Attention 360 Owners...Important Info.

Mine is almost done. Believe it or not yesterday my Ferrari mechanic tried to arrange having the variators done at a Ferrari dealer and because: 1) I did not buy the parts from them 2) my car is a Euro 3) my Ferrari mechanic is their local competion....they would not remove the camshaft variators and install the new ones!!!! Of course, I was going to pay for their service and time but they said NO! There is a special tool and method to do the changeoever.
Long story short.....we got it done.....from a more cooperative dealership.

 

Guys this is important and everyone with a 360 and the affected vin range posted earlier should take note. I was at FoSF to drop off my car for the variators and just speaking about the workload at the shop when I was told one of the cars in their shop is in for massive repair due to variator breaking. I suddenly said wow that is going to be an expensive repair for FNA when I was corrected that the owner of the car is responsible for the damage and the bill. The reason was explained: since the variator campaign is a voluntary replacement and if the owner does not bring it in for inspection/replacement then the owner is responsible for the consequences. Get your car in for the service as soon as possible.

I was speaking to some folks regarding the epa and the emission system and it seems to me this falls under the category of emissions warranty. Does anyone have a better understanding of the epa mandated law for emissions control warranty? Thanks in advance for the clarification.

 

Emission warranty requirements do not include mechanical engine parts. The law was intended to prevent the auto makers from deliivering cars with substandard components so that they will not just pass when put into service, but to help insure they will pass for a considerable length of time. The variators are not considered an emission component just as an engine valve is not. If a valve burns out emissions will go up drastically, just as a failure of an entire bank of valves due to a failure of a variator, but still is not covered. If you have a complete set of books for your car there is an EPA and a California emission statement included which outlines specifically what parts are covered as dictated by law. Those documents are required to be given to the purchaser of a new car. That list was not determined by Ferrari.

 

Buried way back in this thread somewhere, it was asked if a PPI can spot a car with the new variators.

This can be done but only if the mechanic followed the bulletin correctly and stamped the heads with "VD" at the front edge.

"VD" is not venereal disease, (that's another thread!) but "Variatore Diffinitivo" or something like that.

It is mentioned at the end of the bulletin, but depends on the mechainic having some letter stamps handy!

If the heads have not been stamped, you can still remove the belt covers and look for the green spot etc but that's a bit much for a ppi to include, and the spot wipes off with a bit of brake cleaner.

DANGER AREA....shonky shops may simply stamp the heads to make it look like they've been done. Ask for photos/records to prove it.

 

Art,

Apparently, no need to do 30K if you have not hit 30K miles on the car. Only the belt service (3 year interval) which includes the timing belts and the ACC blets (PS, ALT, and AC).

Matt

P.S. It is interesting how FNA has worded the TSB ("During the timing belt service... Varitors must be inspected and replaced...). I am wondering if FNA waited long enough to make sure all affected vins are passed the three year into customers hands before submitting the new TSB. If they had done it any earlier they could not have made the owners service the belts earlier than now suggested three year interval and hence they would have eaten up a lot of the cost of replacement labor. What do you think, knowing the first TSB came out April 2001 to announce a change in variator design and affected engine serial numbers.

 

No, Matt, say it ain't so.

 

partial update: since my car is a Euro, the necessary parts for the variator change were GIVEN to me by the original dealer in Europe after I contacted them directly with my VIN #. they also sent me 2 new timing belts. I estimated easily $1,500+ worth of parts. I paid for the labor. I was VERY surprised to hear back from the dealer within 24 hours and received the parts 5 days after the original request. can you believe it?
***there is a special tool and technique to take off the old variator and install the new one. can only be done by a dealership......of course! believe it or not, when I called the local Ferari dealership to PAY for the labor for this they said NO! not only did they not give me the right time of day because I have a Euro they would not assist in the change over. Pissed me off as it would anyone else.
Ironically, I got it done at another Ferrari dealership and paid $100 for the labor plus had to drive 2 hours one way to get there.
so much for customer service!
any comments or am I missing something?

