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Changing the timing cover is not necessarily an "engine out job" but it is definitely an expensive job. Mine was 3 days at the dealer and more money than I remember. (smile)
Changing the timing cover is not necessarily an "engine out job" but it is definitely an expensive job. Mine was 3 days at the dealer and more money than I remember. (smile)
It is an engine out job. Watch the video - Bamford rose (who literally designed these engines while working at Aston Martin) explains that it's more work to attempt to do it with engine in,and you're likely going to cause more problems due to the sheer amount of ancillary things you have to remove to get to the cover if you don't just pull the engine.
It's a 15 hour job with the engine out.
Last edited by Johnny Hotspur GT; Nov 23, 2025 at 07:55 PM.
It's not, you clearly have no experience here. The major issue for a DIY job is potentially seized front subframe bolts- a far less likely scenario for fair weather driven cars in the United States.
The major advantage for DIY to me is not cost savings, but rather to be more thorough than any shop would. Is a shop going to take time to vapor blast the front cover? Replace each nut and bolt with new (and deal with wait time of ordering all these)? Replace all the coolant hoses and fixings along the way? Probably not. Even some dealers replace it with engine in, although if I had the space, I certainly would choose to remove.
Apparently you know more than Bamford, who literally says what you're saying is an absolute fool's errand, not just becuase of the danger of of snapping the subframe bolts but also because it take much monger and you have to remove far more, thus increasing the chances of something going wrong.
As it seems you don't know, Bamford Rose actually designed these engines while working at Aston Martin on the VH cars, and run probably the most successful independent Aston martin shop in the world, so they are infinitely more informed than you about this subject and have done literally thousands of engine out repairs. When he says it's not really necessary unless you're losing a lot of oil (or it's some bizarre OCD issue) then it's not really necessary.
As others have pointed out, you can spend the $5000 to replace the cover and it will likely leak again within a year or two. It seems you don't know British cars if you think you can ever get them to stop leaking lolol.
And yes, my local independent actually replaces all the gaskets, o rings, nuts and bolts when they do it becuase, you know, that's actually what is in the workshop manual.
Last edited by VantageAston; Nov 22, 2025 at 01:01 PM.
Yes the geriatrics here can go henpeck on Fchat. I hear there is a 355 owner trying to change the cam belt in situ
The 18s are proving to be a bit tricky to get tires for and has turned into a deep rabbit hole. You don't want the tires to make the wheels look goofy- too small a sidewall they don't fill out the wheel wheels, too big and it looks like a van. To me the benefit of these wheels is I can gain sidewall for ride quality/stability for bumpy California mountain roads and they still look great.
In theory, a 265/40R18 F and 305/35R18 R would maintain factory rolling diameter and stagger (and crucially for my OCD, nearly identical diameter front and rear). Except no one makes a tire in both sizes, and I suspect a 305 rear would be rubbing the fender anyways.
Right now leaning towards a 265/40R18F and 285/40R18 R- matches closely a GT4 I saw on BaT which I thought looked good, and I can get the Michelin PS4S in this size. Other choice is a 295/35R18 rear, but no PS4S available and gives it a slighlty smaller rear diameter. I looked at probably a dozen N24/GT4 cars running these wheels, and there was quite a variation in tire size (of course these are R comps).
This is a 265/35R18 F 285/35R18 R on Pistonheads- owner posted wishing he had a taller tire upfront- and I agree- but otherwise I think it looks quite good.
Installed:
Hawk HPS 5.0 brake pads (570 & 586)
Brembo 09.8780.21 x 2 - front rotors
Brembo 98.8248.40 x 2 - front caliper pad hardware set
4G43-2C588-BA x 2 - rear caliper pad hardware set
4G43-2N389-AA x 8 - rotor retention screws
4G43-2C564-AB x 8 - caliper bolts
Brembo 09.8781.21 x 2 rear rotors
4G43-2C562-BB - parking brake pad set (this supercedes the original part, so hopefully solves the squeakiness)
4G43-2C564-CA x - parking brake caliper bolts
Went with Castrol SRF on the fluid- I use it in all my other cars, so keep it simple, besides it being a great brake fluid (way better than the Motul stuff in my experience).
20nm + 66-70* angle on the caliper bolts. I have a Lisle angle gauge- it's fine except the numbers on the dial are tiny, so I use tape to make the desire angle.
Forgot to mention, picked up this oil filter socket on Amazon. Absolute perfect fit to the AM oil filter:
Last edited by sirhodjibob; Jan 4, 2026 at 10:58 AM.
Reason: added part numbers
Very easy, no different than any other car really. The only quirks being the stretch bolts for the caliper and you have to remove the rear parking brake caliper (I chose to split the caliper and replace the parking brake pads at the same time as there is an updated part from AM).
To @sirhodjibob and @Import
On tires - I'm on a different platform with a DB11. Like other models, the list of performance tires available and given the odd sizes make choices limited. I wanted to change two factors with my tires - I wanted larger sizes front/back, and I wanted an all season tire instead of a performance tire. The reasoning - I wanted a more comfortable ride, better look and since I live in Florida and do NOT track my car, I am more likely to get caught in a raining downpour where the all season tire makes more sense than any chance I track this car.
Faced with this and a tire calculator. I found an all season tire that coincidentally I really like. They are the Continental DWS. I've had DWS tires on other performance cars. They are remarkably quiet, hold up well and although not a performance tire, do come close.
These are the factory stock tire sizes. From the factory these are pretty close with a circumference difference of 0.4%
The DWS tires are both wider with the same % sidewall so come out physically taller than stock. In this setup, the circumference % difference is 0.
These changes gave me everything I sought and the tires fill a little better than stock tires on a completely stock suspension.
