timing belt change mileage interval -- Here we go again!

Take the old belt and bend it backwards looking at the teeth, look for cracks at the corners of the lugs on on the belt, thats the first sign of a tooth getting ready to sheer off and cause the donk donk donk noise followed by the cash register sound.

Regarding the penny pinching comment about undermaintaining your f-car goes, mine is about leaving the engine in there as long as possible to prevent body damage during engine removal. I have to remove the rear clam shell, the rear bumper, the headers and all the other crapola just to risk paint damage and change belts that didnt need changing in the first place. Its not a matter of being cheap.

 

Spirot has a thread running here about his 308 that stripped a rear banl belt. Last service was FOA about 18K miles and 7 years ago. The fact is, belts fail. Not only do they fail, but most owners hide this fact and sell the car without passing it along, with the fear it looks like neglect, and destroyed parts. Ive seen plenty of Hondas and anything else anyone can name with blown timing belts, so the real fact is they break. When is simply an unknown. The other fact is that the FAA would probably never certify ANY motor with a timing belt system such as the industry standard. Honda or otherwise.

 

Dave,
don't worry mon, be happy. If a certain person's response is irritating you, just move on to the next one. Life is too short to get aggravated by these things. You asked a question so you will get lots of answers. I WISH I could drive my car as much as you do. If I were you I would not worry about it too much. That 3 year thing is new news and I asked a local expert (Tim Stanford) at Cavallino when I should do the service on my 348 and he said 5 years. I don't know if the environment in NY makes any difference (colder weather making the belt more brittle etc,,) but he is very reputable here and I will follow Tim's advice. Again, anyone that thinks you started this thread to 'cheap out' on maintenance does not recognize the amount of dedication and maintenance it takes to drive the car the amount that you typically do.
BT
BT

 

Every one can and should make a decision that feels comfortable to them.
What I have to ask myself though is "Would any of the people who say we are being ripped off purchace a 3 year old car and not ask if the belt change had been performed"
My quess would be if it had not been performed they would negotiate a discounted price to cover this so called not needed service.
I just had my belts changed and must say it's one less thing I have to worry about at 8000 rpm.

 

Hi Dave, As BT348PBG stated don't worry mon. I have 20 years personal experiance with Ferraris and I thought I could share my experiances on this forum with folks that would want to know what I have picked up over the years. To possibly save someone else from making mistakes by learning the hard way as I did a few times. If I don't know the answer I don't answer a question (sometimes give opinion if its related to something I've done). I have given up on sharing what I have learned or asking questions because most of the time all you get is uninformed answers/opinions from people who don't/can't help but like to here themselves talk. I have found a few people on this site that I PM occasionally that have helped me and don't seem to mind me buggin' them. Regards, Vern

 

What does technical information bulletin # 1002 dated Oct. 2002 sayes regarding 12 cylinder engines timing belt change. I know the manuel came with the car sayes inspect every 30.000 miles.
Thanks.
L. Der sarkissian

 

There was a prior bulletin covering the 12's. It covered all belt drive 12's and said essentially the same thing. I quoted it verbatim about 10 or 20 belt treads ago.

 

Interesting on general belt reliability, though not for an eight cylinder. This is directly from the Ferrari 612 Workshop Manual, and says to replace after no longer than 15 years! I will be sticking to the 5 year schedule because I do the work myself and it doesn't put me out 8-10, but thought y'all might find it interesting.


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That WSM was probably written in 2002 or 2003 and translated by non-technical English (?) speakers. Here is the belt bulletin that spells out 5 years or 50,000 kms. Not sure how many times I have posted this, but it has to be close to 3 digits.


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Thanks Taz, I found that figure very peculiar, I appreciate the TSB and sorry I'd not found it elsewhere. Thought this was interesting in relation to the varied figures seen here, but yes that makes sense and glad to know the WSM I have is HOPEFULLY 98% reliable. New to the board, I've heard your name mentioned a few times already, glad you're here for clarification!

 

gates, belt manufacturers says their belts will last 50k. As long as you keep driving periodically than to let the car sit for months, 30k should not be a problem. Only concern is the bearings. If you hear a strange noise than time to get it checked out

 

KC- Incorrect for a number of reasons, all spelled out here hundreds of times.

Gates actually says to go by the car manufacturers' recommendations.

 

" Only concern is the bearings. If you hear a strange noise than time to get it checked out"
******
That has been the only recurring issue with my 575. First time at 10,000 miles and age 3 years. Two additional times over 105,000 miles and 4 or 5 belt changes. And hearing a change in engine sound is a warning sign.

 

"That has been the only recurring issue with my 575."
FWIW, on the positive side of maintenance, the first and only clutch replacement was at 100,000 mile.

 

My ‘82 308GTSi requires valve clearance adjustment every 15k mi..... that’s when I change my belts. She’s is a driver so that can be 12 months or 36 months depending on the weather...... just saying....

 

Do they actually need to do any adjustment/shims when they check the clearances? Checking is one thing, but actual adjustment I would expect would not be needed for quite a long amount of mileage.

 

Yes... every 15k miles some valves need shim adjustment. If they are on the tight side of the tolerance I adjust them. Most of the work is getting to the measure stage so change out is minimal time. Just saying.......