1997-99 F355

Start by reading any thread here starting with those in the master sticky - this is such a regular question to which effectively there is no conclusive answer

 

Valve guide problems and manifold cracks affect all years of 355s. It's a five valve motor that revs to 8500 rpm. You can't worry about it. Get a compression and leak down test done and inspect the exhaust manifolds. There are always gonna be maintenance issues with any ferrari. They are high performance machines that require more maintenance than most cars. Enjoy the hunt and have fun!

 

+1

Robb

 

Echo,
I took almost two weeks to read every single post, and still did not get a definitive answer. But I did buy the car.

 

You can never get a definitive answer on valve guides.. Its a 8500rpm motor? ok why do some people get them done in the first 20k and drive them another 60k without a issue? If they are failing in the first 20k because its a high RPM engine why dont they need done every 20k? Some say inferior metal was used in earlier engines, what years? What was the changes in the replacement guides? For every explanation of metal upgrades there will just as many people swearing thats B.S. The shop manager at Ferrari of Washington told me last month Ferrari never made inferior valve guides for the 355. WTF? Read all you want all you will get is speculation. Like a cpl guys said get a leak down test if there good drive it when they go bad replace them...Thats the only real world answer you can ever hope for..you will never get a definitive answer on what motor oil to use let alone something like valve guides..guys on here will argue over what operating temp the car should be at on the highway to 5 degrees difference...If you spend too much time here you will start to think its about to explode any min and wont want to drive it...enjoy it. It's a car metal bolts and glass and wire. Not a crystal watch

 

HEADERS...

They will fail Rest Assured...mine did around the 60K mile marker.
They were replaced with Fabspeed, lost a little of that high end pitch.

I drove 55 thousand miles before an engine out. Im now at 80K, now that its been completely serviced, hopefully will go another 70K till next service

 

echo220: Did you read this post?
ferrarichat.com/forum/348-355-sponsored-bradan/5554-95-f355-valve-guides-fact-vs-fiction.html
Isn't this the answer to your valve guide question?

 

mine failed at 16k miles on my 1995 spyder,........it is what it is.......I just bought a 1999 Berlinetta, the 355 is worth the small percentage of issues IMO.

 

Replacement guides were sintered steel, not the bronze guides installed originally. I haven't seen any reports of repeat failures. Could be some that were repaired in-period with another set of bronze guides. My car was done at 26k miles in 2005 I believe, now has 53k. Headers are still original. ymmv. I don't worry about it, I just drive the piss out of it and will fix as needed. No big deal. If it bothers you, buy one that's had them repaired, most seem to have at this point if they're going to be a problem.

 

The official work from Ferrari was that all cars after assembly number 27689 have newer guides. These guides became available for replacement in older cars by Feb, 1998.

 

The OP asked about 97-99 models... Read down your saying it was improper seating and before the bottom of the page Bobzdar is saying the originals were bronze and thats a different story. I was told two weeks ago by Ferrari of Washingtons shop manager the 355 no matter what year ever had bronze guides. johnk is saying they used a different material after assemble # 27689, Ferrari told me theres no way to tell by looking at the Vin #, some of this could be right...some has to be wrong. I see why the OP didnt get an answer from the search...no one is getting a definitive answer here either...

 

This is what I know:
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johnk I'm not doubting what you say but like almost every other question I see asked on this forum theres going to be people that swear its wrong and produce different documents and someone like me I just get confused and want to go buy a toyota (toyota is an exageration but you get what I mean. Nospeedlimit posted a thread that was supposed to to be the know all end all of this controversy and all it did was add more...again thats why I hate it when people flame on somebody for starting a new thread when a search is usually worthless...or as in this case so is starting a new thread anyway

 

and with that production number how many 355's were built with the correct valve guides from the factory?

 

Where is the assembly number on a May 1998 GTS?

 

That's because everybody has heard one rumor or another or is just saying what he thinks. I'm not claiming anything. I presented a document from FNA. It's no sweat off my balls. But I do understand where you are coming from. People here will swear that they worked on a car with assembly number higher than that in the doc I posted (which has been posted before) and that it had bronze guides. But, no matter who they are or what their credentials are, they never provide any documentation that it was indeed the case. That doesn't mean they aren't correct. Just never documented. So what do you believe? And you can never be sure with Ferrari either. For example, I have a 95 spider. If you look at the secondary air pump my car has the one that has a separate pump and filter. But according to the replacement parts list, based on the assembly number of my car it should have the newer pump with integral filter. And it's not like it's off by a little. My car is assembly 19815. The new pump was supposed to be fitted to all cars after 19130. So there is probably some truth to the statement that there is no way to tell for sure which guides are in your car. But based on that document there is probably good reason to assume that 95 through 97 car have bronze guides from the factory. And since US 98 model year cars could have been produce any time after Jan 97 (though not likely that early), I would not be surprised to see some 98s with bronze too.

 

Basically, they just used up the parts that were in the parts supply line. Whichever line they were in. And there were probably two or three. I wouldn't bet $0.02 on the ass. # being definitive. For any manufacturer! (And then someone found an extra box of guides in the bottom of a drawer!)

 

That's dated Dec '97 so for sure they were making '98's by then. There have been lots of rumors that the cutoff wasn't exact; that some of the fiorano edition cars, which were the very last cars made, even had bronze guides. I stand by what I said, if you want to be sure then buy a car that's had them done or stick a scope in the intake and see if you can tell the material. That our just drive the car and fix them if they go bad.

 

Yep, that's just one of the many rumors that have been reported here. If that's what you choose to believe so be it. It might even be true, or it might not be.

Then the next thing you have to ask is if the guides were replaced, what were the new ones made of? Is sintered steel really steel? What are the pros and cons of stainless steel valve stems riding in steel guides? Cast iron? Manganese-bronze (good)? Phosphorous-bronze (bad)?

 

The assembly number is located on the driver side rear shock tower (RHD cars)

 

But when did they start making 98? 98 model year cars would normally be showing up in dealers in October 97 and produced when? September? August? Certainly before December 97.

And do we need more rumors? Anyone here own a Fiorano?

 

I cannot confirm or deny, however, I have read that cars outside that assembly number have been found with bronze guides and it's suggested the factory did not do a good job of parts segregation. Having worked for GM and having been involved (not my fault) with a few spills, that stuff happens.

 

John, my car is MY 1998, Janurary 98 build, assembly number 28459