RN knowledgables ... help me understand the engine thing

I've got a later TR so I haven't needed to get educated in this area, but the only significant mechanical change that's come up here in the TR engine has something to do with the oil pump/water pump chain drive system as mentioned in this thread:

http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=107767

There might be other little engine changes that are implemented over time. If you're really interested go to the www.eurospares.co.uk site and look thru the TR SPC -- check for notes like "used before XXXXX", "used after XXXXX", etc..

 

Yes as 91TR has said, there were upgrades or improvements to the oil pump and water pump drives. And of course the fuel injection system has several different variations, depending on model year and intended country of destination.

IMO: The flat-12 engine is about as bullit-proof as it gets. Remember these engines were based on the formula-1 racing engines of the early 70s and are very well built. If I recall under VERY SEVERE ABUSE that the weak link may be the connecting rods, but I'm not sure. I think Rifledriver could elaborate on any weaknesses of these engines. But as I understand it the Testarossa engine is one of the most durable engines ever made by Ferrari. Most TR owners will never get close to the limits of the engine even on the track.

 

There were really only three issues on the TR motors.

1st has been mentioned. The early cars came equipped with a waterpump/oil pump drive chain with a masterlink. On a very few cars the link came apart with a very bad outcome.

2nd was the cam extensions that mount the distributor rotor. Late 308 motors had a rotor that used a metal spring clip to hold the rotor to the end of the cam. A batch was made with substandard plastic where the insulating properties broke down causing the energy from the coil to short directly to the end of the cam. It caused so many headaches Ferrari decided to fix the problem by going to rotors that were held on with screws.

Great idea right?

Wrong! On dyno testing the rotors were breaking from torsional vibrations because they were now so solidly mounted. It was decided to make the cam extensions with a built in rubber vibration damper. Doh! Now the rubber is breaking down and allowing the oil from the hollow pressureized camshfts to fill the distributors with oil. It was so bad we used to joke the car is here to check the tire pressure and change the distributor oil. That is where they earned the nick name many have forgotten "Liberian tanker".

Finally it was decided to go to an improved plastic and do away with the vibration dampers and a big campaign ensued to replace all the cam extensions on all TR, 328, and Mondial.


Lets see.....Better plastic? Seems like doing that at the very beginning would have saved several steps.......Oh well that's Ferrari.

The last change and a very cheap but serious one was the sealant between the transmission case and the engine was changed. Doesn't sound like a big deal but it was. They had been using silicone sealant. The main oil passage between the oil pump and the engine (post oil filter) passes through it sealed by a rubber O ring. The sealant will ooze into the passage when the 2 are bolted together and later break off in the oil stream. The passages to the heads go through a very small orifice and that would be plugged by the sealand cutting off oil and siezing a cam. Cost Ferrari quite a few motors. The new sealant was an anerobic "Locktite 518", it does not harden in the oil passages and is harmlessly trapped in the oil filter next time through.


Those are the only issues with those motors I am aware of and I have been around since they showed up.



I forgot one.
Coil modules.

It was copied from a Volkswagon part but the Italians cleverly mounted them directly above the catalytic converters assuring they would never get cold. Well the early ones couldn't take the heat and almost as many failed as we would later see in cat temp ECU's. Well one would fail and the owner would ignore the big red slow down light until the cats were toast and ocasionally until the car was on fire. Those eventually got fixed too. I have to believe the early units that were so bad are all gone.

 

I don't want to sound too mean here, but shouldn't you have asked these questions BEFORE you bought the 1986 TR?

 

Sorry - I just have to step in here and say something I should've months ago:

Rifledriver, I wish you could clone yourself in every town where a person might need Ferrari service, advice or head-banging corrective surgery to view the F-car world. Thanks for your input.

Not sure what causes you to put up with us sometimes. (Not sure I know why I put up with me, but that's a different issue. )

Invaluable lessons learned.

Now, RSKDSK, the more you analyze the decision AFTER the decision, the less satisfied you'll become. Oftentimes it is Ferrari + heart = 1. Ferrari + head = 0. If you feel you've done due dilligence, let the experience begin. I can say from experience that I've owned every 911 model from 1969 to 2001. Just like for Ferraris, your buddy would be right about "newer is better" in SOME version of that truism, and wrong as heck in others.

You'll hear every argument in each way, sliced and diced ad infinitum. This Boxer fan loves carbs; the other Boxer fan hates carbs. Same on the TR. "More pure" say the early car devotees; "More refined" say the later car fans. Your wallet casts a vote as well.

Get in, have fun. Whether it's repairs or "less than the ultimate", who cares? Walk out to your garage when it gets home, take a look, pop the engine lid and just marvel that people built it, faults and all. Mona Lisa wasn't exactly a babe you know. Enjoy your car and the experience that comes with it. It won't be free, but what worth having is?

 

But as I understand it the Testarossa engine is one of the most durable engines ever made by Ferrari.


I agree. I drove my 87 Testa 27,000 miles over three years in every type of weather/road/traffic condition and the engine never hiccuped.

I suffered one mechanical problem: a punctured radiator, possibly caused by a stone thrown up from the road. I nursed the car 70 miles back home on the other radiator.

 

Those fixes were all taking place during 86 and into 87.

 

Yea, we had Racehorse Haynes pull in one day....he'd cooked a cat hard enough to melt the tailights into wavy lines! LOL!

We told him to leave it and take another car, to rush over to Austin.....you know attorneys, always rushing around.............