Good point, A few other issues, on newer cars with 4 or 5 valves and high redlines belst tensioners are going to get munched far quicker. A BBI with a 7 k redline and lots of torque meaning it doesent go to 7k at every shift will have a longer belt life. How long is the question. My car had 10k mi and was 10 years old when I bought it in 93, belts had not been changed from the factory. I drove it as enzo intended for about 2 weeks untill someone wized me up to the belts hoses etc. After the belt change I drove the car maybe 500mi per year average for 8 years. The oil leaks and bits and pieces that needed doing got to me. At each belt change I have done everything possible tensioners water pump hoses. My experience is that the coolant hoses comming off the heads exposed to high heat and pressure will fail by year 7. Apparently 550's have a similar type problem. So I would say for a boxer 5-7 years provided you do the other bits each time. Of course I you lived somewhere where it was possible to do extended high speed running then maybe 5 years is a bit long. From what I understand belts have improved in the last 20 years, makes me wonder about the ferrari N.A. 30k mile interval on the testarossa. By the way bad bearings make an audible rumble at idle. There is no pefect answer, just increasing probability which is probably minimal at year 4 and exponential after year 5 or 6 but still low by year 7. Is it better to do the belts every 5 years and tensioners every 7 or do everything each 7 years.
I really good point...changing the belts and tensioners causes you to get in there and look. When you look you WILL FIND. Every time I go to fix one thing I find five more that need attention. If you don't do your own work, having someone get in there every 3 years on a Ferrari may not be often enough. If you are not willing to maintain the car, Toyota Camry's are really great cars.
Rifledriver, I have blown this horn before, but please give this a consideration. Your professional expertise and advise is valued by all of us. Please continue to help. But also try to muster some patience with us. When I bought my first Ferrari I didn't know anything about maintenance, and I sure as hell had no idea about belt change intervals. I also had never read the owners manual from front to back, and shame on me. I thank God that I was able to make it thru 14 years without a belt change or a disaster. My point is if it hadn't been for F-chat and these threads I would have never given it a serious thought. In fact I can't remember a single Belt Change thread on F-chat when I joined. These threads have raised the question and given answers to many ignorant owners, myself included. I now have a belt change interval that makes sense to me and I feel comfortable with. Thank you for your input, it hase changed my way of thinking. It just took some hammering by you and the other professionals. Please keep it up, and be patient with us.
