355 Service intervals

My car is just finishing up her Major right now.
The last major, if you can call it that... was done about 5 years ago.
Bradan told me the old belts/tensioners were in really good shape....


However... I still upgraded to Hill Engineering bearings to be safe
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All the 355 belts I've seen had only yellow writing and Ferrari logos on them
Are those the same ones?

 

Thanks Petey, very interesting info and great pics! I know Stevew is having his car go through the first major since 2004. Stevew let us know how those belts and tensioners look after 9 years!! We are all very interested to know!

 

For those who have heard this before, please forgive me, but ... I did a major immediately after purchasing my 348 several years ago. My mechanic was fairly sure they were original equipment. So it went about 17 years and 36k miles!

I had all the records from my 355. I bought it from the original owner. He did one major at 5 years and 12k miles. I did the second one 9 years and 14k later.

 

I'm in the same time interval with regard to servicing. I am not surprised that your 348 and 355 ran smoothly for long spans without a major service. For those ferrari owners who don't track their cars hard very often, care for them as a ferrari should be cared for and store their cars inside away from rough weather, I feel like servicing the belts every 3 to 5 years is probably unnecessary.

Unfortunately, it is this same obsession that pushes us to service our cars on this strict five year interval to be responsible and keep our cars safe from the slight chance of major engine damage. Knock on wood for us, but despite this talk, we all know our cars are getting the major soon if it has been over 7 years.

Here's a question though: how many folks on here have actually had belts break on them or know someone who has had their 355 belts break on them? We all talk about it, but lets hear some stories! I know of a few, but one was a very high mileage 360, not a 355. If your car has 50k miles on the original belts, you need a major. But if your car has 30k miles and has been driven only 5k miles since its last major, that's a different story IMHO.

 

When I bought my car with 9870 miles, it had 2 majors done in it's life. Both were done by the second owner over a 12 year and 3300 ish life span. I know he only did the last one (152 miles and 8 months prior to my purchase) to sell the car. I feel 3 years is overkill but I will do mine in 4-5 year intervals. It's not only belts and I plan to drive the car as much as possible (about 2k per year since I live in the northeast and have about 6 months per year of good weather). Given that, I want to keep my car well serviced and I'm installing a lift in a few weeks to do all of my own service.

 

Hello all. Nice to see this thread is still alive. Yes. My 355 is in the shop with parts due in today for it's major. I wil def. post pics of the old and new belts along with others stuff. I will repeat the major service history of my 355 as I understood. My car had a major in 04 at 30k. And is having one as we speak at 39k this being 2013. So, I negotiated this major in the price. I paid 41 usd. With this major and some cosmetics and upgrades I will be in the car for just under 54usd. In my humble opinion. I shouldn't have been driving the car at all. It was kinda like feeling as though I was standing on the edge of a cliff back to the water. Where with just one gust of wind and I would have gone over. This is a bit dramatic. But, I would bet that there are more than a few on here that are feeing the same way.....pics to come....KEEP THIS THREAD ALIVE as there are many of us that need to read this. Thanks everyone and to Petey for posting... or Petey for the thread prez....lol

 

I agree Steve. I think we are all just curious to see how the belts and bearings have held up for your car in the past 9 or so years. You did the right thing in getting your major done, no question. But I think it would be positive news to see your old belts and bearings in good shape after all this time because it will show us that the belts are not as fragile as we think as long as the car was driven and cared for as it should be. I bet your machine drives even better post service!

 

Yes I will post those. I am as curious as anyone obviously. There are lots that I am curious about when it comes to the condition of my engine. Oh. and I think we were debatingwithin this thread about wheather or not this service was going to enhnace the drivablity of the car or just provide piece of mind or both. Either way I am both excited and nervouse. Excited for obvious reasons. But, very nervous that we don't crack the egg and inside looks and smells hidious! Crossing fingers...

 

Those headers look to be in super shape...

 

Ha!! Thanks Steve!!

Here are some reference shots...
Old Belts vs New Belts...

outside of the new tensioners... you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference


The car is coming home tomorrow.... I probably wont get to drive it this weekend,
but I will report in on the "drivability" difference between "pre" and "post" major service as soon as I get her out for a ride
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WOW! Thanks. It looks incredible! The more you look at these engines the more you come to realize just what a magnificant piece of engineering they are.

 

Just a quick update with my major. We just got the parts in today. So, it will be Monday maybe Tues. We are going to save ALL the old stuff that comes off belts included. I will post a picture presentation for all of us to further discuss wear and tear relative to time and miles. . Anyone else have their old belts and stuff yet?

