348 Cam Belts !!

Search the archives there is plenty of info on this.

 

Firstly, there's only one cambelt on a 348.

Next, it is one of the more tricky belts to fit correctly. Get all manuals and tech info, or get experienced tech to do it very carefully.

There's a few things to check too......belt drive gear bearings, water pump, oil leaks etc

 

Earlier 348 has a single cambelt but later ones have two belts or they do on uk spec ones

 

cpdred

Uhhhhhhhhhh dude put the bottle down. LOL. your thinking of the 355's. None of the 348's had two cam belts. The 355's went back to using two belts because the one belt on the 348's streched too much. How ever, IF, you can show me a manual from a 348 that says and shows otherwise, I welcome the correction. But I still say you have been poisoned and are loosing your mind. Man that Irish whiskey is some strong stuff. Hahahaaaaa.

 

Only one cambelt on 348. I get amused when someone suggests searching archives, that facility is next to useless, at least it has been anytime I've ever needed it.

 

What I think "cpdred" is getting mixed up with is the early 348's (motor type 119D) had a different bearings fitted in the timing chest compared to the later 348's (motor 119G). The bearing size was increased to give longer durability, both engine types used the same cam-belt, but the 119D engine had to have the belts replaced every 2 years where-as the 119G engine was on a 3 year belt change.


MW

 

sorry guys completly on the wrong car your right i hang my head in shame

 

MW - am I to understand that the 348 belt change needs to occur every two to three years? I was under the impression (apparently erroneously) that it was a five year or fifteen thousand mile interval similar to most other Fcars.
Thank you,
phil

 

Oh boy here we go.

Okay the deal with the belts is use. If you drive the car alot, oh lets say 10-15k miles a year, sooooo, in three years your looking at 30,000-45,000 miles on a belt, right in the neighborhood of what the books say. However, the books conflict one another. The owners manual says to change the belts at 52,500 miles, yet the work shop manual says 30,000 miles. But in my opinion the biggest problem is the bearings. Lets face it Ferrari cuts corners were they can, and they sure did it with the bearings. As ferrari_uk_tech pointed out they changed the bearings in the cars. The older cars had problems with the tensioner bearings and the bearing for the timing chain, yes timing chain. The factory did an update for the later model cars. I can tell you first had that the bearings in the earlier cars suck. I changed out my old bearings and you could hear and feal the bearings move. There should be no pay at all. As he says they went to a larger diamiter bearing. One of the reasons they do this is because of heat. We all know that heat and rubber do not mix well. With a larger bearing there is more surface area, meaning that there is more time for the bearing to disipate heat. It also mean that there is a larger area to carry the load of the tention placed on the belt and the bearing. It just makes life for the belt and the bearing a little bit easier. Back to the belt. I realy feel that people change out there belts way too fast, based on hype. Now of you have a 1992 348, that only has 15,000 miles on it, what you need to look at is time more than mileage. The belt has been under tention for over a decade. It also has had that amount of time to deteriorate. It is more likely to bust than a new belt that is only, oh lets say, two years old but with 30,000 miles on it. The hype comes in when people here of cars having the belts changed at X amount of miles, but don't look at how long the belt has been on the car. So if the car just sits and is hardly driven I would say the belt should be changed between 3 - 5 years. If the car is driven then the belt should be changed between 30,000 - 52,500 miles. Oh another thing about the belts. They do stretch. In a street driven car this stretch isn't a big deal. But if you race the car, that stretch can cause a minute change in the timing, which will result in a change in the power. So I feel that is why some recomend you change the belt so offent. It is so that when your are racing you can extract every little once of power that you can from the engine. Anyway that is just my two cents worth.

 

This has been discussed many times before and everyone has their own views on time / mileage criteria when it comes to replacing the timing belts.
The European service handbooks state that the cam-belt is replaced every 2 years / 25000 miles for the early 348's.

As stated above more often than not the reason for a belt failure is due to the failure of the tensioner bearing not mileage / age.

Anyway why risk wrecking an engine for the sake of spending a few $$$$



MW

 

fabbsy

In responce to you original question, I have done my own engine out major service. It isn't that hard, and you will run into some frustration. But that happens even changing the oil. You do need to take your time. Especially on the valves. The engine can be removed without the use of a lift, however you will need two floor jacks that can lift a minumum height of 20", and some sort of dolly for the engine to sit on. There IS info on how to remove the engine in the archives. I know cause I already posted about it. You will need a manual, but the manual doesn't tell you how to pull the engine. It only gives you the specs and what to do after the engine is out. In a nut shell, an engine is still an engine. Don't let the name scare you. If you have some mechanics helping you, don't worry about it, you'll be just fine. Now go pull that engine.

 

Don't forget to look in the old ferrarichat archives.