Timing belt goes poof

Case in point, there is a black 1992 512tr for sale on eBay right now out of Santa Cruz, ca. Last major was done in 2001 with 26k miles. It now has 38k plus miles. If it were that fragile of a car this car would have had a major problem. This kind of maintenance history although not this extreme is more common than you think. If an excellent high caliber honest Ferrari mechanic says it’s ok I think your ok. Sure the dealer would say hurry up and get In here every three years so we can soak you for 25k but I’m not going for that. That’s worse in my opinion than someone who likes to buy extended warranties all the time. That becomes in most cases 100 percent profit for the dealer. That’s my last point here. I never imply or state someone is stupid or has a stupid thought when having a reasonable discussion. The facts about this are out there it’s just a matter of how you interpret them.

 

Like I said previously, the great majority of folks that wish to extend the engine out interval to 8, 10, 15 years get away with it fine. The rare exception, it can be costly...it is all about your comfort level. Again, I've seen plenty of cars over the years at the local indy service dept...usually a couple in a corner, waiting for the top end rebuild...But like you say, no one knows the detailed failure cause, nor do we know miles, years, etc. Nor do we know of those that extend the interval, is the failure one in twenty? One in fifty? So we don't know the true risk factor. We do know the cost if it does fail. Also, the point of the engine out is not just belts and tensioners. There also fluids, filters, inspections, cam cover seals, valve adjustments, carb adjustments, throttle plate adjustment, etc that need tending to as well.

 

All of what you said is true. Thank you

 

One from the vaults.

Another broken timing belt thread

 

Great thread, thanks for the reminder! Good info, if you only read the posts by Rifledriver and Dave Helms, the rest is mostly distraction. But, the big miss, is Rifledriver never made a final post to give us his diagnosis and work required to fix the TR, which he said he would do I post #1.

 

I agree I have had several timing failures over the years never a total failure but on timing belts I have had slippage of the belt. which caused it to run terrible but no damage . ON timing chains interestingly I had a couple and both were caused by either the sprocket failing or by the chain stretching slightly causing the chain to skip a tooth .
These were NOT on Ferraris . ... and may not be of relevance you decide. All of them were older cars with many many miles on the original chain or belt..
To me the thing to worry about is if it breaks at 6000 rpm while in gear it could be pretty bad situation with lots of parts going where they do not belong...