Timing belt replacement

Long overdue IMO. The degradation in the belt is caused as much by age as it is by mileage. Her in the UK, a simple belt change would run you the equivalent of maybe $500 which would buy you new cambelts & new V belts (no bearings, those would be additional at whatever the parts cost, no other srvicing - just the belts). It maybe a bit more where you are....

 

Any minute now, you are going to hear the rolling thunder of F-chatter's taking pot shots at you for posting this question. Then, Rifledriver will try and break your neck. Until then, let me say that, although the timing belt change interval has been posted to death on this board, I think the prevailing opinion wouldbe that with so much time having passed and so little mileage, your belts have definitely aged out. There aren't many low mileage mondials around, so, as a fellow owner, I beg you to change the belts before its too late

BTW, Any chance you live in in Pennsylvania and own, or have a family member that owns a Ferrari boxer? Phil T. had told me about a Mondial awhile back that the owner was considering selling that sounds exactly like your car.

 

And just why the F&&K would I do that? It is a legitimate question asked by someone who has never been here before. Also he has obviously been exposed to some misinformation of the very type that does get given out here on a daily basis by self imposed internet experts.

Bottom line is he doesn't know and is smart enough to ask.

If you are going to try and read my mind please do a better job.

 

I just pissed myself laughing........Broken neck over a timing belt ????
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I thought it was pretty funny too...but I guess Brian didn't appreciate the humor.

 

I wouldn't go past 5 years on timing belts with regular driving. Given the time and lack of use I would get a full major service done with tensioners and then start driving the car on a regular basis.

BTW , I have never seen Rifledriver try to break any necks and I have been on FChat way longer than 9 months.

 

D- Welcome to the forum and, as you have discovered, you will always get an honest answer, and probably be entertained by some of them. I only know about Maranellos, and the Ferrari recommended belt change interval varies from three years (550) to five years (575), regardless of mileage. Brian will chime in with the real info on the V8s, but I know I am not brave enough to wait even five years on my Maranello.

If you are lucky, you will live close enough to Brian, where he can do the work for you.

Taz
Terry phillips

 

Oh, come on, those belts are good for at least another ... week, or so. Change them soon !!!

 

If I read that correctly, your car has only accumulated 700 miles in 7 years? So, if that's true, the car has also been sitting idle for quite a while. If it were me, I'd want to inspect many things anyway for "lack of use" deterioration ---- this will likely present several things that need some attention or refurbishment so, why not go ahead and do the belts while you're at it?

It will be easier and cheaper to do the belts if you are already "into" the engine compartment. Then you can take of everything in one shot and go drive worry free for a long time

 

Five years seems to be the number sort of agreed to on here. How old are the tensioners? ALSO, while the belts are off, carefully check the condition of the cam belt drive pulley outer bearings. They are sealed, and as such, receive no engine oil lubrication. If one goes, the belt slips and you lose 16 valves! (Ask me how I know).

 

Quite a few wrongly attribute comments or attitudes to me. Giving somone a hard time for a good question isn't my style.

 

There's no such thing as dumb question.

 

Absolutly, there is so much mis-information out there, especially with the internet, I can see how a question like this comes up. and for sure a good question.....

Just like the other threads like the cam timing thing and the otherone on here about sucking the oil out of the dipstick tube. Anyone new to the Ferrari world can get confused.


DMeluzio, Welcome and Change those belts as soon as you get the chance......


BTW...Brian, I am one of the Good old boys from FNA back way when we were cool.......

I also don`t remember you looking like this.....

Regards, Jim
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Slightly OT but while looking for a 550 or 456 I was reminded of how a low mileage ferrari with say 7000miles could have an interior that looks as bad as a car with 40kmiles. Personally I would rather have a 40kmi car with repair history then a 7000mi queen that has just sat there.

 

Brian,
considering how many of your posts I rely on in maintaining my car, I have nothing but love for you. That being said, my comment was not meant as a slight against you at all, rather it was aimed more towards the fact that you, like some other bonafide Ferrari experts on this board, have answered ten thousand timing belt posts and from what I recall have had to engage in some rather heated and ludicrous discussions on the topic. My comment was not intended to imply that you would want to kill him for asking an innocent and reasonable question, but for the usual 5 plus pages of back and forth that follow any innocent timing belt question. However, I can see how you may have construed my comment as harsh. It's more like when my dog innocently disturbed a wasp nest at a family picnic and the whole family had to scramble for cover. I would like to think my Mom didn't take me seriously when I joked that I wanted to kill the dog. But as is often the case on this board, tone and inflection can't be properly captured. Certainly didn't mean to cast you in a negative light and I sincerely apologize if I offended you.

