Two out of two, what the hell is going on with the F355?

It's a sign to get one of these
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What were the "failing" numbers??

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355

































sorry, couldn't resist

 

Ok, you asked for it...... even a bad compression 355 motor has more horsepower than a new 348 motor.....

 

i will never, ever buy a 348 / 355. for all the money you guys spend, i would get 2 beater 3x8's and have at least one that runs, some of the time!

 

Lol. Probably a temp ban from the 348/355 board, but worth it.


And now a public service announcement from the 328 Syndicate

You might want to bypass these cushy Ferraris and step up to one of these:

We now return to your regularly scheduled programming on manifolds, valve guides and sticky plastic.
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I am beginning to think that this is going to become more and more common over time. Just a hunch..... but appears to be a trend from what I can tell.

 

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i'd like to see what the numbers were

where did you get the PPI's done ?

 

Excellent, makes the late '98's and '99's worth that much more!!!

 

Have they been sitting for a long time? I am not overly mechanically inclined, but recently overheard a post PPI inspection conversation where the advice was to drive the car for a week, then have it redone and oftentimes it shows better numbers? Sound possible? I considered it plausible that having oil circulate and heat cycling the engine would help.

 

Good advice Bullfighter ..... I would take a 328 over a 348 !!

I think it would help too.

 

It's not uncommon for 355's to need top end rebuilds to correct such issues (often burned valve guides from exhaust headers leaking for too long). No big deal. A dealership should just discount that in the price and deliver a 100% car to you.


I wouldn't insult them by asking if they did the tests properly (e.g. engine hot but motor off, throttles cracked open, etc.)...but...

I would ask them if the leakage was through the exhaust or intake. That's a fair question that will give you information without insulting anyone.

 

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Except the ones that have also failed compression and leakdown, and the
ones that have jury-rigged "fixes", and the ones with OBD codes....

 

That of course, doesn't happen though because:

1) They can always auction the car off

2) Usually they can find someone else to buy it. (see: P.T. Barnums theory)

 

Ha!


OK, fair enough...but sometimes even Ferrari will discount the price of a used car to move product.

 

What month was the 1998 car manufactured? If it was from June forward, that would be unusual to have compression issues.

 

Yes, top end rebuilds are not uncommon on 355's. It's also not a big deal.

Yes, leaking exhaust headers can burn exhaust valves (see top end rebuild, above).

You could also have bad compression due to mis-set timing belts, poor valve seating (e.g. carbon buildup... even rust if that's possible on 355 alloys), broken valve springs, etc.

 

BAHHH!

Who needs the 70ish horse?

 

Hey. How about doing the rest of us who are looking for cars here in Cali by posting the vin numbers and/or descriptions so we don't have to waste our time?

 

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