I can buy a spare engine with rebuild gearbox -15000 mls what would be a fare price? How big are the changes that i will ever need it? How "fragile"are the 348 engines anyhow?
The 348 engine is bullet proof. Even under the most careless abuse, chances are you would never need to replace it. The stories of a catastrophic engine failure of some sort are legendary (there have been a few on F-chat), yet on the whole they are quite rare.
Would you say this is also true of a 328 engine? I've read often that they are bullet proof as well... the same as 348? More so? Less so? Thanks Jedi
Engine: Little chance you will need a spare as long as it is maintained properly. Gearbox: Failures have been reported, and it seems to be linked to the build quality from the factory. A good build = no problems, a bad build = major headache. Hard to say what a fair price is - depends on the condition, what parts are included (clutch pack? flywheel? headers? etc.)
I'm not really an expert on the subject, but my opinion is that if you are talking about pure mechanicals of the engine itself, a Ferrari engine is about as good as it gets. However, the 355 had a well-documented valve guide issue that is quite expensive to correct. That's about the only engine flaw per se that I am aware of. Again, I'm no expert. Most of the reliability items that crop up are really more about electronics and inferior aftermarket parts (Delco alternator, etc.). When you get right down to it, there is very little internally on these cars that is actually manufactured by Ferrari. Many (almost all?) components on a Ferrari are merely re-badged items borrowed from the parts bins of other manufacturers.
$6k is a fair price for a non-retail 348 engine with any significant miles (i.e. not freshly rebuilt). The engines are generally solid. There is a timing *chain* tensioner internally to the 348 engine that should be checked at 15k and 30k and 45k & 60k service intervals. Many will need to be replaced to avoid internal damage later. As for the timing *belt*, I've suffered catastrophic belt failure due to debris jamming a timing belt pulley. I pulled my engine, paid $1,000 to have the heads machined, replaced 16 valve guides, finished the top-end rebuild, and performed the full "30k major" service myself for slightly less than $6k in total parts/labor all in. Used new hoses. There are lots of seals/rings/gaskets that add up in expense. Plugzit had his spare 348 motor for sale for $6k for over a year, I think. Motors selling between individuals are a slow affair. Obviously you are going to pay more for the convenience of going through a retail shop, which is as the world should be. I say the above to illustrate that 348 timing belt failures are rare...and are not prohibitively expense. If you've already got the engine pulled for a major service, however, you *should* open up the front of the motor to inspect/replace the timing (oil pump?) *chain* tensioner. Don't fear these cars. Luigi put them together by hand while drinking a pleasant bottle of red vino. Everything on them can be unbolted, repaired/replaced, and bolted back on by a sober novice.
You only need to look at the breakers to see how reliable 348 engines are - most specialist breakers have a good selection of engines to choose from, meaning they sell very few because there isn't the demand. The demand isn't there because they are, as stated above, regarded as pretty much 'bullet proof' and aren't failing in numbers big enough to create demand - to be honest they aren't working that hard and Ferrari had got the engineering pretty much right. Sure some DO fail - broken cam belts etc. and i have even seen one that grenaded, but that was down to low oil pressure most likely. The gearbox may be the more useful part of your deal package as they are more in demand. I would check with the breakers to guage value, but the engine should be cheap really, about $5500 at a guess (as in the UK you could buy them warranted from a breakers for that price all day long), the gearbox probably similar, perhaps slightly more, say $6000. As for how big the chance you will ever need it, seriosuly slim - 99/100 it will sit in your garage and never be touched until you sell the car. For my money I wouldn't bother to tie up the capital, better to fix and pay for any major problem that might crop up in the future as the event is sufficiently unlikely.
I have 2 spares for mine and have not found the need for either and its a race car. Finally built one as a Sprint engine, the other an Enduro build and kept one for spare parts and change them out as the mood changes.... Getting too old for the 5 hr Sprint engine stuff these days
I have both spare gearbox and engine (with all ancillaries), hopefully don't need either of them but at least nice to have in garage.
thank you all for the advise. I did some research and found basically the same. I decided not to buy..
I have had my 348 for almost 20 years, and have done my fair share of track days and hillclimbs and the engine is bullet proof. The gearbox is not quite as good. I have done 2 rebuilds over the years. The last one, we sourced uprated 355 parts for the weaker 348 ones, so this one should be good for the duration.
......... .............. 348 brotherhood member ............. Too late, the whole world knows already .......... ...............
Sorry noway. I have rebuild over 6 boxes and they are all still running running strong. I rebuilt my box and I only raced my car and even my gearbox oil was clean the last time I checked it. I really think it is all about how you put these boxes together and I do not do it the ferrari way.
I also think it funny that while everyone can agree they would rather have a 348 motor with the classic dual tbelt system that ferrari returned to it does not seem that the single belt 348 is blowing up as evidenced by the lack of spare engine need. After all if they were blowing up it would be way cheaper and faster to dump a rebuilt core in there than rebuild a head properly.
NO WAIT...I can explain.... Its a Race Car only....thats forgiveable isnt it? Too few valves for street use...
