Yeah. I know. But the point is, if you fix it with the right parts on the 355 or if you fix it on the 430 with the right parts, either way, it's fixed.
Yes he does have a point ..that both 355 and 430 both have header problems. But people only seem to talk about the 355
So if you own a 430 and you follow that TSB your troubles are over and it is smooth sailing from here on out? Where is the TSB on the 355 issue? As Luke said, if it's an issue for your car, fix it and move on. I replaced my headers this summer and the ones I took off after 20k miles did not look like your basket of garbage. Would you like me to post a picture of my old headers so that you can see what a real owners experience looks like if you react to the symptoms (ticking noise) immediately like I did?? That basket of garbage is just more of your incessant need for whatever reason to fear monget FBB. We all get it. You can't stand 355s and pound the table at any opportunity to let the world know that you are an ace mechanic who had owned and operated multiple Ferraris over many years and if you had it your way all 355s would be scrapped. I'll go up into my attic and get my old headers down and get some pictures of what my header failure looked like for you.
Exactly. Which is why I said in a previous thread that I just might do the guides at my next major because they are right there to do.
I read the posts alot......and I would assume that anyone that is newly coming in to the market reads these as well. What still bothers me is that the cause is not nailed down in Black and White. If you put yourself in the buyers shoes, then the idea is that you must budget for a very expensive repair. (And you probably ask yourself "why is this guy selling?...it must need a 20K service) This drives the prices down. BUT...it is an amazing car. Anyone here want to marry a supermodel that has been divorced 8 times and will not sign a prenup?
I think it's pretty well nailed down. Never heard of anyone doing guides twice, sticky parts twice, headers twice. I also wonder just what a leak down on your daily driver would show? Do you really think that because a leak down is greater than 10% you engine is about to fall apart? It's part of the Ferrari mentality that if it isn't perfect it needs to be fixed. Any other car and people would not think of doing engine work with 15%-20%. Quote from Mobil's web site:
+1 on the leak down. On any engine this old you have to expect some leakage past older rings and seats. It does NOT mean the engine is about to grenade. I do hate the constant call to "walk away" if an engine is showing a leak down past 8 to 10% when this is not always the case.
Mine had the valve guides replaced by the PO maybe5 years ago at a very reputable West coast shop. I have two cylinders with low compression. I'll know for sure when she has her major this year, But I think she's a candidate.
There was mixed feedback on racing boots, the last reply in this thread mentioned that they were inflexible and easily ripped: www.ferrarichat.com/forum/technical-q/80955-need-advice-cv-boot-replacement-355-a-2.html I ended up using stock Ferrari CV boot for replacement.
i think it's funny that there really isn't any *****ing on here from us 348 guys, we drive em , love em and do normal maintenance. Perhaps some of the discontent with the 355 should be directed at **** Luca for "fixing" the 348 Seems like the 348 is a better option for care free miles. Today alongside my 348 is an owners 355 here for work. I'm looking at them side by side and , for me , i'm just not feeling the 355. The 348 seems happy to just be a classic , timeless ferrari , the 360 is the modern generation , and the 355 seems to be weirdly in-between. Not meaning to piss 355 owners off, just my two cents , but if you're a potential buyer , consider a 348 as easier to live with.
I bought a 99 355 F1 Spider from a Hyundi dealership in Phoenix in Feb 2013. There were no service records save the service done at a local Ferrari shop in Phoenix the prior year. It was $9000 job with engine out belt service, fluids/filters, replacement of some AC components, etc. This was not a trade in but the car of the dealer's wife. My trip to inspect before the deal fell through and it arrived by truck unseen by me. The biggest issue was the top not working properly which the salesman swore worked fine. All else was fine including excellent bodywork and paint. The top was easily fixed by our Sphere Motorsports here in Houston. Sphere also inspected the car. I installed Fab Speed cats at their recommendation as well as new tires, new axle boots fluids/filter service, etc They said the headers were fine as well as the valve guides. I drive the car daily. Mark at Sphere urged me to drive the car harder including in sport mode which I do religiously and with enthusiasm. I am thrilled with this fine car. Obviously a bit lucky! I would ask any seller of a spider to send a video of the top functioning along with all the records. The car came with tools, etc and 2 black one red fob/keys. There were no manuals. The purchase price was $52,000 for anyone interested I was not much of a FChat devotee until I began looking at some technical advice for things I didn't know or understand (a lot). IF I had spent time on this forum I would NOT have purchased this car. I was very fond of my 05 Jag XKR convert. I don't understand why posters who don't have a 355 (or any Ferrari) would spend their time on this forum with such negative comments about this car??? I'd like to see comments about 355 issues as more technical questions or advice and not so much the blanket statements about the cars worth. For what it's worth! Cheers
i did the same thing, except i bought mine by internet auction. I must have balls , no ppi , looked at 8 pictures and bought it. no fuss. I have no background on the car. when the car arrived it was mint ( except for the described minor damage, i bought it wrecked from copart). i can tell by looking that its had a major, but again , i knew nothing about the car. it's dependable , has no issues, and i put 3000 miles on it last summer and spent $150 for an oil change and $57.00 to ricambi for the hvac recirc door bushing. The 355 in the pic is in our shop for work, believe me , the owner of that car gives it zero love. it runs fine, does all the things its supposed to. " complain less and drive more " it's just a car, drive it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Same here. I bought mine with no service records. I immediately did a major service and replaced the primary cats. After I'd had it a year I replaced the F1 pump with a 360 pump. Other than I've just done an annual service and had most of the interior parts de-stickied. I've spent some money on it but noting crazy expensive.
