The day the music died...

It's amazing how such terribly bent valves from your engine can form the basis of one of the best "auto parts" ads ever concieved. Talk about getting the reader's attention !

 

Wow. Pretty severe angle on those center ones... good thing they didn't break the heads off!

 

Does that completely solve the "blowing up transmission" issue, or does the trans have other weaknesses that can't fairly quickly and easily be resolved?

 

Thanks. What years are considered "early?" Do the later ones have the problem solved? Also, how common is this problem, i.e., I know it's hard to estimate, but how many are going to make it to 60K miles without the box suffering major trauma?

 

How much would it have been to rebuild your box? When being rebuilt, can the problems be fixed so it doesn't happen again so quickly? Are the parts available?

 

Clutch shaft identical to Daniels, 348ts. 1991 53k miles!
Not good!!!!!!
Cheers
Pete

 

Daniel...

sad thread really....

how much is it for a new set of valves to a 348 anyway???
(I hope I wont regreting asking)

 

That's really a shame. I think the 348 and the Mondial T are both really nice cars, but for someone who wants to actually drive one, this transmission issue seems like a real problem. It will be interesting to see what happens when cars hit the market being sold with a broken transmission, as I'm sure there are lots of people who can't/won't go in $15K to fix it.

A new trans and a major service will come very close to the value of many of these cars. What will an early 348 or Mondial T with a broken trans and a service coming up bring in the market?

Hopefully there is a big enough market that someone will come up with a less expensive fix to repair/strengthen the transmission. Porsche had some issue with their late 90s transmissions, and some firms came up with some clever, relatively inexpensive fixes. But that's a much bigger market, which justified the initial investment in doing it, and could spread the cost out among a bunch of cars/owners.

 

Before the "$15,000.00 to fix a 348 gear box" idea gets too far from this thread I would look at a few other examples in which owners paid no where near this amount to get back on the road...

 

They will always retain a certain value because at some point salvage yards will buy them and dismantle them. For example a high mileage 89 off-color car may only be worth $25k, well if it needs a tranny and a major that comes to $20k, doesn't mean the car is worth $5k. There will still be many salvage yards that will pay $12-15k for the car.

 

That's true (certainly up to now in the market), but I've done enough research to know that I don't need a 348 parts car as a spare. There are already enough body panels on the market, and the convertible top and engine are completely rebuildable. All of the electronics are 3rd party, as are things like the A/C and steering/suspension.

Often, the 348 transmission/differential *can* be rebuilt...but when it can't...then that is the one weak link on the entire 348. Perhaps the more difficult to source 348 3rd party components are the turn stalks, Cat ECUs, windshield, A/C computer, fog-lights, late-model wheel bearings, and tranny (which may be an actual Ferrari component, I'm not certain).

Put some XPEL or 3M clear film over your fog lights. Headlights too if you run hard at night. Electronic repair shops can typically fix the A/C computer, ABS computer, engine computers, etc. Turn stalks can be rebuilt, as well.

What I need/want is a spare tranny, preferably one that is cheap and already needs rebuilding so that I know that it's been done properly once I'm finished with it.

 

Yeah, but lets not forget the less knowledgeable owners, dealers who are looking to flip a car quick and repair the minor things on it, small service shops who often buy replacement parts from major Ferrari salvage yards not knowing there are cheaper/better alternatives.

A 348 will never be worthless, if I honestly saw a 348 with a nice body for less than $10k I'd buy it for decoration

 

Maybe someone will come out with a small block chevy and Muncie transmission retrofit!

Did the 328 have this transmission issue, or is that transmission solid?

 

For 308 valves and am not sure about the 348, go with SI Valves in the LA area.

Got my stainless 308 valves from them years ago. Good guys to deal with for me anyway.