 

That's awesome Steve, we can't thank you enough for taking the time to share this info with us. Maybe starting a new thread with the updates from here on out would bring in some more ferrari chatters too with even more thoughts and ideas. Regardless of where you decide to put the updates, those of us on this thread look forward to it!

 

I would love to start a new thread for the presentation. Any ideas on a Headline? Thanks.

 

im glad to see most people beleive the 3 years for the major is excessive..

easy 5years.. is fine enough..

im looking at a 1997 355 Berlinetta in my area..

very well documented, with valve guides done..

last major was Aug 2009 with ~16k miles.
car is for sale and has just over 18k miles on it now..

if I buy the car, I will wait easy to late 2014 to do the next major.. potential even spring 2015. so thats 2 full summers before doing next service.

 

That sounds like an excellent plan. If you have the money by then go for it! Watch stevew's thread closely as well, you might gain some insight from his experience with his major service. I honestly think your 355 would be good till 2016, IMHO. If Steve's belts look great after 9 years, then that's good news for us. Of course, it also varies from car to car and on how each owner drives the car.

 

Hmm that's a good question. Maybe just something like "355 major service/belt analysis and review" . Or some variant? Just something that shows the folks it's not just another discussion on major servicing based on a zillion opinions. You're providing the real deal, independent look at a 355 major service including a look at the cambelts and driving impressions post service. This thread is gonna get sticky!

 

With Ferrari throwing out a one size fits all rule about 3 years for cam belts on all V8s it shows they didn't look at each model very carefully. And what incentive was there, it drove out of warranty work to their shops. With the majority of the cars on the road having timing belts that don't get changed over the course of their lifespan, on top of their recommendation often being around 100k miles lifespan, and the fact that failures are rare even then means Ferrari must have chosen an exceptionally poor quality belt or must have an exceptionally bad design that abuses the belts. I don't think either of those is true and either one would be correctable. It just doesn't pass the sniff test that our cars would get 1/3 the timing belt life of any other car.

What is in order here is some good old grad school type research, get the service records from all the dealers and independent shops and build your data model of the failures and lifespan experiences. Of course the obvious problem is that they have no interest in sharing that data to disprove the need for expensive service on a frequent basis. If it were a $1,500 Toyota longblock at risk this would not be up for discussion, a rebuild from a 355 timing belt failure is far more expensive so we go to the side of caution generally. I am settling on 4 or 5 years myself which is almost certainly more often than needed.

 

I have the cash to do a new service right away.. but im not going to spend it when its not needed..

in the meantime id rather swap in a Fabspeed exhaust and set of Fabspeed headers..
if the PPI shows current headers are ok.. Id do the exhaust first.. and then headers later on.

the oem 355 exhaust is a big garbage can, its ugly as hell.
and that stupid bread box muffler on the intake is rediculous.. it serves no use at all..

 

sorry which thread are you talking about..

 

I have a tubi on mine, the difference is amazing. As for Steve's thread, I meant the one he is going to start about the cambelt issue. His car is getting a major for the first time in 9 or so years and he will report how the belts have held up. I just meant that his report might influence you to wait even longer on your next major since it was done in 09 and if his belts are in good shape after all this time.

 

oh ok.. thats what I thought you meant afterwards.. yes I will keep my eye out for his thread on his findings..

was the car having issues/symptoms of problems.. or did he just decide it was time to finally do a Major..?

 

Yes, that is correct. Thread to come. I will try and regurgitate what my tech is saying. So, hopefully it comes out coherently as to not make me seem like an nut job. (damn I do alot of prefacing) "Steve, time is the worse enemy for these cars than miles. You would be more hard pressed to find a belt that snapped as opposed to it stretching. When they streatch it throws off the advance and the motor will run like crap. Yours is one of the weakest engines I have driven probably for that reason. I'm going to go ahead and leak it down and get it back where it needs to be." So, he doesn't think that there is much issue that a major won't cure. So, that being said. The driving impressions should be like night and day and I am looking forward to it. Because it is sounding like I really haven't experienced the way a 355 is supposed to run. So, when we are observing these belts for instance. What are we looking for? I don't think we will be able to tell much of anything except for maybe some cracking? So, what are we looking for? lol

 

I'd say we are just looking for cracks, fraying, the condition of the teeth on the belts...any sign of wear and tear. The beautiful thing is we are just now seeing for the first time on this thread pics of old vs new belts! Hope the major on your machine is going fantastic!