Timing belt replacement

as a side note: that car should be taken to a qualified ferrari mechanic as the seals oil etc. etc. etc. need to not only be inspected but probably changed. With that low a mileage in that amount of time, you need to drive the car and not just turn it over in the garage. I would be very careful to drive it as it has sat for such a long time.

IF such a low mileage car, then this one would deserve a, IMO, 30k service all about, which should do it justice for the next lucky owner.


ALSO, please fill out your profile, mention the serial number in your profile if possible, and post a pic..

rik PPS: Welcome.

 

In Europe the book says 2 years/25k miles for my 328.

 

Don't want to beat on him at all but I had to haze a little bit if not on him then on everyone else who owned the car and never drove it. You're absolutely right he may have just bought the car so that's a mea culpa on me. To each his own for sure but damn 7600 miles in twenty years. I just have a really hard time getting my mind around that.

Anyways, I hope he changes the belts and starts enjoying the car for what it was meant for. Cheers!

 

I totally agree. I bought my F355 recently in March and had to do the major engine out service. One T-belt tensioner bearing was seized and the other had virtually dried grease. Mine had 36,000 miles on the clock. The water pump was original! Do a major for peace of mind and then drive it as a Ferrari is meant to be.

You are a long time dead
So embrace life dearly
And drive a Ferrari!

 

...The 1981 US Mondial 8 asks for timing belt replacement every 84K Km (52.5K Miles), whereas the 1980 Mondial 8 EURO manual recommends replacement every 40-60K Km (25 - 37.5K Miles).

No time limit indicated in either manual...


With numbers varying like that (for a practically identical vehicle), one has to wonder how Ferrari determined this "recommendation".

Does anyone among the experts on this board have an explanation for that?

In my opinion, if...

- The car is well stored (i.e. not exposed to extreme temperature/humidity/dryness or drastic fluctuations in same)
- Driven (or at least engine turned over) regularly
- The engine is kept clean


...the belts should last longer than 5 years.

I'm saying this because next summer it will be 5 years (and approx. 8K Km) since my last belt change, and I do'nt believe that the belts could have deteriorated to a point where they need replacing...

 

Feel free to think anything you like but the change interval you quote comes up in every one of these threads but no one does a search and reads them before starting another so we have to educate everyone every time. That information was printed only to satisfy what Ferrari mistakenly thought was a federal requirement. The official time now is 3 years and 30k miles. Since Ferrari started using belts over 30 years ago they have gained a bit of knowledge and experience and as a result of that makes the best recommendation they know how based on that real world experience. I have been working on these cars professionally for almost that long and can say it is a pretty good number. I follow it pretty closely with my own cars. When all these timing belts threads started a few years ago all sorts of internet experts came out of the wood work challenging us if any of us could prove a timing belt ever broke from age. Those idiots don't come around anymore because this forum has produced quite a number of threads of first hand accounts of belts breaking. Amazingly a large percentage of those belts at around 5 years. Just the other day we changed a set of belts on an 04 CS with just under 15k miles. No way they would have gone a couple of more years or another 15k miles.

For me, I fix cars for money. If no one changes belts thats OK. I make far more money fixing the damage than I ever would doing preventative belt jobs.

 

One more thing I forgot to mention. Your first indication, besides the service interval suggested, that you need new belts is when the motor stops and a belt is broken. Most of the broken belts I have seen looked great except for one broken spot, so I strongly suggest you pick a day to change them before that happens because there is no predicting what day that will be.


Now all you have to do is pick that day.

 

Thanks for your expert advice and your persistence in educating those of us who are either too lazy or too busy to exhaustively research a specific topic, Brian.

However, you are slightly mis-quoting or mis-interpreting my so-called "first indication". What I tried to imply is that if a belt (just like a tire, for example) is used/maintained in ideal conditions (temperature, cleanliness, regular use), it could outlast the recommended time interval (not necessarily the recommended mileage).

Too bad we live so far apart....my car would probably be in your shop by now...

 

Seen many cars driving around on 10 year old tires, some looked ok some were age cracked and losing air, wouldn't recommend driving cross country on either.
I also recommend replacing brake hoses on all vehicles over 10 years old, I see many that are older with seemingly no problem, but I see many that after close inspection were falling apart internally.
Timing belts: as I have said in the past, a few years ago I PPI'd a 308QV and suggested a full service, car looked great, low miles, 3 weeks later it was towed in for valve job after a belt broke.
Who knows? This is your car,your money,your call. We merely offer our real world experienced opinions and you the owner are entitled to do what you will with them.