Do you subscribe to the "3 year belt change" rule?

Positive - 2 years & its been a topic of discussion for as long as Ferraris have been red!

On the servicing costs, US customers seem to accept paying $6-7000 for a "Major". Same thing here would run to about £2000 max - maybe as low as £1600-1700.

Dollar is at $2:£1 so $4000 eqivalent in pure cash terms - BUT when you take into account what $4000 will buy you in the wider economy there and here, the equivalent, comparitive (true) cost is less than $2500 IMHO i.e. $2500 will buy you about the same amount of "stuff" in the US as £2000 will here.

Relatively US customers are therefore paying at least double if not tripple what we are. (IMHO)

$300 for a new set of spark plugs anyone??!

 

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Whenever a manufacture, any manufacture, publishes a service bulletin, that document supercedes all previous published information. Regardless of how many countries the machines were sold in, or whats printed within the original owners manuals, regardless of model, Ferrari have published a service bulletin regarding all belt driven cams, covering every vehicle they ever built. They recommend 3 years.

And everyone should also consider that most of the cars that throw a belt are never discussed. If anyone offered a car for sale that had thrown a belt, nobody wants to risk the hit they will most likely take on resale. If you post it here, you can be sure that if there are even the slightest marks on the pistons, virtually nobody is going to touch it with a 10 foot pole unless you put in new pi$tons. I think Tmobileguy seen that coming and decided it was more profitable to bail out. Scream it from the mountains when you slide past the limits, but dont whisper a word to anyone if the motor goes south. I believe there may be enough evidence to support a 5 year 30K schedule, but I sure wouldnt want to suggest it and see someone standing there with a blown motor, looking at me and saying I told them it would be make it. You just cant run out to Louis Auto Parts and buy a junk motor for $400 and have it running next week.

 

Not this again!

But since we're in it, why not.

As for my I call BS on the 3 years. 5 years, 30k or bust . Pun intended. By the way I just looked at my records and I have 4 years on my current belt. So I walk the talk.

 

This thread reminds me yet again that I have to change my cars belt.

 

Voices of the past.... Brian still speaks to us

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=104422

 

Well These threads are funny. i agree with many posters here like ArtV and sonoma and others. As a racer of a 348 I change T-belts yearly they cost me 50 bucks and tensioners after a failed engine off inspection. To me it is cheap insurance and I take my engine out to degree the motor to make sure timing is dead on. I'm a bit extreme.

Art is correct an OEM will change the rules and recs without telling its owners so unless some nice tech like Dave spills the beans we are all in the dark. maybe someone like me or Art will find out and release data but you can't count on diy'ers to get the "In" data. Over the years I have also found techs to be more closed mouth because lets face it many diy'ers are practicing to a much higher standard that years ago. Back in the F-list days I wrote about 308 engine repair and people thought I was nuts. Today we got cheap cylinderhead compression testers for 29 bucks so tools are no longer a barrier to good mechanical outcomes. Knowledge is all over boards like these and sometimes we find answers that our service writers do have answers for.

Brian may have been a smart cookie but I rarely understood what he was trying to say. He chewed out lots of posters I always got a chuckle out of that. You did not want to ask him a question because you were afraid of the response. It was kinda like bend over and say "thank you sir can I have another" Every once and a while he would post a quick definative quip like "you need a new F1 pump for 1 million dolllars" then Ernie would come on and pound on him and tell people were to find the part for 89 cents. I'm sure that pissed him off. I always got a chuckle from Ernie...I think he is even cheaper than me.

 

Make that 2 of us mate!
My belt has been done EVERY 3 years since new, regardless of miles driven.
The belt should have been done last September to adhere to the previous EVERY 3 year rule.
But............4 years this year for this belt. I will do the belt next September, which will be 5 years and around 10,000km on current cam belt.

