92' 348 engine whining noise after timing belt replacement...

When you had the major done did they also change the tentioner and idler bearings?

As for the belt being over tightend, I doubt that is the case. The tention on the timing belt is done via the spring inside the sleeve for the tentioner. Then the retaining bolt gets tightend to hold it in place. There is a hole in the front of the timing belt cover that gives access to the retaining bolt, but I wouldn't mess with it. You will create more of headache for yourself than leaving it alone.

What you need to do is find where exactly the "whining" noise is coming from.

It could be that your gear box is running low on oil. That would create a whine due to the gears no being fully lubricated.

You could be low on oil.

One of the radiator fans could be on it's way out.

It could also be the tentioner bearing for the alternator making noise.

Or, the a/c pump going on the fritz.

Or, is could be something more sinister like the bearing for the engine oil pump, and crank timing chain, yes I said timing CHAIN, going out.

But you really need to find out exactly where the noise is coming from and then take it from there.

 

On a side note, did you ever get your parking break adjusted?

 

For $24 you can purchase an automotive stethoscope at your local parts store. This tool will let you narrow down the area of the whine sound.

 

It's located on the right hand front side of the belt cover. But that is not your problem. The only thing that hole does is give you access to the retaining bolt that holds the tentioner bearing in place after the proper tention has been placed on the belt. In my opinion the access hole is pretty much worthless because you cannot see if all the slack on the belt has been taken up by the spring. Also, for those that have and use them, it does not give you access to place a tensiometer on the belt to check it. In other words, if you really want to properly check the tention on the timing belt you have to fully remove the front of the belt cover.

I suggest you get a mechanics stethoscope as ND suggested and find exactly where the noise is coming from. Other wise your just grabing at straws.

 

As you diagnose the sound you can take the A/C and alternator systems out of play by a simple belt disconnect from underneath and the car will still start and run. It is very important to make the right diagnosis of belt or bearing. There are several things under there, waterpump and it's bearing, tensionerbearings, timing gear bearings. If the later you are in for a significant DIY repair. I do not think you will be able to DX the sound wo the T cover off but maybe you get lucky. I think you would need some variation of engine removal for access to remove the cover so you could start and stethesope the front of the car. From the sounds of your post your dx skills may not be up to the task. Perhaps you need a friend w/ more experience give you a hand.

 

You know you are 2 hours from Ernie, Plugzit or me if you get stuck. We three stooges of autorepair have taken apart just about everything on a 348. But if you come down you'll have to buy us lunch and that could cost you more than a real ferrari mechanic. There is robert garven on this list who is a 308gt4 guy but he has done just about every mechanical job. He lives by you and perhaps he can give it a listen and help you out.

 

How about the water pump? The bearing in the water pump can go bad. So if you still have the old one in that could be a source of the noise.

No it won't. When you push the clutch in it disengages the from the gears in the transmission. So if you are hearing the noise while driving try pushing in the clutch to see if it goes away. If it does then you have narrowed it down to where the noise is coming from

Anything is possible in a worse case senario, and yes it could be the case with such low mile. Maybe even more so. There was an update made to that bearing for the earliers 348's. I'm not totally sure but I think it was in '92?

Well there is a shop in Santa Barbara that works on Ferrari's, Bianchi Motor Co. I have never used them and don't know the quality of their work, nor their pricing, so I can't really recomend them. I just know that they are in SB.

Erickson Auto in Ventura is local to you. Bill worked on my car when I first got it and has given me tons of advice. Great guy who does good work at a decent price.

You can also try Blackhorse Motors in West Los Angeles http://www.blackhorsemedia.com/index.html . Carl is pretty cool and has given me a bit of help.

Ferrari Service of Costa Mesa is also another shop I recomend http://mysite.verizon.net/res1la3r/index.html. I have pruchased some stuff from Michael before. He is another great guy to deal with, and yet another one who has give me advice.

But Eugenio is the man. http://www.eugeniosferrariservice.com/ He specializes in Ferrari V8's. If you take your 348 to him you couldn't have it in better hands. Eugenio is totally helpfull and is a very detailed mechanic. Fantastic guy to deal with.

Heck, all the guys are great and you really can't go wrong with any of them.

 

LOL isn't that the truth

 

I know exactly what it may be. I had a 90 VW corrado. And made the whining noise and would shut off. It could be the fuel pump.

 

If the belt is making the noise then the whinning sound should be louder when the motor is hot, and not as loud when the motor is cold.

 

Does.....it.....happen.....when.....you.....push.....the.....clutch....in......??????

 

Exactly... Mine had similar whine, then increased and eventually screamed when clutch was pressed. If so, clutch release bearing is gone, not too much $$ luckily.