TRINITONY

Please post some pics.....luv to see Fcar pics..

Robin 993DX

Someone said pictures?

Here is a clutch job we did on a friend's 360 F1, I believe this is the first time anyone had done a clutch replacement on a F1 without the factory SD2 computer. We figured out a way to flush the clutch thrust bearing without using the computer. But the Ferrari SD2 computer is still needed afterwards to adjust the PIS setting and reset the clutch wear indicator.
There were a lot of components that was replaced while we were at it, spark plugs, rear main seal, a lot of old cracked brittle hose, and grommets.


Here is the transmission, it is also part of the oil tank.


Ferrari uses a thrust bearing design instead of a mechanically operated throw out bearing design used on Porsches. Basically the hydraulic fluid fills the inside of the thrust bearing, the pressure is kept by the 3 sealing rings and it moves the thrust bearing forward. Good from packaging's point of view, but very unreliable for a street car, too many area prong to failure and leak. If the thrust bearing bust a leak the transmission has to come out, owner will need to fork out couple of Gs to get a $30 seal replaced.


To align the muffler tips the rear bumper must come off... Retarded design

simpsoap

Interesting read!

Andy

Robin 993DX

More pictures... these are pictures of my own 360 spider going through a full major at 17000 miles. Ferrari service is based on age/mile whichever comes first. Major service includes, engine/tranny oil, coolant clush, timing belt and addressing some potential disaster waiting to happen and oil leaks.

These are all the parts I had to take off to do a full major


Ferrari made some upgrade on the 360 to allow you to do a timing belt change without dropping the engine like all the previous models. But typical Ferrari fashion to remove the panel requires uses of several different size socket, screw driver, torx tool.


At 17000 miles the suspension bushing are cracked already


Again, to change the gear oil and clean the transmission filter the rear bumper must come off


To properly set the timing belt tension a $1400 special order tool from England is required. Ferrari specs. out the belt tension using sound frequency... hence the tunning fork, like tunning a piano.


Oil leak found! Leaking from an oil drain tube.


Source of the leak found, Ferrari forgot to put an o-ring on one side. Undeliverable!


The Ferrari headers remain to be one of major problem area, this problem exist in every model including the 430, I am pretty sure in no time people will find issues with the new 458 also. My guess is due to substandard manufacturing and substandard parts used. Notice here the welds were not even back purged.


Another major potential disaster waiting to happen on the 360 headers from 2000-2004 model. Ferrari added a pre-cat inside the header immediately after the collector. The addition of the pre-cat was an afterthought, and pre-cat material will break up overtime and the debris will get sucked back into the cylinder during high RPM operation of the engine and cause a $20k+ engine damage.


All better now, pre-cat removed. Heat wrap removed to prevent moisture trap. Jet hot coated to keep engine bay cool.


Alternator completely not protected by the header heat. So I had to fabricate my own heat shield to protect the alternator from damaging heat.


The factory shop manual was almost completely useless, direction was very hard to follow to set the proper tension on the timing belt. Every Ferrari techs I spoken with had their own way of setting tension and don't bother even using the tension tool.


Sorry if the post sounds like bunch of rant and complaints, but just my own true experience from working on them.

vjd3

Great info, Robin.

I always post this link on threads like these, another great read!

http://www.nsxfiles.com/f355_update.htm

"You learn to overlook problems like this, just like you would overlook the fact that your bi-polar, psychotic, nymphomaniac Victoria Secret lingerie model accidentally shot off a 9mm round into the ceiling. "Hey, I thought I saw a bug on the ceiling, I didn't hit anyone, what are you complaining about?", she innocently asks you while she is stretched out in bed, doe-eyed, dressed in the skimpiest underwear you have ever seen. Because for the moments when everything is working great, the F355 driving experience cannot be surpassed, and you can forgive it for all the problems it gave you last week, and the week before that, and the month before that."

Mark in Baltimore

That is an awesome quote.

Robin 993DX

For the above reason"S"... I still have my Ferrari.

Robin 993DX

I did read that page prior of buying my 360, I am curious why they didn't continue to update that page....

Despite of everyone's (including my dad who is a big Italian car fan) recommendation not to buy a Ferrari I still bought one. But I am glad I did, I am a knuckle head have to experience everything hands on to know for sure.

MrBonus

Interesting read. Thanks for the info, Robin.

simpsoap

Robin - did you replace the stock headers with something aftermarket, like Tubi?

When it's all working and not giving you problems, is it actually fun to drive or more of a headache?

A

Robin 993DX

After market headers ranges from $5000 - $12000...

I did the next best thing I bought another set of factory headers and made the mod and jet hot coated them.

Fun? Honestly, I have more fun driving my 99 996 C4 and the Cayenne S. I think the fun factor of the Ferrari ownership is to be able to laugh at the bad engineering and find faulty construction the factory screwed up on. It is actually a nervous wreck driving the car, you have to worry about other cars running into you and other cars all the time as they are so focused on taking pictures with their camera phone. I have to watch the gauges and listen for every little weird sound all the time, not sure when the next part will break. I have to plan every route as the low nose will get stuck, I have to plan where to park the car or else I will find finger and nose print on every glass. Not to mention palm prints over the engine bay. So far it has been a stressful car ownership experience for me.

race911

And I'm regularly asked if I want to own, or have owned, a Ferrari................... Guarantee that I'm enjoying my "POS air cooleds" (how I describe my two to our local racer/track guy list), especially this winter.

dcdude

In addition to being buried under snow, another disadvantage of living back east is never being able to meet Robin (and Chris) in person. He's pretty much in my back yard, and I always look forward to my visits and our chats on a wide range of topics, sometimes with opera playing in the background. He is even more charming and down-to-earth in person than his posts can indicate on-line.

vjd3

And you West Coasters have In and Out Burger, too, you lucky b-stards.

DanQ

Robin,
Sorry, for the OT comment. I have a 748S Ducati motorcycle that you also adjust the timing belts by plucking them and measuring the frequency. We don't use a special tool, (although there are many different tools available) many home mechanics just use a laptop computer with a mic and a guitar tuning app. My belt is plucked to 85 Hz. $0.

If you are interested, here is the link to the ducati site page.
http://www.ducati.ms/forums/80-hall-...-answered.html