Don't know about the "earlier" part as my attached schedule clearly states 198. But yes, nonsense. And the workshop manual states 25k miles (at lease my version of the WSM). The point is that Ferrari said what ever they needed to say. I was also told by my local dealer, back when it came out, that the 3 yr/15k mileage recommendation for all V8s was a move by Ferrari to stimulate service because dealers were complaining of lack of service income. I have no idea if that was true, but it was told that by the service manager. Image Unavailable, Please Login
So... as of this point one person who has experienced a timing belt implosion? I want to say I've read of 3-4 or so in these hallowed pages..
That would be two, in case you missed them. https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/posts/146809779/ https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/posts/146810154/
From what I've seen, it's rarely the belt (materials are improved over the years) but the bearings and [lack of] talent instead.
They have, and did. The 550, 612, 355 and 360 all have a pretty serious timing belt compared to say a 308, TR, Boxer.
While not in a Ferrari, I had a belt go at the 10 year mark, with approximately 25K miles. The Jensen Healey was my daily driver, far from a garage queen, but a gently driven SOCAL car it’s whole life. Luckily, it was on start-up so only banged one cylinder worth of valves. I wish I had done the belts every five years, at the time the repair took money I couldn’t really spare. With the Spider, the same failure now would cause less financial pain, but it would still sting. So I figure every 5 years is a good compromise.
When I owned rubber belt Ferraris, it was a concern. Not so much the belt itself, but the tensioners even more. I changed both every 5 years and I always did that regardless of mileage. But I’ve got to tell you what piece of mind a modern Ferrari is in terms of maintenance: easier, faster and cheaper. Plus: metal chains instead of rubber belts. Kind regards, Nuno.
Here's a post I made in the 612/599 forum a while ago - My 2003 Harley Deuce turns 17 years old in August. It has 38K miles on it and the drive belt looks fine. Two years ago a buddy of mine changed the drive belt on his 2002 Softail after 15 years and over 80K miles. He said the belt looked great and he only changed it because he was doing other work on the bike and figured he would just do it while stuff was apart. I would say the the belts on my Harley and his have been regularly subjected to stresses much higher than the timing belts on my 612 OTO. We both do a lot of hard acceleration in the lower gears, and both bikes with riders weigh close to 900 lbs. Now there are two things to consider. One, the Harley belt may be of better strength/quality than the Ferrari belt. And secondly, if a drive belt breaks, well no big deal. I just did a belt change after 5 years last year. I'll probably change them again 2023, but then maybe I'll test their longevity. Hey, I'm not risk adverse!
^ Yes but it would take a drive system the size of a Harley to be comparable. The belt gets flexed a lot more going around the small crank pulley(s) and tensioners on an engine. Not much room for 10" cam gears and 5" crank gear(s) Still, I know of many Harleys making 125+ at the wheel that continually destroy drive belts. Many convert to chain.
I'd like to state that the 308 GT4 I owned and did a belt service on in the spring, had a date coded belt on it, from...1981 I don't know what the mileage was in 1981, but based off the books, probably less than 10,000 miles, and when I sold it, it had 52,xxx miles and had been to Europe and back, driven all over too. Pretty damn good longevity on that rubber.
Ferrari went to 3 years across the board except for the 612 which 5 years regardless of miles. Which is weird considering the 612 uses the same engine as the 575. In all reality, these cars could easily go 7 years between changes. They do use very high quality belts, hoses etc..and if the tensioner bearings in the past were replaced with the hill units.
So where does the paranoia of belts going poof come from. If anything id say this thread paints a very different picture and we all know how the internet cultivates doom and gloom. But at least so far, its not widespread. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Can only speculate, but I think it comes mainly from the knowledge owners have of what happens when a belt gives out and/or a tensioner goes to meet its maker. Most of the time that’s a sure recipe for a new engine, a hefty bill and the loss of the matching numbers premise. Most folks don’t want to risk it and imvho, rightly so, so they end up replacing them much earlier than the item was actually designed to withstand. Not that the material can’t take a beating, so I think it’s not a matter pertaining to the items per se or how long they’ll last or how much punishment they can take, but more of a reflection of an owner’s zeal or risk exposure personality times 1.000, and you have a widespread fear of timing belts. Just my 2 cents anyway. Kind regards, Nuno.
Also good for keeping termites away. When I was a kid, my dad used to pour used motor oil around his shed to keep termites away. Fast forward to when I was in law school - I was renting a basement apartment from an old man. One day, I changed the oil in an old diesel Mercedes I was driving. I asked him where I could take the oil. He said to just pour it around his house to help keep the termites away. Lol.