FYI: Take notice Ferrari owners of mostly garage queens. I just got an e-mail from Gates corp who make many timing belts which are used on many Ferraris. He says "Timing belts should be replaced every 4 years regardless of mileage". YMMV ps. no I don't sell timing belts or fix cars for a living.
If you wear your underpants back to front, then inside-out you can get upto 4 uses before changing to a new pair. (Don't ask me how I know, I just do OK). On this basis I think it should be quite safe to swap belts from bank to bank and swap the direction of travel and I should get 16 years out of a pair of cam belts. I'll save a fortune in the long-run. Sometimes I'm so damn smart it hurts....
Gates timing belts,most ferrari engines ive seen at motor shows etc have dayco belts fitted,can anyone whos used both types of belt say there is or isnt a difference in quality,ive have used both types on many different config's of engine,and changed due to mileage and time,of the old removed belts and can only do a visual check which counts for not much accuracy the dayco seems to stay quite supple and not to much cracking in both sides of the belt,gates during there service life seem to go hard and brittle, just wonder'd if anyone else has opinion's on what they've seen, cheers Dale.
Sounds a bit excessive. Most cars that use timing belts like these get them changed about every 60,000 miles or so. -Wayne
It would apply to regular vehicles with avg miles per year 15k x 4 = 60k miles on the belts, most Ferraris just sit so wear on the belts would not be the issue but dry rot or other storage issues would. Typical mfg propaganda also similar to Jiffy Lubes you must change your oil every 3000 miles IMO also.
Heresy Wayne! Heresy! For that comment, you'll be hazed endlessly by the "change-the-belt" freaks until you finally change your username.
Well go tell Gates they are full of crap. That is just what the Gates technical dept e-mailed me back. It is no big deal to me I do my own work. For the rest of you YMMV! People get really bummed out when they blow belts on interference design engines. My purpose was as friendly information. There is nothing in it for me. You must be the same guy who takes his dog for a walk, craps on my lawn, and think it is his right to crap on my lawn. You go ahead and put 5000miles on dried out 10 year old belts. I love to buy cars cheap from guys like you who blow them up.
Jeff, Timing belts last much longer on engines that are actually run. Garage queens belts get memory from sitting in the same position for too long. This is one of the reasons why a Toyota will happy get to 100000 km's on its timing belts and a Ferrari will not, ie. Toyota is used just about everday, Ferrari is used about 6 times a year. Rubber does not like sitting in the same spot ... just like your tyres. So to make this very clear. Wear on the belt teeth is never an issue, oil damage is and belts going brittle from NOT being moved and age. Pete's opinion. And I really wish people would stop thinking that a car engine sitting still is doing it some good ... banging head against the wall
I have seen this discussion several times on F-Chat. As we have a lot of engineers here, why don´t we bring it down to the facts? I made a first attempt, hopefully someone else can contribute better information: I would like to see the REAL life time curve, but I suppose it would look similar to this one (see below). So if you want to avoid almost any risk of a broken cam belt then 4 or 5 years probably is a reasonable period, and if you are willing to accept a little risk you will find that maybe 98% or so of all belts are still operative after 10 years. Your choice.
I think that if you run the car every weekend or so, then you should "exercise" the belt enough so that it will be comparable to a "regular" car. Opinion, again... Don't forget, you can inspect the belt from the engine compartment too... -Wayne
Well first off I live in a place where your dog can take a crap, and you don't have to pick it up. I like that. I believe that the belts given a little work out evey now and then like mine do ( started and run at least a couple of times a month ) will last about twice the recomended time. We all know that the greatest problem in this area is the tensioner bearings freezing up. I agree that a car just stuffed into the garage and left there for several years is a hand grenade with the pin pulled. I also think the amount of miles put on the belts is a serious factor, more serious than just the age.
The reason on some cars may be warranted.The 328 engine has 2 small cogs that the belt must go around-this puts a lot of pressure on the belt especially if the engine is not started frequently in that spot, that is why a preventative change is recommended.
For a more academic dissertation on the factors affecting cambelt life see http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/msceqi/EPSRC/downloads/timing_belt.pdf
Just my 2 cents.... I just replaced the belts in my F40 after 7 years and 17,000 miles. Upon inspection of the old belts, they looked fine......... Rick
Interesting! I flipped it all 4 ways and it still made little sense. For "agressive" highway driving, what was the 50% failure rate in Time and in mileage? Ken
Tom on this brd just did the 1st belt change on a 20 year old 3x8 at 30k. I have heard from many and will also agree that as long as the engine is run on a frequent basis, 2 or 3 times a month that you should be fine for 7 yrs. I personally like the 6/7 yr rule for piece of mind, but the 3 yr rule I think is excessive.