Yes Michael I did Its a beauty but I'm only having an affair with it, the 355 is a keeper! Please keep us posted on this, my guides were also replaced by the PO back in 2002 and the car had about 35,000km on it at the time. It now has 50,000km on it and as I have posted before 2 cylinders are on the low side, one as low as something like 153, the other low one around 180, but the rest are 220 or 225. I am hopping its the lifters, they are a weak point on our heads. Please note only one bank (1-4) has the two lower compression, the other bank is perfect at 225 psi. So if its guides it would only be on one side. I read the last reply, they messed up the procedure so that explains the rip, I supported the wheel and axle carefully while I slipped the cv boot back on. It looks like they have made another longer performance CV boot though along side the one I used. Take a look at the revised product here for future ref: https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/bigpicture.asp?RecID=291 The 348 is a wonderful car I owned one. I would love to have a 348 Spider along with my 355.
I run a construction business in canada we have numerous e pickups that cost us thousands each year. Friday too an 08 gmc 2500 pickup into dealer to fix because ne of my employees said it went bang inside the cab and then both seatbelts would not latch. Airbag light was now on. 1900 bucks later they replaced the module both seatbelts because the srs system failed. Truck has 160000 km on it. If I would have bought this truck personally I would have been pissed off. Next time I will buy one with non fancy seatbelts. Point being we could have fixed ourselves for under 500. All dealers have standards and if you give them the go ahead they do their thing. My maint mngr now knows not to say just fix it until he does some follow up.
Bob Presenting a picture of another Fchaters fried 355 manifold tubes and the TSB right from Ferrari is not fear mongering. It is just clinical fact. Truth. Geohop, like myself, and others want to understand more. It is very obvious that the failure of the 430 manifolds is something different from the 355. The solutions will therefore be different even if the simplistic result are changed manifolds. TF308 is right, these problems are not black and white nor are the solutions. JohnK is mostly right we have solutions that work pretty good but time and technology will give us better ones assuming we take the time to figure out the answers to the problems instead of bury our heads in the sand. ClydeMs post is unfortunate. If major engine work is needed, that is a pretty telling story that, we dont have all the answers yet. The best way to change the reputation of the 355 is not to brand those like me fear monger or promotor of gloom and doom or shut down the professionals willing to post, picking on their spelling. The best way to help the 355 is to fully understand the problems, use technology to solve its problems and help people understand what is special about the 355. If people think the 355 is the best looking modern Ferrari ever, drives awesome, and makes sounds like no other V-8 they still dont understand what the 355 is. Luca branded the 348 the worst Ferrari ever made. It was. We figured out the problems, did not hid from them or claimed they did not exist. We fixed them and now a 348 is as reliable as a 328 the most reliable Ferrari ever built.
That's all well and good, but I don't see what you contribute other than negative comments about the 355. It's too bad really, as you are clearly very mechanically inclined, and have a lot to offer on every other model. You apparently have an agenda here, since you seem to post something negative in every single 355 thread. Go search your post history if you don't believe me. And yes, the 348 is awesome. I absolutely love the GTB version and will likely buy one some day. But, despite all of "your hard work", it's still not perfect. Just ask Daniel about his $40k services on his 348. And, I think he knows a thing or two about parts and servicing 348s and most all other Ferrari's. Come clean Fat Billy. What's your axe to grind? It's good to share where we all are coming from.
