New 308 in Chicagoland

Hello Chicagoland F Chatters....

My dream of owning a Ferrari finally came true! I'm the new owner of a 1984 308 QV GTS. I've had it about 2 months now, 56K miles, Red/tan. I got it up in Minneapolis and drove it 6 hours straight home! What a great drive that was, my first time ever in a Ferrari and I got to drive it for 6 hours right off the bat. Also, I must say, that side of Wisconsin is beautiful. I had never seen that side before. The car ran great too...no issues. Even though the car ran flawless, I thought I'd be proactive and get a 60K major service done. The car had good paperwork, but the belts weren't done in over 5 years...(yes I know what you're thinking, is this guy crazy to drive it 6 hours straight on belts 5+ years old? I admit, I rolled the dice on that, but it test drove great, sounded great, and the dealer promised to pick me up and tow the car back if there was an issue) Anyway, made it home fine, and figured I better have the major service done... The day after I got it back from the major service completed, the coolant hose connected from the expansion tank to the thermostat hosing blew a leak and almost all of the coolant poured out. Most came streaming from the front of the passenger side of the engine....good news is that this happend at my house, my mecchanic came to my home, and replaced the hose. All is good for about a day, then I hear these horrible belt squeals...I was thinking maybe the new belts need to be worn in a little as it was only squealing on startups and would go away after a few seconds.....boy was I mistaken.......about 15 mins into my drive on Memorial Day the squealing started getting louder, then louder...then louder...then smoke...then red engine warning light...then overheated and stranded on the side of the road. This all happened in about 2 mins......turns out the alt/water pump belt totally melted! I couldn't believe it; I looked in the engine and all I see are parts of a melted belt on the pulleys. I guess when the coolant leaked everywhere it damaged the alt/water belt so bad it caused it to slip (squeal), eventually stripping it and causing it to melt....not fun...so had the car towed, mechanic installed new alt/water pump belt, told me everything should now be good....cross my fingers, knock on wood...so far so good..

So even though I've had a rough start, I'm a trooper, my enthusiasm for Ferraris & Italian cars has not waned one bit. I figured I'd run into problems some day, just didn't anticipate problems would happen right AFTER a major service.

I'm excited to meet other owners in the area and get involved with local events. I'm up in the Grayslake area. I can't make this weekend Supercar Saturday (unless I leave at 9:30) as my 6 year old son has a t-ball game, but I can't wait to make one of them. Looking forward to a summer full of events and getting to know some other owners in Chicagoland.

Regards,

Todd
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Thanks...I've got three. 9, 6 and 9 months. Usually there are bikes and toys everywhere too.. I now have to institute some "space" rules when they are around the car....let's hope for some nice weather this weekend!

 

That very well may have been me. I was on I-90 and drove it back on Monday April 13. An expierence I hope to never forget.