355 buying questions in regards to their issues.

Some people here love to over-complicate things (mainly so they can convince you that their particular choice was the right one), but it's really dead simple:

Decide the spec YOU want (it's your money after all), then

Buy the best one you can afford. That means condition, history, service records etc.

Enjoy!!

Job done

 

I may be in the minority here, but I wouldn't run a leakdown test unless something shows up on the compression test or there is a misfire or something else indicating there is a problem. The reason being you could find issues that don't exist - there is recent evidence on this board of two different shops running a leakdown and getting different and conflicting results as people have different tools and run at different pressures. It opens up a whole can of worms, imo. You run the leakdown to see why you have low compression, not to see if there is an issue or not in the first place. Ymmv, but some food for thought.

And Dave is a brave man performing a leakdown on a car that has no problems. I think he likes to create more work for himself .

 

Compression test first. If there is a suspect cylinder/s, then a leakdown to get an idea of where the lack of compression is coming from.

On these cars it seem as if is the poor compression and higher leakage % comes from improperly seating valves. In reality, on any engine the leakage could be from the valves or rings/liners.

Someone with experience could tell you if the leakage is coming from the top or bottom of the cylinder. In the car that Dave posted the video of, you could hear the leakage hissing in the exhaust, therefore exhaust valve leakage.

 

Pete, it's all about continued education and curiosity. I bought my car with a fresh major done at Algar 252 miles prior to my purchase. I did not do a PPI, I did my own inspection. No comp. or lead down test.

Admittedly, I know far more about these cars now then I did then and I would know more to look for such as CV boots, etc. Although, the CV boot's were addressed at the major.

The best way to learn about these cars is to work on them and to me, that's another great way to enjoy them.

 

OMG dude, just go buy a perfect car with 3000 miles for $750000. Your worse than a woman!

 

Neither will identify bad headers, that would be detected either audibly (a ticking noise at idle) or by a smoke tester.

I would run the compression test first which is usually SOP, run it 2 or 3 times on one cylinder first to verify that you get the exact same reading each time (to rule out equipment or procedure errors), then measure all of the other cylinders. If any cylinder is off by more than 5% of the others, I would re-measure to verify a consistent reading and proceed with leakdown on that cylinder and see if I could determine where the leaking is coming from. This is usually audible - ie if you hear hissing coming from the exhaust, it's exhaust valves, if you hear hissing from the intake, it's intake valves, if you hear hissing from the oil fill or from the center of the engine (and not from the intake or exhaust), it's the liner or rings. If it is from the valves and the car has not been driven frequently or is low miles, I would see if the owner is willing to give it an Italian tune-up and then re-measure to see if anything changed. If no change, then you are looking at a valve job. If the results change, then there's a possibility the engine just needs exercise and/or a good top-end clean. There's also the case that if a whole bank is low, it could simply be valve timing on that bank and not a mechanical issue at all. So you have to be able to interpret the results somewhat.

The reason I would be wary is that these cars seem to get misdiagnosed fairly often. In fact the history of my car has a glaring example. It came into the shop for a large amount of maintenance (prior to my ownership) and had a misfire. The shop ran the standard leakdown test, found a cylinder down and diagnosed valve guides. It went in for a full top end rebuild (and major service etc.) at a cost of around $20k. They put it back together and it still had a misfire! So, they rebuilt the injectors and misfire fixed. I have no way of knowing at this point, but the culprit all along could have been the bad injector that carboned up that cylinder and fouled the plug. Had they simply replaced the injector and given the car an Italian tune up, it may have been fine but they immediately went down the valve guide route. It could be that it needed them anyway, who knows at this point, and who knows how many other cars have gone down that route unnecessarily. It does make me question some of the procedures that are taken as gospel with these cars.

I am not a parts replacer, I do my best to diagnose an issue fully before replacing anything, and stuff like the above drives me nuts.

 

Haaa trolling, I own one. whos the troll.

 

popcorn...

 

This coming from a troll that has been here for years and has more posts than most moderators yet still asks the most basic questions! Talk about troll. At least in your time here you figured out the ignore button. Nice work. With all your manic concerns, I vote you go buy a NSX so we don't have to read all your complaint posts in the future.

 

Dude would you say to this to me if I sold my 348 and jumped to the 550 section because that is what I was looking for next? You are too harsh. This is a helpful zone not a trashing talk one. Straighten up and be helpful. We 348/355 and all Ferrari owners do not need to add to an elitist reputation. Just some friendly advice, brother.

 

Needed to be said. +1

 

I put F1moving on ignore. It's so nice not to have to read his drivel. Except when people quote it then I see it. If everyone put him on ignore no one would respond to his ignorant musings and maybe he would just quit being that way.

 

I don't see why some are picking on F1moving. You can read any number of 355 threads and see that he is not the only one. He is just the first one to speak up on this thread and people want to treat him like a leper? The way I see it the 355 has very high horsepower/liter and the highest "special people"/liter of any of the Ferrari models. There is something very unique about the 355 and some of the people it attracts. The vast majority are just enthusiastic carguys. But some would elevate any discussion into a "holy war". That makes the banter here is very entertaining.

 

I've been one of the enthusiastic car guys forever. I love everything with 4 wheels and want to make them run and look as good as they possibly can while driving the crap out of them.

I have muscle cars, a 5th gen Camaro SS, a 348, 355, and two messed up 360s that will become one driver when I get the time.
That said I'm so over these people who come here just to bully, pick, and bait the 355 owners. I'll call them out and call it how I see it. f1moving didn't contribute to this thread in one single way other then to throw BS at the OP and try to stir him up. He apparently couldnt comprehend that ssnistr had been here for ten years and had 7000 posts because he owned a 328 and was an active member involving those cars for years. He's interested in the 355 so he came here to learn. Pretty simple. I plan to own a 308 and a 328 in the future but I'm not over there learning about them right now. When it comes time I'll go over there and ask "simple" questions that are known to them but not me. I just hope I have someone like F1moving there to tell me how stupid I am every other post without helping at all.

 

Brian, I agree with every word. But please also remember that FBB does the exact same thing which is the reason for his post - to stir the pot.

 

Why fan the flames guys? Just let it go.

Op, good luck in your search. There are plenty of good cars out there and the patience pays off when you find a good one. There are very few cars that can match the experience of a 355 on-song, and even fewer that sound as good doing it, at any price. Unfortunately, the 355 is in the realm of cars that really need to be on a closed course to fully experience them. You can have fun on the roads, but the track is where they really come alive and you can experience the sublime balance they possess. If you push the handling to where you get the car dancing on the roads, you are well into the reckless driving category and easily at speeds that will destroy both you and the car if you go too far or if you encounter something on the road. The car is best experienced at 90% or above it's abilities; I don't take it past 70% on the street as there are too many things that can go wrong at too high a speed.

When I first got the car, I would take it for a ride on the great roads around my house and had to turn around and park it and give myself some time to cool off, I was just going way too fast! The sound of the engine as it goes past 8000rpm is something I just could not get enough of. I believe the best analogy I've read was like 'the devil's chainsaw cutting through silk.' Makes me want to go take it for a drive right now thinking about it .

 

What I have realized is the people that call it like it is get chastised here. They are like a bunch of women around here that think it but too afraid to say it. This guy didn't even know sport seats were rare! Come on man, get a clue. But I guess 7000+ posts of a$$ kissing gets you the popularity vote to start stupid threads but yet shows you have learned absolutely nothing.

 

Please..just buy a 550. The 355 can collapse your wallet and love for Ferrari overnight. The 550 will be Cheaper to own over the long run. It's a better car.