355 Valve Guides - Poll

Hi Guys - as I've mentioned a couple times, I'm looking for a 355. There's a lot said about 355 valve guides, but it's hard to really tell and add up what the true problem was/is. The only printed info I have on the issue is the *********** F355 Buyer's guide, which says that the valve guide issue, resulting in increased oil consumption, was a problem for approx 20% of '95s, and a small number of '97s and '98s. They say the problem would have shown up in the first year or two of ownership and likely all have been repaired.

Since I've heard a lot of ongoing concern expressed on various forums about valve guides on 355's. I'd appreciate, and think others would also appreciate too, if we could have current or previous owners post their ACTUAL FIRST HAND experience with 355 VALVE GUIDE PROBLEMS, requiring valve guide replacement.

So the question is, how many owners have personally had their valve guides replaced DUE TO EXCESSIVE OIL CONSUMPTION, or other PROBLEMS TRACED TO BAD VALVE GUIDES? I'm not asking about guides replaced during a complete overhaul (I'd do that too), or because someone was worried that they might fail, or replaced because a dealer said they may cause a problem later and would be a good idea to replace. Also, does anyone have any Ferrari literature on the valve guide issue?

Please just relate first-hand knowledge for your car, (or first-hand knowledge of another owner's valve guide problems would count also). I'm hoping to get some facts here, and not possible repetition of 2nd hand stories.

THANKS (er, Thanks) I appreciate it, and hope it will help others interested in 355s also.

Rick

 

Thanks Robbie - I did some prelim. checking, and see there are threads back to 2004 at least, so I'll have to digest all of the posts.

Not sure I understand the lumber F50-looking boat. Is that just a real boat made to look like an F50, or a Photoshop special?

Rick