 

Anyone wondering why the professionals no longer provide the information and insight they once used to need only read this type of post. This is what drove Brian away, not the questions from new owners. Why, for goodness sakes, would any pro enter into a debate with this type of degrading post? To what end and for what reason?
We just keep playing janitor to this type of work and move on to the next job. We have tried to inform folks about the dangers of this and get hammered for doing so.
Anyone who has done this job knows that "under 2 hours" is a rediculas statement for a properly done job but it continues unchecked now that most of the pro's have decided to leave it be and take a nap.
Funny how these 308/328's have had their fragile aluminum fuel tanks last so long and now we are finding many with the vent tubes broken off and then JB Welded back in place because someone decided they could hang a compressor off of it. Pull the fuel tank instead of the engine and pry things around enough to slip belts on some models! Its all been debated before, no need for me to hash it out again but at least the level of that crap being posted has dropped over the years.

My advise to new owners who read this site is to look at the post history of those making statements that seem to be a bit unbelieveable. What are the follow up posts regarding? Blown Cats? Check engine light problems? Slow down light issues...... Its like reading a repair order history trail, quite informative.




""This thread is just a bit more than 24 hours old, and the great belt debate is being beat to death yet again, and we even got some consultant-bashing thrown in to-boot. AND lets not forget the UK vs US service costs slamming.

LOL I've only been a part of FChat for about a year now, gotta love it... its addicting ""

Yup, a real hoot, how can one top that?

Dave

 

Thanks for still being around Dave, Brian is missed...

 

A bunch of us DIY'ers here in the northeast will second your reply. We have done several 308/ 328 belt and bearings changes. May be slow but it takes us 2 hours to get the car lifted and the inner fender out! Then the always fun wrestle with the AC compressor! Covers off etc etc etc. We allow a weekend provided everything goes as planned. Don't know about others who work on their Ferrari's but I have never had everything go as planned! Birdman and I always use our rough rule. Look at the job, figure what it should take, multiply by 4 and add 2 hours!

 

Who is this Brian guy and why is his self esteem so low that he can't handle any criticism without running and hiding ? IMHO, no matter how good someone may be in their particular occupation, if they're that much of a wuss, I don't want them around me anyway...maybe he should try SaabChat...

 

Tell us what you really think mate.........

 

I miss Brians advice here on fchat. Its too bad and as Dave H said, knowledgable people get chased off by the idiots who only talk and don't know how or when to listen. I have not had good experiences with FofSF, slow, expensive and a bit too self important. Brian, on the other hand, has always been very fair, the work is good and the whole experience much more satisfying.

Tubeguy, one factor to remember is the cs revs much more freely and to higher rpms than most ferraris.
I did mine at 3 years and will continue to do so. Just way too cheap a preventative to risk blowing a $30k engine in a high revving car.

 

Hey, don't forget to add some time for all the Bulls***ing!!

That's a good portion of the day.

 

Also (too add) , i heard the tensioner is not stantionary on the car like the traditional ferrari. Appareently (as i heard a mechanic once say)...its a spring or hydrolic tensioner...which may cease alot sooner, hence the need to do a belt change much sooner on the 360. Can anyone verify this ?

 

360's are famous for hydrostatic belt tensioner failure. Funny thing is..the 355 uses this set-up aswell.

 

Not really.

 

Yes, really.

 

Nah, not really.

 

Thanks Tom, thats what the service guy at FoO told me at the beginning of the summer when i popped in when i asked him why the 3 yr belt change on these cars. He said you could go 4...but the cost to risk factor was not worth it at all. Especially since the belts and tensioners where accessible without taking the engine out which was to try and reduce the cost factor. Looks like Ferrari has there hands in your pocket one way or another

 

Yes, please do! I don't want my future car to have a dark spot in her history

 

+1

Brian was not chased off of Fchat. He appears to of had a tantrum and stormed off like a little kid who is upset and frustrated with others.
Anyone with reliable knowledge is welcomed and even revered and always thanked for their help. Brian's problem is he always had gread advise but was always quick to be critical, condescending and often rude.

"It takes a village to maintain a Ferrari"

Who said that ?

Regards,

Stew

 

One of the best commercials ever!!