haven't checked my car, but last time I took a quick look, I didn't see any anything that obviously was attaching the carpet part to the car. Is there some trick to getting it out or is it just pinched in there or what? Let me know any tips and I'll go try it on my car. I wanted to get in there and check the current belt tension with the little meter I bought the other day actually.

and if that carpet section just "pops" out with a little tug, I'm going to feel real stupid tonight!

Ray

 

Not to worry Brian.
You wouldnt make it to the island in the first place.

All I suggested was in a round about way he put some heat on the shop. Not like you wouldnt huh m8?

 

Thanks mate,
I will take your advice and get the car transported to Barbagallo next week. I will keep you all informed of future progress.

I would like to thank everyone for their advice and appreciate the time taken in responding to assist me.

 

Guy's, guy's please calm down......I don't want people falling out over my thread.

I appreciate both your comments and opinions. The thing with opinions is that they are like arse holes.........Everyone has one!!!!

I can see the sense in Brians comments. Brian is always a voice of reason and his input is both respected and welcomed on this forum, but believe me Oengus's comment was exactly how I felt when it happened in the heat of the moment and I am sure thats all he was trying to convey in his post and was not meant literally.

Having spent over 3500 GBP on a major service, belts and rear crank oil seal leak at a respected Ferrari main dealer and only having covered just less that 100 miles since, I sure feel pissed off and would expect that this is something that should have been picked up by the dealer. The car has in fact never been out of the UK Ferrari main dealer network. I am especially concerned as one guy has told me the brg tensioners I have are rubbish and other kind Fchatters have highlighted the VD stamps on the head to indicate variator replacement (Which my car does not have) even though I checked the history before I bought it and it was given the all clear on all past recalls. Again I will wait to see that this is the case as perhaps they were done and the heads not stamped.

Off course I will attend to this in a pragmatic and theoretical way and have the car inspected before I start pointing the finger of blame. Obviously I feel hard done to in the circumstances and who wouldn't? But then again perhaps the dealer did everything correctly and the variators were replaced and everything was ok. Then it certainly wouldn't be fair to try and pin this on them. This could be an act of god!!! If this is the case I will have to face up to it, take it on the chin and try and pay for the repair costs out of my pocket. Might be back on the road in say.....2015!!!!!

I wonder what kidneys are worth these days? I only need one of them right???

 

Best of luck. Be sincere with the dealer, try to be as reasonable as possible (it certainly seems like you being so, thus far- which is a commendable amount better than I would have reacted) and you will find an amicable solution. I think the dealer who did your last service certainly holds at least some degree of liability in the repairs.

In my experience massive amounts of oil generally equates to alloy penetration at high force.

 

Good luck m8!
Think Pap's approach is your best bet too.
Must be a real kick in the guts after finally getting through all the compliance hassle etc.
Hope you can get through with a minimum of stress.

 

Wish you the best---Good luck...

 

Ferrari uk are liable. Get them to sort it or report the problem to Ferrari head office. This is shocking and if you were still in the UK they would have to sort it.

 

True dat bruddah

let us know how the shop responds.
Chas

 

I will be flying the Ferrari flag at half mast for you till this issue is resolved!

 

Why not fly 1/2 the flag at full mast!

 

Thanks for the good luck wishes, I think I will certainly need it!

I will keep everyone informed of how things go over the next couple of weeks.

 

here's that info I mentioned regarding the differences in the variators.

Ray
View attachment variator_campaign-short-version.pdf

 

I have the long version if anyone would like it e-mailed.

 

Thanks Ray,
That is very useful info. Don't suppose anyone can advise if this is a recall that was done worldwide? My car is a UK model 360. I hope this is a worldwide Ferrari recall and not just applicable to US. My car does not have the VD stamps on the cylinder head.

 

yeah, good luck with that one. Why would Ferrari u.k be responsible for a fault on an 8 year old car? MAYBE the dealer did something wrong, and MAYBE it was an unfortunate failure, or MAYBE nobody really knows because nobody here is inspecting the car. I do, however, feel bad for the OP, that's a horrible thing to have happen and I hope it works out o.k for him.

 

If something was missed (like the variator campaign) at the dealer, then I would think this would be on them. BUT, good luck trying to ever get them to cover this. Once the inspection is done by a reputable party and you know who is really at fault here (it may be no one, just a failure) then we'll see if they man up. If it is the dealer, I think you're looking at throwing money and time at lawyers to force them to do it.

I can’t think of any situation where it would Ferrari or Ferrari U.K. who would be liable for anything with the engine failing.