ferrari 360 spyder timing belt service
 

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Here are a few pictures of a Ferrari Spyder we did a timing belt service to. If you are interested in any ferrari service for the Houston metro area, contact me. http://gallery.mac.com/motorwerks/10...G_6356/web.jpg
http://gallery.mac.com/motorwerks/10...G_6357/web.jpg

Looks like a pretty simple job.

Does the carpet just pull back easily? How about on the coupe? Any panels have to be removed?

Do you have to lock anything in place on the engine to ensure no movement?

You could pull out his antenna wire from the metal shield behind the driver's seat to give the keyfob greater distance sensitivity!

Have attached 3 photos. it's a short red wire that when pulled out and laid across the relays extends the range to 40'-50'!

Try it. It works-same on spider and coupes.

The spyder and coupes are the same except it's harder to work in a coupe. The carpet does not simply pull back. you have to remove the glovebox in the center first and side panels. Engine has to be locked. There are NO timing marks also. Thanks for the antenna info.

very cool....thanks for sharing.

i thought the top has to the removed or raised. Guess I was wrong. Nice work!

So what has to come out in the coupe? How about the padded panel just below the window?

So how do you lock the engine?

I'll check my workshop manual as well. I am starting to do a great deal of my own work. Clutch replacement is first followed by timing belts, engine belts, etc.

The antenna change is fabulous. Sometimes it's help in place by a gummy substance but it still pulls out easily, and it makes a huge difference.

Thanks for the info you provided.

Greg, great suggestion. I've found that I sometimes have to stand next to my car to activate the key fob. I think I can do this mod myself. And Sunilp, thanks for the photos. I've never seen the front of the engine when the access panel is off. I'm curious too, how do you lock the engine?

how does one know when the timing belts may need replacing?

How many years / miles before timing belts changes?

Thanks

There's some debate about the interval. Take a look at ferrarichat.com and search in the 360/430 section. You'll see many discusssions about this topic. Some have argued that they should be changed every 3 years or 15K miles, while others suggest at the 15K mile interval. Some owners who don't drive their cars very often, and put less than 15K miles in 3 years will do the timing belt as a peace of mind. My '04 had the 5 K mile service last year in '07 when I had 5K miles on the clock. In the process of the service, I asked Ferrari of San Francisco if they would inspect the belts when going through the car, and they said that the belts looked fine. Since your 360 is an early model, you might want to look at the cam variator. I believe the '99-'01 360s had manufacturing problems with this part and some failed. Some of the other things you should have inspected are cracking of the rear frame, cracking motor & transmission mounts, starter ring gear, and transmission throwout bearing & seal. That being said, you have a desirable model b/c it doesn't have the pre-cats which makes your car sound better than the later models.

It is easy to do. Take off the cover behind the driver's seat and it's in there. You can see it to pull it out.

I checked my W/S manual. The engine lock is a bolt on strip below the bell housing that seats into the ring gear. Looks like the proicess is not too difficult. It's the calibration device that concerns me. So, I'll read more on this.

Thanks for the tips!

btw: your garage sounds outstanding! Had two of your previous cars and you suv, is in my top 5 of best suv's - great taste :)

What's the average cost for timing belt service?

Hard to say because you could need tensioner bearings which are about $500/set etc.

Figure $1,500.00 as a guide but could be more as indicated.

Not even close if a proper timing belt service is performed. You ALWAYS replace the tensioners and you NEVER use the stock OEM ones. Hill Engineering are the best hands down, my shop has done many timing belt services for all Ferrari models and we have never used any but the Hill units. We stop using OEM tensioners on the 360s because of failure in Challenge 360s. You must check to see if the tensioner holder is cracked and also check if the cam variators are the updated versions.

With the service we also reseal the camshalfs, valve covers, spark plug seals, crank seal, cam plugs, all other drive belts, spark plugs, engine oil, gear oil, air filters, pollen filter, oil filter, check the F1 POIS values, check F1 clutch wear values, reset shifter values, reset the TCU and ECU and perform short test.

Parts alone is $1500 and our labor is $1500.

I have heard of timing belts services being done with just belts...ticking time bomb for the sake of saving some money.

The pictures above seem to show old belts and tensioners...maybe they where taken before the service, who knows.

He asked about a belt service and not a 30K service, and most ferrari mechanics I know have indicated that many times replacing cam seals creates more problems. The advice is if they are not leaking leave them alone..

Replacing tensioners is not always necessary unless they are distressed, cracked, or non-functional.

I doubt there are many cars at this pont that have not had the variator campaign.