Since I am still a bit of newbie here I figured I'd take my timing belt lumps early. Being a good little owner I decided to actually read my owner's manual. In my 1984 US manual it says the timing belts should be changed every 52,500 miles, no time limit (yea, yea, I know). The online manual from the Ferrari owners website for 84/85 says the same think. However, the 308 QV Maintenance and Lubrication Chart for 1985 (cat 342/85) says they should be changed 25,000 miles OR 24 months maximum?! Now, the 308QV/328 Workshop manual (cat 550/89) says on page B33 says the "driving toothed belts" must changed every 25,000 miles. Now I alwasy thought it was 30K and 5 years. But now I have 4 different Ferrari Manuals and only 2 of them agree!
Making it up as they go along....... The belt on my Dodge Caravan popped at 168K I had a customer drop off his Maserati Biturbo (the car that put them out of business the last time) for a timing belt. He had owned the car since new. The car had low miles but the belt was over 10 years old. At the end of the day one of the guys went out to bring it in the shop, no start! Guess why!
Niel Armstrong and Yuri Gagarin agree "Space travel would not have been possible without new timing belts". Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Just had my belts changed last month on my 328. The belts only had about 3K on them but due to 7yrs of garage queen treatment they had enough damage to justify replacement!
Dude, that first picture was just wrong. Actually, I was wondering more about the manual statement of changing them after 2 years (not the five that is current wisdom). Matter of fact, where did that 5 year figure come from anyway?
This is a subject that gets way too much mental analysis ("what are my timing belts thinking today?"). If it's been a "few years" since they've been done, or you just bought the car and don't know for sure, just do it and go driving. Don't worry again for a "few years". It is true that there is no definitive number for "when". What's important is that it always be "before". Pick an interval that makes you happy and get on with life. You'll find endless opinions here. What are you doing to keep your battery charged?
HOW CAN I GET ON WITH LIFE WITHOUT AN ANSWER!!!!!! ;-) Driving the snot out of her. PS: Is that a Spitfire as your Avatar?
As Rifledriver has noted in many previous threads, Ferrari currently is recommending a 3 year interval. (Ignore mileage. Nobody drives them enough for mileage to be a factor). I personally think 4-5 years is perfectly fine, but that's just me. I wouldn't go longer than 5, just to be safe. In reality, it is likely that 95% of the belts on cars will happily go 10+ years, but you don't want to be one of the 5% where they don't. So you change them at 3-5, where you can be sure that 99.99% of them will last that long. It's all a statistical numbers game. Think of your timing belts as a revolver that holds say 20 rounds. All the chambers are empty but one. Once a year you have to spin the cylinder, point the pistol at your Ferrari and pull the trigger. Odds are 1 in 20 that you will shoot your Ferrari the first year. Each year that goes by, you add another round to the chamber, making the odds of getting live round greater. After 10 years, you have 10 rounds in the pistol, and 10 empty chambers. Yeah, you might not shoot the Ferrari, but man, the odds are starting to suck. After 15 years, the odds are in favor of shooting the Ferrari! OK, that was a very complicated analogy that kinda sucks, but you get my point. There are timing belts that have gone 20 years for sure. But you can't count on it! Birdman
This belt issue is being discussed almost weekly now, and I believe its time someone make a sticky on this for the various cam belt cars. You could pick from 5 or 10 or 20 good arguments from one extreme to another that have been posted over the last two years. The idea that there is really any "new" knowledge from day to day or week to week is rediculous. There hasnt really been any new knowledge on this subject in years. Put some discussion of people who have reached maximum times and miles, as well as some of those who didnt make it, complete with nasty pics of bent valves, costs to repair, etc. I also believe Scotts (SMG) adustable cam drive sprockets using the modern belt, or something simular should be included. Rob, or any moderators? Can this be done??? I would just like to see that the newbies get well informed with enough information to make thier own choice. After that I dont really care what anyone else does or not.
Bwana Joe, Welcome to the Ferrari world where nothing is written in stone. That's why we need wizards, not mechanics. The short answer is that Ferrari put the 52.5K number in there to please the EPA which demanded all emission related parts (which include the cam timing system) be warranteed for 50K and a number of years which kept getting longer. The inserts you found are "we need to cover our butts" warning against being sued by an owner whose belt failed with 49K on it. Experience has resulted in most mechanics recommending something between those two extremes. Rifledriver, Brian, I guess this is the timing belt thread that finally pushed you over the edge! Where can we send get well cards? DAve
On March 27, 1968 he and his instructor died in a MiG-15UTI '***ot' on a routine training flight near Kirzhach.[2] It is uncertain what caused the crash, but a 1986 inquest suggests that the turbulence from a Su-11 'Fishpot-C' interceptor using its afterburners may have caused Gagarin's plane to go out of control.
No disrepect meant to 2NA for the Spitfire comment. PLEASE LET ME STAY! If anyone is familiar with the Triumph Spitfire MK I the front end looks much like the VERY tiny picture he has for his avatar. And again, my reason for starting this was not to push Rifledriver or Artvonne over the edge but to ask why the difference in manuals. Believe me, I am NOT going to let my 308 go for 10 years without a belt change because she hasn't hit the 52K mark yet. Thanks Hardtop, that answer makes perfect sense and I can see that happening now also.
There were a variety of reasons but during that time belts were new to Ferrari and had not been in wide spread use for long. Like everything else as time went on the data base increased new designs and materials came along and service intervals changed. We have gone from cleaning plugs every 3000 miles and replacing them every 6000 to do them in 30k if it really needs it. Oil change mileage has gone up considerably too. Belts have not had the life expectancy originally expected, at least not with the failure rate wanted so they were over the years adjusted downward to finally at an interval of three years it was decided to just stop and go back to chains. Now if I can just find my aluminum foil hat.
Dont feel bad, I thought it was an MG at first. It wasnt til you asked I looked closer and seen the tell take signs of a horse in the grill. The darn avatars are so tiny I dont generally look at them that closely.
