Considering a 1990 348 TS

I would like to add that I actually quite like the dash / buttons on the 348ts, even though the guy in the video kinda slammed them.

Ray

 

Dude, between the 360 cam thread and here, you're really not doing yourself any favors here. Maybe calm down a bit, take a breather.

 

I hear ya man. People have no sense of humor around this place anymore.

The 360 cam dude is straight up nuts if you ask me and on the fast track to blowing up his motor. I blocked him and that thread. I hope his pistons and valves survive, but I think it's a coin flip.

And over here... my god, don't even hint that the 348 might not be the best Ferrari ever made.

Ray

 

We're not... but it's certainly undeserving of the myth that continues to be spread about 34 years later.

 

I think you're correct. After watching some more YouTube videos and doing a bit more research into it, I think you are right. Perhaps my friend (the one who used to be the General Manager of Ferrari here in town) was exaggerating his stories a bit regarding the mayhem which unfolded when the 348 was released. Next time I see him, I'll ask about that.

But just based on reading and seeing some of the honest reviews on YouTube, I can see why someone would want a 348. I actually really loved that particular car when I was in my mid 20's. The sound maybe isn't quite as sharp as the 355 at redline, but it's a hell of a lot better than the 488 GTB I owned - that's for absolute certain.

Anyway, I can admit when I'm wrong. I think in this case I was. I hope I didn't dissuade the OP too much from getting his dream car.

Ray

 

It's all good. The people who have them will cheer the hardest FOR them. I cheer even harder for the '89s with their normal seatbelts, and quirky other first build stuff.

The people that hate them (owner #1 of my car) never drove them. I think it's critical to use them once or twice a week at a minimum. By 2007, my car only had 10k miles. by 2017 when I got it it had 20k. I'm sneaking up on 30.

sjd

 

Yeah, I totally agree. I think not driving your Ferrari is a fast track to major service issues down the road. I'd much rather buy a used Ferrari with 20K miles on it than 2K miles. However, with that said, I do happen to own a 33 year old Toyota pickup and let me tell ya... 30+ years of age gets into everything. I don't think there's a nut, bolt, seal, gaskets, wire or electrical connector that hasn't demanded my attention at least once on that truck. I love it, but my god.. can't we all just get along? I have a new set of pistons sitting on my desk right now waiting to go into the Toyota. Some days it seems like it's never ending.

I hope the OP either has a good set of tools or that whoever is going through the car he's looking at really makes sure it's a good starting point for him.

Ray

 

I wrench on my neighbor's 360 for him occasionally and I think it has something like 68,000 miles on it. Runs like a top.

Ray

 

I had a 348 Challenge for a decade.

The bad: sticky bits, HVAC controls and electronics, mouse belts, starter circuit, water pump as idle bearing, plastic timing belt covers breaking and leading to major disasters, gearbox bearings, Kluber grease flywheel, triple seals madness, gearbox mount at the top, two ECUS to take out with the engine, Teves ABS system NLA, hidden AC fuse catching on fire, needs an engine out every 5 years.

The good: You love the car, it's a Ferrari.

 

Why would there be gearbox bearing failures, same gearbox as the Mondial t which was a heavier car?

The Teves ABS NLA could be a real problem in keeping these on the road. As yet there is no rebuilder I am aware of, and internal parts and seals would need to be reproduced for what would a be a very small market.

 

@ernie , where you at?

 

That may be a long time ago, but I owned a 348 tb for a few years - I had an issue with the gearbox, I think the cable system did not make a very good job at selecting the gears and it ended up eating some pinions.
Apart from that - and although I crashed the car under heavy rain, which was mostly my fault - I think the 348 is far from being as bad as has been later reported.
However, I would strongly advise to take a tb over a ts - I tested a ts to replace my tb, and the lack of stiffness was really terrible; nowadays, CAD may help to work around the lack of rigidity implied by the partial top removal, but at the time it was clearly a case of throwing in some body reinforcements and praying for some positive results - which did not come...

 

Is that owner error in that you could not feel shift quality degradation and then intercept the failure?? I'm not accusing just asking. We all know poor adjustment is poor shift quality. We take pains to adjust this . There are even threads here on people cleaning and lubricating the cables inside their sheaths.

The 348 gearbox was not a problem. Ferrari was the problem. After we in the aftermarket identified and fixed Ferrari's failings the gearboxes are miraculously bulletproof. It would be hard to imagine a 348 all these years later without the gearbox addressed. And the fix was easy done during the engine out service and took cost no new parts. The problem was Ferrari's universal failure to stake the lockrings and take no responsibility for it. In fact they totally ignored the issue with replacement at huge money their answer. All we did was fix the boxes that failed and prevented other boxes from failing simply by torquing the lockrings and staking them properly.

