355 High milage worries?

Interesting to know if there are any high milage 355:s still running without a total engine rebuilt, just ordinary maintenance done regularly. My F355 -97 has now 96K KM (61K mi) on the clock and still running fine. I bought the car to be used not a garage queen, but should I be worried of a total engine break down soon or not? What´s your experience - high milage 355 drivers?

 

There was a guy here in Florida with 150k on his. He never did any maintenance other than the belts every 5 years (yes not 3..) and oil changes/spark. It was a 97 so probably did not have the valve issues either like 96 and pre.

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Good to read. The more I read like this the less worried I'll be.

 

I don't think the bottom end of these motors are the problem as much as potential top end issues.

They're race motors built for the street so all the components will be almost over-engineered for the way most of us drive them.

Mine had around 110,000km when I sold it and it ran like a champ. Had great compression across the board still also.

 

I thought topics like this were put to bed years ago. It used to be a reoccurring subject over a decade ago.
355s can take very high mileage.

 

Plenty of threads too. It's not the mileage it's the car. Plenty of low mileage train wreck's out there.

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You should not be worried. Congrats on your milestone. Enjoy the car and take care of it along the way. Get back to us once you cross 100k miles.

Robb

 

I do my majors every 5 years. I have 42k miles on mine. I drive every weekend barring snow or ice [I lived in CO for 23 years ]. Mine is a '98 F1.

 

I know of a 355F1 with close to 100K miles and it really is a bad sample of a 355. It needed multiple towings, lots of things don't work well especially the F1, the cosmetics are worn out, the spider roof no longer functions, and the heat in the engine bay has killed a tons of components in and around the engine.

That is the only high mileage 355 I know around here and that is very troublesome.

 

One aspect I have yet to hear on the 355/360 engine is regarding the titanium connecting rods.

At least on the Ducati side (revs up to ~11k), the titanium connecting rods are known to fail (rods ends expand) when the engine spends majority of its life at those higher rpms (track events).

Maintenance and moderation is key to prolong life.

 

Not sure comparing cars to bikes is valid!?!?!

Besides, loads of examples of high mileage Ferraris about; and 60k miles is not high mileage from a technical perspective. One of our group members has a 360 with over 160k miles on it, no engine rebuild yet and still going strong!

Next thread....please!

 

Was simply stating from a technical point of view, Ducati and Ferrari both used Ti conrods in the 90s and in the future. All depends on how the engine has run + maintenance over the course of its life. Majority of Ferrari engines do not spend their life at higher rpms.

Even at 160k miles, one would suspect the performance is down compared to a fresh rebuild or lower mileage vehicle. Everything wears out eventually, from piston rings, to journal/conrod bearings.

 

The Engine internals on these cars are built very well. Aside from the valve guide issue the rotating assembly is solid and I wouldn't worry 1 bit about high mileage. The cylinders on my 40k mile one have the best leak down I have ever seen. The Nikasil cylinder coating and the build quality make for a damn good motor with pretty low wear. All this assuming that any drivability issues are not ignored and left to snowball. I don't think this car need white glove babying treatment and majors every few years BUT one must be vigilant in noticing any potential problems and addressing them in a timely manner. That is just my opinion.

 

Still cant work out why the old valve guide story keeps coming up? It wasn't that big a problem, some had issues some didn't A lot of the ones I've heard about were pulled because of LD test and then found to have carbon build up on the valves and seats was the issue, guides were fine. machine shops love LD tests because its like a speed camera. It makes $$$$$$$ and then add Ferrari badge to the issue then its even more $$$$$$$