That 6 is now going on 10 years, isn't it PAP? Not when you are referring to a cam belt service on a Ferrari. It is "fix it before it breaks"
Thanks. I can't believe that this only applies for the US. Will Ferrari use different parts in Europe? Personally I don't think so. 5 year it is!
I believe that an overlooked item here is inspection. I like the aircraft comparisons, and an annual inspection is just that at its core. You remove access covers and inspect critical systems and components. You don't just arbitrarily replace components, you do so depending on condition and lifespan. I would feel more secure replacing the belts every 4 years and inspecting their condition every year than just replacing them every 3 years.
i'm doing my belts right now. it's been six years since i last did them. they do show wear. i don't think i'd push them to seven. doing the bearings too. to me it's a penny wise, pound foolish situation. for less than $150 for belts and bearings why not put in new parts? i'm usually a don't fix it if it ain't broke guy but in this case broke can be disasterous.
On a 348/355/360, if you even get access to inspect the belts at all, then you might as well replace them. The work is 80% done.
I didn't think there was an accurate inspection (read: eyeball inspection) as you cannot tell the wear on the belt visually.
Nosing around this thread.. I realized that an undiagnosed intermittent engine squeal (too long after startup) .. may be the discussed tensioner bearings.. ?? I have a 308 GT4 that had tensioners/belts about 8 years ago.. I only drive the car once a year.. to the Concourso Italiano in Monterey, CA.. [I know.. I'm bad!].. Bought the car in 1995 with 24K miles, when I was dying of cancer.. Oops, I lived.. Car now has 41K.. WELL.. I guess the bad air gets to the belts.. plus maybe the ~8K miles I've driven the car .. parked too much, with belts in same place all year.. Hmmm? My friend and I were gonna try to tighten up the oil leaks.. and do timing belts.. Sounds like tensioner bearings are definitley in order.. . Hope the squeal is not the water pump.. it squealed bad right after purchase of vehicle.. replaced the water pump with an upgraded version circa 1996.. . Thanks, Jim
I just had the belts changed in my 360, it would have been 5 years in December 2011. The belts actually looked very good. I would worry about the tensioner causing problems.
Squeal could be the tensioner bearings, the water pump or maybe the alternator. I had that with my 328, a problem with squealing after the car really warmed up. I didn't know for sure where it was coming from, so I used the old hose trick. Take a piece of old garden hose about as long as your arm, with the metal end cut off. With the engine running, and with it making the offending noise, hold one end of the hose to your ear and scope around with the other end. It will lead you right to the source of the noise. Just be careful not to get the belt stuck in any of the moving belts. Noise like squeaks and squeals can be "referred" and sound like they are coming from somewhere other than the actual source. Using a piece of hose like that will help narrow it down to the actual source.
+1 My last major was in the spring of 2004. Prior to that, my 1983 Quattro never had a major!! 20 years on the same belts..... However, I did have them looked at every 3 years, but again my car only has 10k miles on the clock.
Just changed the belts on my 1996 Lotus Elan S2. No record of them ever being replaced in the history and true to form, these were the originals....15 years and 60k km's! Also changed tensioner and idler bearings and replaced water pump and both aux belts. I'll be sticking to every 4yrs on the 360. Had these done in 2009 and replaced tensioner brgs with Hill Engineering ones. I intend to reuse these at next belt service and then replace them along with the variators at the next belt service after that. Having had a new type variator fail I regard these items as "consumables" and believe theres as much chance (if not more) of these failing over a tensioner bearing.......I use the car at least once every 2 wks and live in Australia so don't have the cold climate to worry about.
In my opinion:: If you listen to the engine constantly (and you can't do that with the stereo on), understand what the noises mean, watch the gauges continuously, and remember what you heard and saw, wait until the engine is fully warmed up before gettin on it; you can get 7+ years on belts and tensioners. After 7 years, you basically want to change/renew anything and everything in the engine bay that is rubber/silicone anyways (modern FI cars). If you drive like most owners, not so much. { A) can you remember the water temperature on the third previous drive? B) can you remember the oil temperature on the fifth previous drive independently of the oil temp on the previous drive? C) can you remember what was the starting cold air pressure in you tires on the third previous drive? D) can you tell the difference between the right rear tire being 1 pounds low in air pressure and the left front tire being 1 pounds low on air pressure? } I got 7 years, 27K miles 1K track miles, on my belts and tensioners. The belts looked fine, the tensioner bearings were still rotating smooth, free, and without slop.
paranoya. The would only change belts every 5 years on a 348, other then that every 7-10. I have a friend who never changed his for 20 years, and no problems.
And some people play Russian Roulette with live ammo and don't die. Is it possible for our timing belts, bearings, etc. to last 20 year without breaking? Sure. It is probable that they will last that long? I don't think so. As a result, we play the odds. If you are really conservative about it, you'll stick to the 3 year/15K miles schedule religiously. If you want to stretch the envelope just a little bit, you go to 5 year/15K schedule. Push a little more, 5 year/30K miles. You want to really live on the edge, drive it 'til it breaks, and tell us all how long it took and how much damage it cause when it let loose. I've mentioned this story before -- my ex-wife had a Volvo wagon with a 6-cyl engine that had a timing belt. She never took it in for service, maybe changed the oil now and then. Volvo required the timing belt to be changed every 30K miles. Ex never took the car in, never had it done. Between 60K and 70K miles, the belt let go on her, and it was a high interference engine, and she was on the highway doing about 70 mph when it happened. Fortunately, the new engine was on her dime, not mine, even though she blamed me for it happening because I didn't warn her she had to maintain her car when we got divorced. Anyone wonder why she's my ex? So, choose your poison.
You guys are all way too lax in your maintenance. I do mine annually just in case! It generally takes me about 11.75 months to get the job done. I have a very low mileage car! What should I do with all of my old belts? They look pretty good, but I just don't know.
