360 Cam Belts Change

Tim- There was a hydraulic tensioner update and an update for the bracket holding the auxiliary belts, but I do not see a bracket change. There was a bracket change on the V12s in late 1998.

Get him to show you in the parts catalog.

Ferrari 360 Modena Parts : Table 6 - TIMING - CONTROLS

 

I thought from what I read in the factory updates that they basically extended the hole that the bolt went through with some metal cylinder to give it a little more strength and hold in in alignment.. (could be remembering it inaccurately though)

I don't think my mechanic did it when I had the belts changed last. I wouldn't be surprised if it had been done prior.

 

Curt- I looked through the TBs I have, but did not see that one. Do you have a copy?

Whoops, I found it, Campaign 121, Left Bank Tensioner Bolt Replacement. Can change it from a PDF to a jpeg if someone would like to see it. Turns out I had a PDF with all the 360 TBs.

 

My bad. You're right. They went to a stronger bolt. Thought I seem to remember something about a new tensioner... hmmm...

 

Curt- There is a TB on the updated LH tensioner, but it was not a campaign. It just says if you replace that part with the newer part, one of the bushings has to be removed.

 

This is what I used for my 360 belts. The cost is very reasonable, relative to the alternatives. Thanks again for the heads-up.

 

I haven't tried this on my 360 yet, but when I did the belts on my Ducati (which also uses a certain frequency to determine the correct cam drive belt tension) I used a plug-in microphone connected to my laptop. I downloaded a free program to measure the frequency and after a bit if "strumming" and twiddling I achieved the correct tension.

My system wasn't very good at filtering out some of the harmonics and I had to try a couple of programs and several locations before I found the best place for the microphone. In other words, I had to hunt a little bit to find what I was looking for, but eventually I was able to get repeatable readings. Cost to me, since I already had the microphone on hand; ZERO. But I confess that I'd like to have the genuine Ducati tool or the Ferrari tool.

 

I had it done on my car on the last major. It is part 202786, part # 34 located on Ferrari 360 Modena Parts : Table 6 - TIMING - CONTROLS.

When talking with the tech, he said the old style was prone to failure. The exact wording on the invoice is, "Found that the LH hydraulic tensioner and mounting plate should be updated." Since they were already in there for a major, I did not get dinged on the additional labor.

Additional information found searching

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/technical-q/162521-360-tensioner.html
http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/139911791-post11.html

 

Before lots of owners start getting concerned about whether or not their car has has this upgrade and that campaign done it's worth noting that most cars in the zero to six years + part of their life-cycle, will have been main-dealer serviced and will have had these kinds of updates carried out.

If they weren't done in your case and they haven't failed yet then you probably don't have a problem part so.

 

Another way. Record the belt sound with your phone. Run a basic FFT app over the sound file. For instance https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fft/id298840058?mt=8
This should be as good as or better than your $250 tool.

 

I didn't realize that they had released a low cost tool in the past few years. When I last followed that subject the tool was about $2K.

 

John- Most of the tools have all kinds of features we do not need. Such as inputting all the belt specifics and the span length, etc. The Gates sonic tensiometer is usually available for less than $1K, but the MotoReva works at least as well and is just what we needed. Mikes and telephones notwithstanding.

Greg- The TB I have says that was not a campaign like the bolts and variators, just a note that it had changed and if used on an earlier 360 before engine number 83762, the bearing needed to be pushed out.

 

In my case, there was no indication of impending failure at 15k miles. They recommended replacing the part during the major and I erred on the side of caution.

 

I did a quick search and the iphone has a 24db / octave low pass filter that cuts off at about 250 hz and down. Plus "often we find that real-world mics get dirty or damaged in usage and performance degrades over time." Then there is the issue of the encoding and how that cuts low frequency and high frequency signals.

I believe the belts require something just over 200 hz per side (depending on the belts used). The limited response in the desired frequency range and the other issues means that the iphone may not perform well. Not saying you can't make something work but very questionable and probably not worth the trouble when the cost of a meter is pretty low.

 

- Attached is a draft of the procedure that I wrote, along with the associated spreadsheet

- My approach was to use as much of the Ferrari Workshop Manual (FWM) as possible; I tried to fill in some of the blanks

- THE SPREADSHEET HAS THREE TABS. It gives details about supplies, tools, fasteners, etc.

- The spreadsheet has hyperlinks (blue font) for further information; click on them to activate

- Any feedback from users (comments, pictures, etc.) will be considered to revise the draft

- A revised draft will be posted periodically, if there is interest

 

Just curious: Does the iphone have software to transform from time domain to frequency domain, and display the spectrum?

 

There are a few apps out there but I haven't seen any free ones yet. Then again, I didn't really look much either. Remember, I didn't suggest this approach. I suspect that it is more trouble than it is worth.

 

Steve- That looks very good. You should put it in the sticky above. Did you have the tools like 3207 referenced in the doucment?

 

Steve, Great job! Easy to follow... Wrench/ socket sizes, all the little tips, excellent! Nice as your oil service write-up! Thanks for doing this. #7 at the start made me laugh. We'll done!

Ed

 

Thanks for your note.

I tried to put details about supplies, tools, and "How To" tips in the spreadsheet, instead of in the procedure. Under the tools tab, I did reference the 3207 (with a hyperlink), along with other tools.
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Thanks for your note.

If the procedure saves others from some of the pitfalls that I encountered, I'll consider it worth the effort (which was considerable).

At the end of the procedure, there are notes about potentially better ways to install the new timing belts. I'm hoping that someone will do a little experimenting and let me know if any of the ideas work.