 

Could last another 10 years, could break the next time you attempt to start the car. That is the problem with this question. The fear mongering done by FNA(they changed their time frame from 5 yrs to 3 yrs) on this subject is amazing and will continue til the end of all our existence. IMHO, I would say not using the car would create more of a reason to change the belts than using the car a normal amount, say 2500/MPY

Now if you can do the work yourself these expenses will be minimal on the belt service and waterpump $500 - $700 and at that level every 3 years is not a real issue.

 

I bought my 91' 348 this past spring. It had 27k on the clock and the last belt change was done at 15k. However it was done over 10 years ago! I just got my engine out last weekend and presently doing the belt/bearing change. Last night I was inspecting the front of my engine and noticed score marks on my waterpump and tensioners that were perfectly aligned - see pics below. To make the post short - I found 2 small holes in the t-belt that still had grain-sized pieces of metalic material embeded. The belt was in beautiful shape other than that however. I will post pics of the belt and holes when I get it off later tonight.
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Let's see the car is 20 years old, has a total of 7600 miles, and in the last 7 years you've driven it 700 miles. This has got to be a record even for Ferrari guys. The hell with the belts what difference does it make. They can't break if you don't ever drive it. Just curious... why the hell did you even buy the car in the first place if you're essentially never going to drive it. This kind of stuff never ceases to amaze me.

 

I had the feeling that he had just bought the car. Either way, why beat on him? Who cares if he drives it or not? It's not a very nice welcome. Let's leave the hazing/initiation to the college frat boys. (A whole other story)

 

I sell a lot of parts for these cars to many different workshops. The consensus I hear from MY customers is 4 years or 30K whichever comes first. FNA recommend 3/30 but in Europe Ferrari say 5/30. I honestly think that anywhere in this range is good.

Once you decide you need to attend to the belts, the next hornet's nest gets disturbed.

Do you just lock the cams and swap belts?
Do you replace the bearings as well as the belts?
Do you pull the valve covers, check valve clearances and degree in the cams properly?

I think the answer depends on what you are trying to achieve, and how much money you want to spend. Without any doubt the correct and proper procedure is the last one mentioned. Most good independent workshops will ONLY perform this type of service. If you only want belts and/or bearings they will tell you to take a hike. The reason is simple - they stake their reputation on doing a job properly. ANYTHING that happens to that car will reflect on the last person to have worked on it. A quality, proper job takes time and time = money.

So why only do belts and bearings? Well, a shop can advertise a low price for this and get customers in that way. It is also quicker and cheaper, and it is something a novice can do on their own car. Also, just doing B&B replaces the 2 most likely failure points. But.... and this is what a lot of people forget.... what if the timing of the engine is out before the belts are changed? It will still be out. What if the clearances are wrong? They'll still be wrong. It's a well known fact that the timing marks on the cams are not very accurate. Some are downright wrong. At best, it's going to give you 4-5 degree accuracy. This is a significant range that can totally transform the way the engine runs. The impact (pun intended) of running an engine with incorrect valve clearances is the other consideration. I often hear things like "I took my car to ______ and they did a 30K that totally transformed the car. It runs better than ever." From the same customer I never hear that the job was cheap.

What would _I_ do? Well, I have done both. When I had my 308 in Australia, it was overdue for a belt service, but there was no way at the time I could afford to shell out the $4K it was going to cost. So, I just replaced the belts - not even the bearings. With the Mondial t I did the full service - degreeing in the cams and taking my time to get it all just right.

What should _you_ do? Educate yourself as much as possible about the car, the options, and what is involved in each type of service. If money is no object, just get the full and proper service performed by a top grade shop. If money is a significant issue, you may not have any choice but to do belts and/or bearings. It's your car, your money and your decision. From a mechanical perspective there is only one correct way to do this. From a real perspective, there are many outside pressures that will influence what you decide to do.

I do think though that it is time to do something about the belts....

 

No problem. Just misunderstood.

 

EEXXXXACTLY. He is asking a legitimate question and none of us has enough information to make any judgements. Lets just help him to understand the topic.

 

I'd venture to say the 700 miles is probably more damaging to the belts than the age. Belt inventory may be on the shelves for years before they are ever sold - thus making perfectly good new belts actually perfectly good old belts of some undetermined age. When a car is parked for extended lengths of time the belts will tend to set into the shape they are in. This will accelerate the wear on the belt. I have to suspoect this is one of the reasons for Ferrari recommending such freequent belt changes - that and the fact they are interference engins.

Change your belts and tensioners and use the car as it was designed.

 

If purchased from one of the large specialty suppliers like Ricambi or a large dealer that sells Ricambi Orginali parts only as opposed to generic parts, belt inventory turns very quickly. Hard to imagine a belt from one of them more than a year old.

Buy belts with a Ferrari logo and you will be OK.