Another Dumb Question

simple - cuz they make more money that way. really how many 355 owners drive their cars more than 5 or 6k miles a year? at 15k a year yes id do the belts every 3 years. at 5k miles a year ur fine with 5 to 7.

 

How many of your other cars redline at 8500 RPM

I've said this many times - it's risk management. A 355 is a street race car. I subscribe to 5 years

 

if that question is for me most of them

 

Nope - I know what you own, it was for the OP

 

haha OK.
this has been discussed many times across a few of the boards. I think it's safe to say if u r daily driving these cars then follow the books and if ur driving them a few k miles a year just be practical.

 

ahhh, never mind.

 

Oh Roth, you can do better by showing a picture of your current main squeeze. The timing belt thing has been debated to death.

 

Hey man, E30 M3 has timing chains, dual rows.
I regularly venture into the 8000 RPM range when I drive the F355.
The timing belts don't break much but the tensioners bearings do let go and then the timing belts break.
And the mole hills you speak of? I have seen them all from bad headers, to bad valve guides, to bad cam timing, to .... They are not mole hills, they are real and they do happen.

I won't tell you what to do with your car. You have to make up your own mind. I know what to do with my cars.

 

Roth, I redline my car multiple times every drive

I may not clock a lot of miles each year but when I take my car out, it's driven hard. That's what Enzo wanted

 

The fact that they are not driven regularly (or far) is precisely why the belts need changing every 5 years.

 

I never go more than 2 weeks without driving mine, granted this time of year I may only put 20-30 miles on it at a time. I try to keep it in the 7-10 day range, in Oregon sometimes you just have to warm it up for 15 minutes. Take in the sound and the smells ......Ahhhhh.
Put 30 miles on it last week, I think I see one clear day this week
Keeping fingers crossed, I also know my rev limiter works......3-4 times a year it lets me know it is there.
3-4 K miles a year, plan on upping that next year. So probably at the 5 year mark.

 

I adhere to the schedule on my regular car and 2nd classic. Alfa Romeo now suggest every 3 years on the 1997 model we have.
My diesel (I know, I know) Alfa is every 5.

 

Surely not ...........

 

On the 355 I was advised by The Ferrari Centre in the UK that in their experience, there are two issues with 355's when it came to driving them and cambelt servicing:

1) Drive them a lot and the tensioners can wear, risking damage to the cambelts/engine.

2) Drive them very little and the tensioners can seize, risking damage to the cambelts/engine.

Damned if you do - Damned if you don't!

I was told that in that in the case of the 355, the best practice is first, upgrade to Hill Engineering tensioners, and then, to stick to the factory cambelt service intervals regardless.


Funnily enough though, on the 348 I bought from them, they said the tensioners are far less trouble-some, and that even though the 348 uses a single cambelt to the 355's dual belt arrangement, with uprated tensioners and an uprated water pump, they'd have no qualms about having longer intervals between cambelt services than the factory recommend (Up to twice the recommended interval should be okay I was told. I have decided to stick with the factory recommended interval though for My personal peace of mind - Gambling on f:censored:king up a Ferrari engine plays no part in life's dream of owning a Ferrari!)

 

the years leading up to purchase of my car.. I must have lost a good amount of sleep, over the mindless debate of how I would deal with the major service if/when I owned a 355 etc..

the car I bought.. had its last major service 6 years prior, bought it late sept 2014.. drove it until storage. then I drove it for the entire 2015 season.. probably put on a good 4k miles.. with good/respectable spirited driving.. even knowing major hasn't been done yet..

then had quite extensive major done winter 2015/2016.. so that would be approx 7years.

my tech said..everything looked in relatively good shape..etc.. no signs of wear or impending failure.

but as mentioned above.. I think the bigger risk.. is not as much the belts.. but more the bearings and pulleys.. seizing.

no question.. every 3 years forget it.. for me i'll probably stick to a 6-7year interval again..

that said.. attempting to go 10years.. is just an unnecessary risk..

the 355 needs to be driven regularly and stretched to red line.. pulls to redline in 1st, 2nd I do almost on any drive and even 3rd gear red line where opportunity is available..

car seems to like it.. and has been good to me.

to any future reader or potential buyer coming along this thread.. theres just simply no way around it.. that engine will have to come out every 5, 6, 7 year range.. no matter how hard or little its driven..

 

I had a 73 pinto back in 83. As I recall the car had 50K on it, and I had the belt done during a service. It was sliced almost all the way through.

This year my wife's 2005 MBCLK with 100K on the clock ate a belt (Serpentine, not timing). I replaced it & idler pulleys. During the test drive, it almost shredded off. Probably an old belt from the shelf. I bought another local & she's been doing fine for 10K miles

I have my old belts from the 308 & 355. they look fine. the 308's I *think* was original with 30K on it. But it's not worth a $20K rebuild bill.

 

I go with 5 years. I believe the belts themselves are good for longer, but there are quite a few other things that can only be addressed easily with the engine out. My mech has a set charge for the service that is not a "bare bones" service, it addresses other common issues. I figured that if I got out with a bill of 1.5 times that charge, I would be happy. I missed my estimate by $35.

You didn't ask a question about buying a car with a fresh, engine out service, but I think that car is highly suspect. Is a person planning on selling going to do all, or even most of, those "extra" things? (FWIW, I was very happy buying a car that only had two years to go before needing that 5 year engine out service.)

 

a car for sale that has had a recent engine out.. directly affects the price.. similarly a car that needs one affects the price.

so someone looking to sell.. may very well.. get the engine out done, to command a higher price.. and potential get back all if not more value when selling..

as long as you can get records showing what was done.. I would not be suspicious of a car for sale with a recent major..

basically thats what the majority of people are looking for when shopping a 355..

 

The 355 has timing belts? Huh.. Who knew?

 

Eff that. We already have a nut along that line, it's Ernie going to 10 years and he is not doing that again. I am changing my at 5, period, on the dot, no longer. In fact the 348 Challenge and both 355s got their engine out done in the last 9 months so you have to wait for another 5 years to see my personal F355 belts.

 

No, not possible.