 

Indeed after all this time, all existing cars should have met / solved the issue... for the record, my gearbox failed a very short time after I bought my (used) 348; I lost a few gears. My car was bought from a Ferrari dealer but with no warranty (that was possible at the time, apparently) but they took half the price of the repair.

 

I've owned my 90 ts now for around 12 years and am as pleased with it now as the day I purchased it. Probably more as I took the opportunity to play "catch up" on the maintenance as the car came with no records. Any reasonably competent diy'er can do the wrenching on the car and removing the engine is quite easy to perform with a couple of trolley jacks in half a day. I would highly recommend the 348 for it's simplicity and wonderful steering

 

Here I is.

I’ll chime in a bit later.

 

Somewhere in this electronic ether, I recall a rant.


Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat.com mobile app

 

with rants come knowledge...

sjd

 

Have to save that one.

 

255 is better yep no doubt but has its issues and challenges that is irrefutable many the 348 does not have and never will. The video below, jump to 12:00 min and 13:50 min specifically.

 

Please don't make me watch Doug DeMuro

I did just watch the 12:00 and 13:50 sections. Nice. I'll go back and watch the full video tonight. Thanks for sharing the link.

Ray

 

Wow!!! I sincerely thank you all. This is why I posted this. I wanted to hear real life experiences, from all perspectives. The good, bad & the Ugley (sorry Clint) A little background on my Ferrari experience. I have owned a, 85, 308 GTS, and an 86, 328 GTS. Combined for nearly 10 years. I have considered the 355, and 360. But with current market prices for a 6-speed manual! (I will not do an auto / F1) This places it way; way more than I would like to commit to. And this is why I have been considering a 348. Again, thank you very much for all the input, opinions and firsthand experiences.


Best regards

 

Okay time for me to chime in.

To save me time I will simply cut and paste an old post of mine.

"I have said it before and I’ll say it again.
When you buy a 348 you get an uncut, unpolished, dull, “ugly” little raw stone, a diamond in the rough. Ferrari did NOTHING to make the 348 the gem of a car that it can be. That is why so many of the truely uninformed put down the 348. They do not know what truely lies in their hands. That dull little “ugly” stone is actually a genuine diamond. The problem is because it is not a refined “jewel” out of the box they piss on it. The “ugly duckling” of the Ferrari world remains the best kept little secret among those of us in the know.

The F119 is a potent little engine. It is my opinion that Ferrari deliberately detuned the F119 so that the 348 wouldn’t show up it’s bigger brother, the Testarossa. The throttle bodies are tiny, the intake valves are tiny, the plenums are too small, the intake runners too small, the ID of the MAFs are small, the tubing from the MAF to the TB gets smaller, the cams are ground way too conservative, the rpm limit is too low, the exhaust system (especially the dual cans) is restrictive, and the airbox design is restricting. Why? Because had Ferrari made the F119 to it’s full potential it would have been a 400hp+ engine all day long, and it would have laided the smack down with it’s track times vs the Testarossa. So the F119 got choked off big time. But that is just my opinion.

Want a raw diamond that you don’t pay jewelry store prices for, that is what you get with a 348. It is not jem quality ready to be mounted to a wedding ring, but it is none the less a legit diamond. It is up to you, the owner, to turn it into the jewel of a Ferrari it can, and should be.

*mic drop*"

 

Now for the original question, the biggest things you need to look out for in a 348 is:

1) Gearbox oil pump bearing and ring nut. Matter of fact, ALL the outer bearings and ring nuts in the gearbox.
2) Triple seals and throw out bearing. Easily remedied with new seals and a Hill Engineering TO Bearing
3) Hidden fuse under the trunk liner. Easy fix with a larger fuse and rewire (instruction can be found here on FChat)
4) Cambelt tensioner bearing, idler bearings, and drive pulley fence. Again Hill Engineering has the solution for the bearings.
5) Water pump. Ferrari Pilot made a new and vastly improved water pump. Sadly though he is no longer making them because of Chinese knockoffs.
6) The T55 connectors in the engine wiring harness/s need to get repined with junior power timer pins. (Instruction can be for here on FChat).
7) New set of ECU Eproms because the old Eprom material degrades and doesn't function well. (again instruction of the DIY can be found here on FChat)

By now most of that stuff should have been addressed already by prior owners.

 

5). There are rebuild kits now available with new seals for stock pumps.

sjd