Exactly that.....Any year can have valve guide issues. There have been brass guides found in 1999 355s. The really bad guides were found in the first released 355s and were quickly rectified with newer but still brass guides that have not really been a problem since. Many say that its not the brass guides but the amount of play between them and the valve stems that was the problem. Sure there will always be some 355s that have the issue come up but I think its more normal wear and tear on a high performance car and if one does not change the oil often enough with a high quality oil then the wear will be sooner than later.
It's a fact that later models (late '98 and '99) changed valve guide materials, and after the change the failure rate has been zero as far as I've read here (and based on several expert techs I've discussed this with). I don't think there's any big conspiracy theory; Ferrari did in fact upgrade the guide material from the 348, but apparently that wasn't enough to handle the higher heat, higher revs, and tiny valve stem bearing surface of the 355. Once it became evident there was a problem material was upgraded. Some say it was a rolling change as they got new guides to the production line, so there's no hard S/N where the change was put in. That's my theory and I'm sticking with it Anyway guides aren't that scary, when done at the time of an engine out major they're a few $k extra. Not a big deal if you're used to Ferrari maintenance cost.
You mean someone can actually get used to Ferrari maintenance cost? They must be dealing with disposable income
Jay, there are reports on here of 99 cars having the old style guides in them, and failing. The year makes little difference I'm afraid.....
