Cost of a Major on 355

It's $7-8K around these parts- I've heard people quote as low as under $4K and as high as $10K- Now of course once the engine's out you're gonna do everything else that makes sense- so I'd say $8-$10K on either of the Coasts (USA) Is a safe bet for your final bill.

 

Of course.

Now, how often do you need to do the major?

 

I wanna say its every 30K miles (or less).

 

+1, that's about right on

As for how often...factory recommends every 3 years for almost zero chance of belt failure (99.9%??). Every year beyond that your chance of a failure goes up...so it depends on your appetite for risk. Considering the cost of the major, I think many owners settle on 4-5 years for the engine out. I'm planning 4.

 

From a dealer, $7k to $8K sounds about right. But the bill could go to "sky's the limit", simply due to age and the car possibly needing a lot of stuff. Some examples are: water pump, cv boot axles, clutch, coolant hoses, leaky transaxle, and a ton of other little things...which add up quickly. Even a "perfect", "garage queen" owner should be prepared to spend $10k right off.

With the various problems I have seen posted after major services, I would not be shopping on price, but shopping on experience. What is it Rifledriver says in his signature line? I remember, "We fix 10% off services".

 

I was quoted $7k by the local dealer; $5.5k by the local indy

 

That is some pretty sage advice there...

$7-8K is Indy pricing in the major USA cities and vicinities- LA, NYC, Boston, Chicago, etc- Less- and sometimes substantially less in smaller communities - but isn't everything....

 

Our 30k service starts at $5,500. The important word is "start." Most people have the original quoted number locked in there head. Most of the time when the engine is out, other things are found and increase the cost. Some minor, others could be catastrophic. At this point, communication is very important. Both parties must keep detailed records of parts and labor hours for additional issues. This eliminates that gray area that leaves people ripped off.

30k service
40 hours of labor $4,000
30k service kit $1,500

Ricambi link that shows parts breakdown http://www.ricambiamerica.com/product_info.php?cPath=40&products_id=261105

 

I think in a lot of cases you 348 and 355 owners would save a lot of money by doing majors at six year intervals with just a belt change at the three year point. I know about pulling the engine, but a major is just not required that often unless you are indeed driving 15-30,000 miles in less than six years.

Yanking the engine, doing basic checks and replacing the cam and aux belts is not going to be nearly as expensive as breaking everything open for a major. The cams do not need to be degreed on every belt change.

Taz
Terry Phillips

 

Mine was $6500 for the belt service we ended up spending quite a bit more than that making it perfect.

 

+1. I basically told the dealer to quit calling me for approval, I trusted them, and was not about to have it done "half way".
Some examples on my car: oil/coolant intercooler needed new hoses, replace all motronic connector boots, new silicone coolant hoses, reseal transaxle, rebuild water pump, replace all bushings on shifter mechanism.

In discussions with other 355 owners, I have never heard of anyone getting out for less than $10k in recent memory. Most were around $11k to $13k. The cars are just at an age where a lot of stuff needs servicing or replacement, has nothing to do with use or abuse. I would assume the next major will be a bit less, since all these issues have now been addressed for a while.

 

Excellent point Daniel, as you are clear what parts are used in your service. I have found even FNA dealers are not all equal on what is included in a major service. The most key aspect, is whether the shop is going to perform a full cam timing check with degree wheels. Even FNA dealers do not always do this, and it is really mandatory to ensure it is correct, because the Motronic seem so sensitive. If the cam timing is not right, you will be forever plagued with "check engine" lights until it is corrected.

 

Proper degreeing of the cams is critical on these engines.
Lots of issues if they aren't done right.
Like I've stated before, once my engine dyno is set up, we'll see in black and white just how critical it is.
Now, if I could just get the time to set it up.....

 

You just had to toss that one in here!

 

There are two questions - how much is the major and how much will the entire service cost me. The cost of the major is pretty standard - $5k - $8k. The rest just depends on what they find inside.

Additional things to consider start with valve guides. IIRC, it adds about $1500 to the cost of a major, but if you have bronze guides, you might want to consider upgrading now. If you have original headers, you might want to address that issue also - add $2200 for QV to $7k? for Tubis.

Don't forget the cost of cleaning up the engine bay while you're there. Best time to install heat shields, update the electrical connectors, and so on.

PS - use Hill Engineering tensioners!

 

+1, I have:

Hill Engineering tensioner bearings
Hill engineering throw out bearing in the clutch
Ernie "alternator upgrade" parts
Ricambi America silicone coolant hoses
QV London exhaust manifolds
Scuderia Rampante Innovations Motronic connector and boot upgrade
Capristo exhaust bypass valve

 

The 355 seems to scare a lot of potential buyers with the cost of maintenance (valve guides being one of them). For the DIY owners, what is the cost of parts alone assuming the labor will be done at home? I saw one of the threads for fan replacements that were only $125 vs. $750 at F dealers and Ricambi. I'm thinking along those lines...

 

u guys should fly Pap over and get him to do the major on yr 355.
He will have it done in a day.
You work out how much to give him
lol

 

There are things I will do on my own but the belt service is NOT one of them. Way too many things that require the experience and proper equipment. Competizione did my car and it was transformed when they were done so it was worth every penny for them to do it right. Things like valve guides, headers, etc. should be one time fixes if done properly.

The best description was that a 355 is like owning an aircraft. Stay ahead of the maintenance, don't cut corners and you will be a very happy owner. Try to do it on the cheap, skip/extend services and it will bite you. I've had my 355 long enough for two belt services and it's been bullet proof but I am maniacal on the maintenance.

BTW, it's no garage queen, I've got over 34K of very happy miles on it.

 

I agree with Monte. Repairing a 355 and fixing it to the proper standards are very costly things. However, once these repairs are made (valve guides for 96-99 cars , headers, cv boots, alternator repairs, etc.) these maintained cars should become MUCH more valuable than non maintained cars as these issues once corrected should last a long time.

Admittedly, 355s have some issues, but once fixed, they should be worry free for a long long time. I don't doubt that well maintained 355 values will rise in the near future.

 

Looks like you've got it covered. One other thought - you might want to consider getting the waterpump rebuilt (isn't there a magician in Mississippi that does it for like $100?)

 

Yep, he did mine. I have his contact info if needed.

 

You are on the right track by using Hill Eng. Parts that extends by a little the time btw changes. The belt maker rates the belt life at linger than 3 yr or 30k miles .

I would not agree with Taz about belt at 3yrs major at 6yrs because if I drop the motor, I want everyrhing done and forgot about it for a few year.

I would only go to 5yrs if everything was Hill Eng .