Cam Belt Failure

It is best to practice the 3-5 year rule of having them changed. Even though the belts rarely fail, the tensioners/bearings do wear and can fail. If you do a search, there are many threads about this subject.

 

Not that I want to change anything , and I understand that the cost of noncompliance and an ultimate belt failure is catastrophic but for the sake of discussion. Why does a BMW/Honda etc. that also revs to 8k have a 50kto 100k replacement schedule for timing belts?

 

Because BMW/Honda valves are $8.00/each?

 

Daniel at Ricambi for one......I'm sure if he sees this thread he'll post up his pictures again!
When you see those, you WILL realize it's money well spent.

 

... it ain't about the belt! (It's just the sad butt end of the joke)

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showpost.php?p=137739964&postcount=25

It's all the other s%^t that holds these cars together. That's the stuff you gotta inspect and deal with on a regular basis during the engine-out procedure.

 

The upside was we were able to produce this advert from my busted parts, and I got to have a great new relationship with Competizione & Sports Cars in Gaithersburg.
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Message recieved... especially about taking care of all the other S... while at it

 

Daniel, when did that happen? I have forgotten. I remember Bob Snow's failing, and of course my valve dropping best of all. But I don't remember yours for some reason. Where, when?

 

I think most of us have seen the pics of the 355 bent valves. But this does not answer the OPs question regarding the life span of that particular belt that snapped.
Posting pictures of this rare event is easy, but how old was the belts. My old Nissan 300zx TT snaped a belt only 5 months after a belt change, a rare thing yes but it happend all the same
Regarding the sugestion that its very rare the belts go but the tensioners. Yes thats true if you are still using original new ferrari crap bearings. But these days most of us use the Hills bearings, i have sinse Paul developed them so have many of you. So because of that a whole diferent question has to be asked, how long until the Hills bearings go? Being that the bearings are vastly better quality...

 

Oh my god....it made me laugh. What's wrong with me....that is not funny.

 

I'm not being funny but for pity sake how many more times is someone going to re-open this debate....jeeeeeeeez.

If you want to risk it, leave them alone, if you don't chose somewhere in the 3 to 5 year region, whatever you feel comfortable with. Do your homework, read the numerous threads on this, you wont see anything new, nobody is going to wave a magic wand at your engine when your belt is over 3yrs, there aren't even guarantees below that so get over it. If you don't like it buy something else or go do something really useful and come up with a solution, e.g. a gear kit that hundreds of 348 owners can get fitted the next time the lump is out (which won't be long).

 

What was perfect about them?

They still had all their teeth in place?

That hardly makes a perfect belt.

They need to remain elastic and pliable to remain resistant to FOD damage and safely be able to withstand the stresses they are under. That is not something you can tell by eye. I have worked on Ferraris since they started using belts and I have had to give bad news to far too many people who ended up having to sell their car because they could not afford the repair when a belt broke. Some of them made their decision based on disinformation of the type in your post.

 

Yep, I understand that my 348 implosion was very similar to Daniel's. Belt service was 9 months/1500 miles old when the rear bearing for the cam-belt main drive gear went. Not a very fun event to say the least.

My '83 308 QV went 7 years once because I spaced out when the previous belt service had been done. Won't let that happen again.

 

Regarding the Hill bearings or even OEM bearings, when I had my 30,000 belt service done at a Ferrari dealership here in California in 2007, it seems that it is at the mechanics discretion whether or not to replace the tensioners/bearings. If they do recommend replacement, it will most likely be with oem parts, not Hill engineering.

 

Most items are at his discretion unless you request otherwise. Ferrari dealers are required by their dealer contract to use ONLY genuine Ferrari OEM parts with a very few exceptions like batteries, tires etc.

Not all dealers follow the rule but it is a legally binding obligation.

 

......after seeing the valves Daniel posted I now realize why the engines are called V8..............ha ha ha......morbid humor that is.......I know

//B//

 

You pass the published Ferrari recommendations at your own peril.....

One of my parked Ferraris has belts over 15 years old by my calculation, thankfully a dead battery as well!!!!

As Rifledriver and others in the day to day 'real world' are telling you it's about the MATERIAL.........rubber has flex additives in it since it left the tree as sap..and these 'leave' over time....

The reason Goodyear says "five years" on tires.

Go look at the pics of that 'triple fatality' involving the 512TR and then say "I fell like saving a few bucks today"..........TOTALLY 'not worth it"...IMO.

 

But that is well written here, many many threads about the self same thing, its what the search function is there for. Sure don't want to dampen enthusiasm and we'd all love to hear new info relating to this.

I am amazed that some resourceful enterprising peeps on here haven't come up with a proven fix for a long term solution, now that I would want to read about.

 

I see were you are coming from with your question. I am not botherd if the subjects been done to death, so have 90% of most subjects posted on FC.
One day theres going to be an all new can of worms open up when some one posts up, when on a ferrari with a year old belt snaps with low milage on the belt (thats if it has not already). That might throw a spanner into the debate. Just as my 300 zx did on the 300zx forums when it did. And it was fitted by a Nissan dealer.

 

So, if the issue is dedrigation of the composition of the belts, how can you know how long the "new" belts you are installing in your car have been sitting on a shelf?