Miracles do happen. Just wondering what incentive Ferrari has to extend the life of the belts unless their dealers just can't handle the volume of old car belt replacements.
If i had to guess, i would say half or more belt services are done by independents. 1 out of fifteen cars in has a belt service in our area. There are plenty of belt slappers in DFW. True, we lowered our belt services to compete, but people like who they like. The parts most likely come from our store, so the interval would be the same.
Hi guys, I hope you dont mind me chiming in here. Ferrari has yet to release a bulletin that extends the recommended service from 3 to 5 yeears for replacement of belts. As stated above, my concern would be waiting 5 years to change the tensioner bearing. Keep in mind that what we call jsut belts and bearings are really the entire brain of the mechanics of the engine in that it controls the timing of every moving part. If they fail you will have catastrophic engine failure. The risk is just too high. With that said, there are other ways to lower the maintenance cost other than skimping out on a service or exeting the time between services. Also stated before, becareful to make sure that you know the clock starts ticking with the date the belts were made not installed. SO here is what Ferrari did. they created a packages for most 8 cylider models in which the parts are more affordable without lowering the quality of the parts (for example i have seen terrible failures with after market tensioner bearings- which in in my opinion are the most important part of the service). Here is whawt we as a Dealer have done to help the true Ferrari drivers. We have come up with special fixed pricing on all cars from 308s to 612s. Our committment is to making certian that our drivers get nothign but the best of service so that they can enjoy more time drivng ont he street rather than sitting in the (comfy air condidtioned) garage. I hope you all find this helpful Garrett Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Actually that is a full major service not just a belt change. But Yes we have built a program aimed at the Drivers. We thought long and hard about this and we are comitted to supporting our fellow Ferrari lovers.
Since you brought up tensioner bearings, what are people's thoughts on factory vs. Hill Engineering's bearings?
Great question. I will of course be curious of everyone 's opinion. But there is a very good reason for such a large price difference. This one part is often overlooked. I have spoken to freinds who have purchased a "major service" or a "belt Service" (which by the way is crazy since there is really no official such thing as a belt service and why wouldnt you do thei filters and fluids at tht point) but anyway...... only to find out that the pirce which seemed fair either didnt include the Bearings at all or were after market bearings. That part is the single most expensive part of the major service. If that bearing fails so does your motor. We had a 360 Spider that blew the motor that was stuck on a lift in our shop for months while the owner tried to get it covered by insurance. The Insurance provider declined the claim based on the fact that the part wasnt a Ferrair authorized part of the required maintenance. Now while this story is dramatic who knows if they woudl have covered it even if the parts were all original. But it is a telling story. If my opinion counts on this one, i say buy the proper proven parts that were engineered by Ferrari and dont risk it. The Ferrari parts prices under the packages are competitive now and I really dont think it is worth risking your 100K + investemnt on a matter of ra few hundred dollar difference. I hope you find that helpful Garrett
I'm sorry, but I need to express some concern with this statement. If you're referring to Hill Engineering bearings specifically, I would welcome a detailed PM with failure examples. We have literally sold thousands of Hill Engineering bearings since 2005 (yes, I have the analytics to tell me where each and every one is installed, and from what manufacturing batch it originated). There have been ZERO failures reported to us from manufacturing or materials. ZERO. If a shop installs a bearing incorrectly, well that's a whole different story -- and it does happen. (F355 bearings cannot be used on old style brackets, for example). In terms of failures? ZERO. None. If a failure had occurred with a Hill bearing, I'm pretty sure I would have heard about it from the customer. So, I ask: 1) Do you mean blue boxed "SKF" bearings, and the counterfeits that are circling the earth? If yes, then fine. Ricambi America only sells Hill Engineering designed and assembled 308, 348, 355, 360 bearings. 2) Do you mean the Hill counterfeit bearings circling the earth? If yes, then fine. Proper Hill bearings are laser etched with batch numbers, and hologram-foil sealed. Each and every one is serial number recorded here at Ricambi America. 3) Do you mean the crap-construction Ferrari tensioner arms themselves for 360's? If yes, then fine. I welcome your reply either through PM, phone call, or posting.
