I can't believe this less than 20k miles and timing cover leak on my 430

These cars are getting on a bit now, and rubber in things like engine mounts, and engine seals will degrade regardless of mileage. Low mileage is actually worse than regular use for life of parts like this.

Cam cover gaskets are a bit of a service item. Have a look around the engine with a torch to make sure the oil is coming from them.

 

Yeah, more like it's a 12 year old car, not so much a mileage concern. Not a very big deal IMO. Besides that, if any of us would go out and look at our daily drivers, I would be willing to bet that there are some "spotting" issues or other small leaks or imperfections and we trust them to maintain our lives and our family's lives on a daily basis without worry. All of a sudden a small leak appears on our Ferrari, even from an easily accessible area, and we are ready to ground them

 

Would not worry about it. You will forget all about it if you have F1 and/or top troubles. Consider it a good luck leak.

 

You guys love these cars with no miles on them. Polymer seals dry out without use. Looks like a small leak..

 

My 08 Scuderia had weeping valve cover gaskets. My son was nice enough to replace over the weekend. Parts were cheap (for Ferrari) but took quite a few hours to get everything out of the way. Replaced spark plugs and a few other things on the way. Mine has 19k miles.

A surprising find. Although the service records show the car was primarily dealer maintained many of the Alan keys heads were rounded. As if someone used Standard instead of Metric tools. We replaced most for which we had replacements. Just shocked someone would be so careless.

 

I posted how to do the cover gaskets here,

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/valve-cover-gasket-replacement.567844/#post-145774563

You can stop the leaks from the front cover by cleaning the edge with Varsol and then applying a film of high temp silicone sealant along the joint. Spread it evenly with your finger. It may not look nice but it will stop any leaking. At least, it did for me.

The pictures look like someone already tried that with some black sealant. You'll need to clean that off.

 

I had a similar leak on my 360 coming from the variator seals.
Quite cheap parts but lots of labour if you decide to fix - especially if you do timing as well (recommended).

But then - I guess you don’t have to do timing since you have chains, right?

 

I was in the same boat as you. A buddy asked if I was going to sell the car it seemed like it was down for every thing. The reality like most have said is it’s old. 12-14 ish years old. Mine came certified from ferrari of San Fran (don’t bother believing the cert either). Day one the fan relay was replaced. I smelt for just a second this oil smell and immediately pulled into garage.... it was the valve covers. Then 3 months later went in to lower to scud height and that’s where you really get the 12 year old rubber stories. Both valve covers small trace (but still to me a leak), f1 actuator in back moist, all shock bushings worn, upper and lower tie rods in front worn, rear tie rods out of spec, and had to fix a snapped stud on the header. Luckily the Ferrari warranty covered the suspension stuff and I paid for the new bolt, valve cover gaskets and spark plugs while I was at it (32k miles). Going back this month to finish the 30k belt, oil, and filter.

So yeah, I thought the same thing as you....my brand new to me car has his much wrong. I watched all these vids on “ expect 2-3k a year and blah blah”. Reality, my car was driven good, it’s just old. Ferrari put in a new clutch, fluids, inspection and motor mounts with a detail a few weeks before I bought it (13k dollars worth), then the suspension with labor last month (8k ish) only 3k miles later. Over 20,000 in less than 3k miles. People think it’s a bad car but don’t understand the known issues with the ball joints or a clutch lasting 15-25k miles. Mine got 29k out of it, so I’m happy.

All you can do is accept that rubber will fail. Fix it and move on. I hope to keep this car a good amount of years and think it's good karma that I am fixing what bothers me and know the next owner will appreciate it. Sucks if this is your first experience like it is mine, but it gets better

 

I've recently replaced one of the timing cover gaskets in my 360, followed your advice and used high temp silicone. The gasket on 360 is not rubber but paronite (more like paper), no wonder they leak. Now with added silicone it should last a very long time.

 

I put sealant on with the gasket, then reassembled the cover. Used LOCTITE SI 596 Red High Temp RTV Silicone Adhesive Sealant