348 timing belt duration

Just took by 94 Spider down for a major. The belt has 17K and looks good. The Hill Eng. tensioner bearings feel as good as the new ones I plan to put on.

Brewman

 

Good for you Brancati. But, we have ascertained many times now that it is NOT the belts that are the problems. It is the tensioner bearing, the water pump bearing, the cam shaft end plugs, the pulley fences, and everything else that break. It is these other things that should drive us to pull the engine out every five years to inspect and correct.

But, in the end, it is your car, your engine and you get to do what you want. Period.

 

There is no exact time for a belt life.

Ferrari certifies that 3-years/30,000km. Most on here use 5-years.

 

Several years ago. Maybe 5-6 a guy called and ordered my window relay kits. Told me he bought a 348 new ($125,000). I can't remember what year it was so I'll say maybe a 1990. Told me it has never been in for belt service. He might have told me the mileage but I can't remember. I'm guessing it would be very low. So maybe 16-18 years and no belt service yet (at that time). I should have kept his phone number. I've had my 1990 348 maybe 5 years now. I have only put on like 1000 miles in those 4 years. I'm not doing mine until I sell it only because no one will buy it unless it is done.

Rodney
1990 348 TS
18,800 miles

 

^^ When do you plan on selling?

 

There is a 1990 Testarossa here in Toronto with 30,000 Kms and original belts and bearings.

Personally I go to 7 yrs , I'm not brave enough to go 10 like you

 

Ditto!

 

I just changed my timing belt after 9.5 years. The belt still looked fine. The belts are really tough.

HOWEVER.......

The idler bearing was going bad as was the tensioner bearing, the drive pulley bearing was shot, the timing chain tentioner pad was worn out, the oil pump chain tensioner was worn out, the water pump impeller destroyed itself, and the cam timing was off half a notch.

So.....

While the belt can hang tough everything else can NOT.

Capito?

 

Another Ditto!

I wonder if other parts can be improved to withstand more years of service as the belts appear to be in good working order, which should be theoretically.

 

Brancati66, you didn't tell us what year your car was. The early cars had roller bearings behind the cam belt drive wheel that are prone to failure. Someone else with more knowledge than me can tell you when the changeover to ball bearings was done by Ferrari, but if you possibly have the roller bearings, you have a time bomb on your hands. Definitely check out the recent thread by Ernie that beautifully documents his "major" and you will see gruesome photos of his about-to-fail bearing that would have destroyed his engine. Of course then there are all the other bits as noted in his comments above that can also ruin your day, so be careful. It's really not THAT hard to do the procedure yourself, and the parts aren't THAT expensive to warrant pushing your luck too far.

 

Very well said

 

Also very well said

 

My car’s belt was changed 9 years ago and has since gone just 3K miles and I don’t plan on a belt change until next year at 10 years and by that time the belt will have a total of 5K miles on it and the car 17K miles. I drive the car moderately and have had a couple of 1990 300ZX twin turbos that I performed the belt services on myself they are single belt twin cam engines with about the same engine geometry as the 348 and after 10 years and 60K miles all looked just fine, tensioner, belt, pulleys, Etc. I realize they are different high performance machines but heck if the $100K car can't do 10 years and 5K miles between belt changes without failing it's of no use to me.

 

You must have missed Ernie's post above.


Kai

 

Kai should know all about waiting too long ...

 

LOL, exactly... it's not the belt you worry about...

Kai

 

I like that line "the belt still looks brand new, except for the broken part"

 

Kai dodges a bullet....as did Ernie...

 

I never cease to be amazed at how little many Ferrari owners drive their cars....5000 miles in 10 years? What's the point of owning it? Ok, back to the regularly scheduled programming...

 

Really, 5000 miles in 10yrs, that's just sad...

 

One cannot dispute this

 

Earl: "Ted I have a... FERRARI!"

Ted: "Wow I'm impressed. You must be doing pretty well for yourself!"

Earl: "Well Ted.. I am"

Ted: "Let's go for a drive in it!"

Earl: "No not today.. err umm.. there's a 3% chance of rain and something might break.. "

Sometimes the idea is better than the reality.