 

Like anything else with Ferrari, it all depends when and where and how the wind is blowing. Every dealer has its own internal policy and while FNA could come down hard on those who service Euro specs. some still continue to provide customer service. FNA had a letigation against the importation of 360s, and lost the battle in court, this may be a way of teling the buyers, "I told you so..."

This attitude SUCKS!

 

My 360 is due for a service, and I will be getting the updates as well. FofSF is the closest dealer to me. What should I expect to pay for the timing belt change? Does the engine come out? Just want to be sure I don't get screwed...

 

Steve,

In order to do the cam variators FNA requires them to be inspected and replaced during timing belts service. If you have done your timing belts within the last two years or 20K miles you don't have to worry about anything. They will cover the cost of variators and tensioners and the cost of labor. I was told I did not have to do 30K service. I had my belts changed back in May 2004.

Matt

 

Most US dealers consider a Euro version car a liability and not because they didn't profit by selling it. Basically, how can FNA or a servicing dealer warranty a car or the service when they were not responsible for the EPA/DOT conversion work and how it may effect the cars reliability?

 

Have there been any more interesting experiences with Ferrari regarding the Cam Variators? We never hear of hundreds of owners who are due for this service and never post...

I know of an owner locally who's variator broke and costed him dearly because he had not replaced the cam belts. Very interesting how Ferrari can blame the owner for their substandard part. I don't know how cam belt can cause a variator to brake, any ideas? Aren't they motor driven independent of the cam belts?

 

im going to get this cam variator thing checked out when i do my 30K in a month. i'll let u know whats up when the time comes zen

 

And how much different is an EU car to a US one? There's the lights? CATs? Is there much else?

I'm pretty sure the engine is unchanged. So what differnece does it make where Pailie_b's car was sourced?

This is the same kinda sh*t they used to do in the UK when people imported from the continent. However, they soon stopped once the EU got involved. (Open market, so this was considered anti-competitive behaviour, which is against the law). And smacked a few companies with huge fines (see AUDI).

Paulie I would post the dealers details.

It is exactly their margins that dealers are trying to protect by discouraging customers from importing. And FNA is very likely encouraging this.

You guys are lucky since your in a LHD market. The EU is a huge market to source Ferrari's from. I dont understand why more people dont do it.

 

In the past several months this subject has attracted alot of attention on FChat. To date, 4,681 views and 115 posts.
Hope this was helpful to everyone.

 

What is FoI? I know the local dealer here reads FChat, I have been told directly... I don’t know about FNA. I don’t think they will change business practice because of a few post.

FNA has known about this issue since April of 2001 (this is documented by their own technical bulletin) and waited more than three years to issue the latest bulletin to replace variators "ONLY" during the timing belt service at which time the owner pays for the labor is absolutely absurd. Most experts agree there is no reason why timing belts must be replaced within three years, 30K miles I understand, but 3 years... The only reasonable explanation is to put the owner in this position so they can get their campaign through with minimal cost.

And since this a campaign (not a safety issue) most people don’t know about this ticking bomb if they don’t service their cars at the dealer. It just doesn’t seem RIGHT!

 

4i2FLY "And since this a campaign (not a safety issue) most people don’t know about this ticking bomb if they don’t service their cars at the dealer. It just doesn’t seem RIGHT!"

I'm with you on this as well as many others!

 

if anyone wants a copy of the Technical/Service Bulletine let me know and I will email or fax it.

 

Since my last post on this subject, 11/12, I got 2 requests from Europe for a copy of the Tech Bulletin. One from England and one from France. Sent it by email to both. Hope it was helpful.

 

Took my 360M to the dealer a week ago with a printout of this bulletin from FChat. I had a timing belt service about a year ago and wasnt told about the bulletin. The dealer had no problem, and I just picked up my car after the exhaust timing variators upgrade. No charge.

Thanks a great deal, or I would have just kept driving the car as is!

VIN: 120877

 

FYI - I just took my '99 360 to WWOC in Spring Valey, New York to have rotors and pads replaced, while the car was there they did the actuator campaign free of charge.

They did my 30K service last fall, they didn't do it at that time because the service bulletin wasn't out at that time.

Those guys are the best!