New Mondial Owner - Need Some Help Please

Let me take this from a different perspective, largely driven by our litigous society of today. If you had to back up your opinion by overhauling engines at your expense that stripped a belt, how long would you warrantee the work? Would you offer an opinion to people on Fchat to extend the belt replacement to 5 years and 30K miles, and hold yourself liable to them if it dont make it? Its one thing for all of us to stand around here pruning our feathers and contemplating the life expectancy of a $20 part. But its a whole other thing all together when that $20 part is capable of producing $15K or more of damage. While many claim no data exists, I disagree. There have been cars that flung belts in the 15K mile 5 year period. If it was an aviation part you would easily cut that time factor in half, probably a third. I would just bet there are virtually no recorded failures of a belt within that 3 year 15K mile cycle. And a few in the 5 year 30K cycle. Its in that grey area beyond where everyone starts really playing russian roulette with thier bank account.

I have wrote this before, and its only to help those new people who have to make a decision. I seen a motor at TRutlands that had a hole blown in the side block, down low on the rear bank. It had also blown a big hole in the gearbox. I was told the timing belt on the rear bank let go at high speed. A valve broke off, shattered the piston, and the rod went nuts. The only salvagable piece was the front head, some liners, and some gear box parts. While this is extreme, its a possible outcome of dropping a valve. It could be argued the engine dropped a valve and that stripped the belt. But the truth is that either way, enough damage could be caused to bankrupt many Ferrari owners. And its the new owners who went for broke to buy thier dream with all the money they had that are going to be harmed the worst. Its to those guys I say, change the freakin belts. Its cheap insurance.

 

About a half a dozen, all on 3.0 and 3.2 liter V-8 cars, all injected, all with no damage (including my own QV) over the last twenty-five years. That's out of approximately 250 V-8 cars that I've performed more than topical repairs on over the same time. I understand it's not pretty when there is damage, but I haven't seen it personally. Now if you want to talk about 2-liter Fiat engines or 24V Alfa V-6's, that really bad every time!

I'm just saying that there is a methadology to assessing belt condition more than the "shotgun approach."

Read my last sentence, David. I recommend to my customers a maximum change interval of four to six years, no matter what mileage.

-Peter

 

Fair enough. The failures I've seen over the years have primarily been from a tensioner bearing rusty dragging the belt, heating it up and then failing. I've seen this happen within 3 years too of a previous service. Updated tensioner bearings seem to be the biggest help in this situation.

d

 

Absolutely right!

At oil services, I routinely take a fiber optic lighted eyepiece and look inside the timing belt area (if I can get to it) and look at the surface of the timing belt tensioner bearing. If there is rubber "transfer" on the bearing, they don't get to drive it home from the oil change! <grin> The belts and bearings get changed then and there.

-Peter (no, Paul, I would never warranty that stuff can't go wrong <very big grin>)

 

It's a handy tool although sometimes it makes you feel like a fly with the multiple hex shape eyes! Originally bought it for examining Ring & Pinions, but it works for a host of other diagnostics....last I used it for diagnosing an F1 shift problem on a 355.

Merry christmas

d

 

And a Merry Christmas to all!

-Peter

 

thanks to everyone for all your input and guidance. it is greatly appreciated. the car will be going to morespeed after the holidays to get whatever they believe needs to be done.

Have a merry christmas everyone! and thanks again!

Jason