I requested the use of your Hill Engineering tensioners by his dealership, and they denied my request. Said they will only use OEM Ferrari tensioners.
While I appreciate your deditcation to your products, the purpose here is to discuss oppinion. and yes we have seen the failures. The cars that have failed ahve been brought to our store because we will not put aftermarket parts in these cars therefore i cannot verify if they are authentic or counterfit nor am i able to check hologram filed seals. when you guy from we know they are real because we buy them direct from Ferrari and that gives our cusotmers piece of mind. FInally, keep in mind that Ferrari now offers a 2 year warranty on official Ferrari parts so long as they are installed at an authorized Ferrari service center, even if the car is out of warranty. HOw can you beat that?
I did not know this! That means if an OEM tensioner goes bad (within 2 years) and ruins the motor, then Ferrari will cover the rebuild cost? Fantastic!
Interesting. I didn't think there was any price advantage to Hill Eng. bearings, but rather they were intended as a superior part engineered to address shortcomings in the factory parts. I know, for example, they have a reverse shifter bushing that's superior and thought that's their product niche. BTW, while I do appreciate the quality of Ferrari, not all OEM Ferrari parts are superior to aftermarket. 430 and 355 headers are notorious failure items. Hence, my question about the HE vs. OEM tensioner bearings. Would be interested in knowing what make the HE ones better, or if they are meant as equivalent but less pricey. That would be helpful.
1) Tighter assembly clearances (less likely to fling their grease all over the place when it liquifies due to high ambient temperatures). This is why simply saying "a bearing survives a bench test at a billion RPM for 20 years is somewhat of a red herring. Without simulating the heat of the environment, it doesn't really say much. 2) MUCH higher temp rated grease. Hill will not release the specs of this grease spec, because they consider it IP/proprietary. See point #1 also. 3) Internal bearing is a bespoke NTN (made in Japan) unit, with Hill ball specs. The bespoke NTN unit is a dual contact angular bearing, while the OEM SKF (made in Italy) is a single deep groove ball race. .
Garrett- Maybe a slight highjack, but why is the 612 major less than the 575M when they have essentially the same engine and drivetrain? My car will use Hill Engineering tensioner bearings and a Hill Engineering clutch T/O bearing when they require replacement. They are simply superior to the OEM bearings and I will not need a warranty on either. Taz Terry Phillips
Oh fine, so for the 360, the Ferrari warranty lasts TWO years, but the change interval is THREE years?
I'm not sure if the Hill Engineering belt tensioners fails but I'm sure that their release Bering for the clutch do fail. It happened to me and cost me the double of the labor fee since the mechanic didn't want to use it on the first place.
Well keep in mind that this warranty is new and it is on all parts installed not just for maintenance items. IT is 2 more years than you would have had. I hope you can see the cup as half full not half empty. Garrett
Ok guys. i called my secret source at the factory and i have some info for all of you. It is definitely 3 years on the 360s. The bulletin on the 12 cylinder cars is limited to certian cars like 612 and 575 (notice the 550 is not included). They explained to me that the longer time period is not as much because of hte belt but really due to the updated routing of the belt in these cars which changes the wear pattern and even more importantly its heat exposure. This makes sense. as in creased heat will speed up the degredation of the belt. The 360 is still 3 years. HE then added. ALWAYS FOLLOW THE OWNERS MANUAL OVER OUTSIDE INFO INCLUDING SERVICE BULLETINS. HE said that is the safest route to follow. I hope you all find htis helpful. Garrett
That's actually pretty good. So if you installed belts and tensioners, and they fail within that two year window, and cause engine damage, Ferrari will cover the engine damage?
