35,000 miles and 11+ years on belts!

Interesting, thanks Mike.

Greg

 

When I did my 308's a about year ago they were also about 10 years old and had only 5k miles on them.I examined them and they looked almost like new when I took them off.

 

I did my 308 30K major in '01. 13 years and 12,000 miles. Similar in that the belts that came off looked new. No timing issues.

How long can you reasonably go before interval change? I think it's safe to say 3 yrs./3000 miles is making the dealers alot of money!

 

My buddy just changed the timing belts on his Audi A6 for the first time at the factory recommended 103,000 miles!!

 

6 years and now I am going to have REPLACE the motor in my 348... I guess the 308's are a lot my hearty then the 348's when it comes to belt life.

 

doing a service right now on a 98 355F1..all original..factory belts still on the car...conditon is not good...27.000km. Can;t find my camera or i would post pics..

 

Thanks for that. Anyone know if V12 belts wear out faster than V8 belts?

 

Mike, you may want to just put a plug in place of that broken pipe.

 

good question. kind of like other things, yeah, you might be able to go that long without replacing them, BUT if they do break, you'll have MAJOR problems. I think 11 years was living on borrowed time and a little risky.

 

Likewise, never used them. When 2 of the rear ones rusted off I welded the hole closed but when a front one went I removed the header and had a machine shop remove the rusted pieces. Then I but the correct size plugs in so it could be put back to origional if anyone wanted to in the future.

 

I use analyzer pipes all the time. For people that know how exhaust analysis is one of the most valuable diagnostic tools available and that is why Ferrari put them there.

On the 5/8 bank installing a new set will be expensive and time consuming. It is also a very real pain in the butt even with the exhaust manifold in your lap because the new analyzer manifold for that bank is not only very expensive, it is incorrectly made and the tube spacing is wrong.

Also the fact that they break off and plug up constantly is because they used the wrong material and they corrode badly from the inside out.

Bottom line: Great idea, poor execution.

 

When I bought it, my '78 308 had only about 5000 miles (but almost 10 years!) on the belts. I negotiated the price of the service into the deal and took delivery of the car AT the shop where the seller and I agreed to have the work done.

While the belts still looked almost perfect after all those years, one of the tensioners came apart in the tech's hand when he removed the belt... so my fears were well justified.

Bill

 

Been there. Done that. Welded one. Replaced one.

 

Sorry, but that's no proof that the tensioner was bad.

Tensioner bearings are very fragile while the two inner races aren't solidly clamped together. When the inner races aren't clamped, the only thing holding the tensioner together is the two plastic seals in the outer race. Even new ones will come apart in your hands with surprisingly little force.

One of the more common first time tensioner installation errors is to start pushing it on, getting it stuck because the first race to go on is cocked a bit, then trying to pull it off by the outside of the bearing: Instant expensive handfull of loose bearings, races, & seals!

 

a costumer of ours has a mondial T with less than 10.000 km on it and has never replaced the belts, he ordered them (2 years ago)and we have them but he never broutgh the car to service, still wainting for him, HOPE THEY DON'T BREAK

 

the dealer told me my 03 360 just bought with 1600 miles onit and with the "book" calling for belt change no longer than 36 months,I should probably change it in that time period but he feels the belts are the same as on every other car and should last for many more years than that. the reasonfor 3year dateing is probablyto get the dealers more income. sad situation as the cost apparently is over $4000.

 

It's good to hear stories like these. What sucks is when you go to sell the car, just about the only thing that matters are the belts. Mine were done over three years ago, and after 7000 miles they're still in great shape.

 

Then he's lucky. Lots of VAG engines don't make it to the prescribed limit - some of the earlier belt tensioners were "spawn of the devil"! Its been so bad that there's been a class action against Audi in the states for belt failures - and they are paying out.....

I.

 

Is there still visible evidence of where it had to be welded? I may be the only one interested in that comment, but I'd like to see a pic of where to inspect mine at !

 

I guess I dont get the point of this thread. Mike, your a FCA member, and a Fchat administrator, are you now advocating that we all go 11 years and 35K miles on 308 belts? The engines in an airliner are required to be replaced with overhauled units at perscribed hourly intervals regardless of how well they are running, in an effort to prevent a failure. Perhaps some of you would feel just as safe flying on one if they extended that hourly rate 3000 hours past the Time Before Overhaul limit prescribed by the engine manufacturer? I would not.

Just because something goes farther than it was supposed to, does not automatically push the limit up for all the other parts produced. For example, you could use rope or chain. When you buy it new it is marked on the package as to maximum test strength, and working load. Working load may only be 1/4 to a 1/3 of its actual test strength. But any rope or chain that has exceeded its working load to anywhere near its test strength, is automatically rejected by industry because its now weaker.

There have been so many belt failures on these cars, and those failures have brought financial ruin to some, to the point of selling the car and leaving Ferrari forever, that I think we should all rise up and admit that the darn belts do in fact break and agree they need changing at a shorter interval. This is what I would recommend to anyone I knew or who asked my opinion about a Ferrari.

A month and a half ago a 348 owned by a Fchatter stripped a belt in Miami. bent all the valves, many thousands of dollars to fix, maybe no car all summer. He initially thought of just dumping the car.

A week ago a 355 with 18K miles and 7 years since service stripped a belt. many more thousands of $$$$$ and probably no car to drive all summer.

Two months ago Spirot, a Fchatter in Atlanta, stripped a belt on a 308 with about the same mileage and time as the 355. Cost him a lot of money and over two months with no car. He fixed it himself, car is for sale.

R. Lyndsey from the old Flist striped a belt on a 308 that was about 4 years and 14K miles from service. Cost him over $15K and six months without the car, and he sold the car never to own a Ferrari again.

The belts dont generally break, they shear off teeth, and probably from aggressive throttle from low speed. Dont matter, they ruin motors. At high speed they can destroy an engine beyond repair. I wish more people would just admit it happens and stop trying to push the envelope in an attempt to get unknowing people to follow them. I am sorry to vent but this "my belt lasted longer than yours" issue really isnt helping anyone.

 

a chain is as strong as its weakest link

so i rather not take chances on belts from the "stronger links"(the guys with the older belts)

better safe than sorry