confirmation of vavle guide replacement

How can I do this. My 355GTS is for sale at Ferrari of Atlanta and they think that the valve guides have been replaced (they did a major service and leak down test).

It would seem to make too much sense for them to call Ferrari or look in a database on cars repaired to confirm this. Short of this may the valve guides be seen after pulling the cam covers?

Thanks,

ken

 

Can only see if the headers or plenums are removed.

The only reason Ferrari would have that information is if it was repaired under warranty coverage of some type. Automakers in general and Ferrari specifically have an almost complete ban on giving out warranty claim information for any reason. There is a very real fear that information would be used to contribute to an independant data base.

That and many other reasons are why maint records are so highly prized with these cars.

 

Here's a thought that I haven't seen mentioned before, and I would have done before purchasing if I had thought of it - send a used oil sample out for analysis. If the guides wear as fast as it sounds, there must be a significant amount of wear elements in the oil. And since that material is apparently unique to the guides, you should be able to tell if they are still installed. The best source is www.blackstone-labs.com

But I'll caution you that I'm just a renegade engineer with ideas, I'll let the experts here verify if this is reasonable or not.