Loosing my "major and belts service"

All a bit quiet on here so a copy from Fchat…(I know its too easy, but I cant help wind-up the yanks on the crazy prices they pay for services :grin:)

"That" time has come around all to quickly, and having owned my 348 for 3 years now, its time for its first major and belts in my ownership. (Once I have baselined the maintenance I wont be doing it every 3 years, more like 5 as I just dont see the justification from an engineering perspective!)

I've done a fair amount of reading and getting quotes from indies and main dealers alike....so it has gone into DL, who are actually cheaper than some indies (those around London)! I only didn't use the indie I have for the previous services as they are a little way away and it would mean a day out of work to take the car there and drop it off and another to collect, whereas DL is 20 minutes down the road and at the moment work is flat out. Some may remember I was talking to Carrs and they had agreed to call me in Jan to make arrangements. As they didn't call and DL were interested...!

So, first impressions!?
1) They were expecting me and had all the paper work ready. Always a plus!
2) They are happy to fit some aftermarket coolant hoses I had that I could not get access to with the engine in the car, the ones at the front;
3) They have offered to let me into the workshop to clean the engine and engine bay. (Very impressed with that!):thumbsup:
4) They have techs that just do the older cars (ie those that know how to fault find without a laptop!), and I know they look after some nice stuff including a 348 etc.
5) They have put me on their premium scheme which is free, whereby they give me a list of things they think need to be done/ changed, I get a healthy discount on some parts (up to 50% apparently; but that doesn't mean they are any cheaper than aftermarket parts/alternatively sourced!), if within 10 years I clear the list I get a Classiche Certificate! If I don't clear the list, I still get the discount. I know classic marketing scheme, but I'm not complaining.

So I'm having the major service and belts, rocker covers redone powder coated crinkle finish, and I've got a quote for all cam shaft seals and shims (I'm not sure when last the shims were done) as I have a couple of leaks so they have given me a worst case quote. The tensioners were done last time with Hills so I don't feel the need to replace those. I'm sure there will be a few other bits and bobs, but hopefully not too much as she currently runs very sweet; although I wouldn't be surprised to hear I need new engine mounts etc, and there are some other annoying oil leaks or something!

More to come as I fully intend to spend a day in their garage cleaning (day job be damned!), as it has had a leak for a few years and whilst I've cleaned the areas I can get to with the engine in the car, with the engine out there will be a lot more to do...and pictures to take.

Fingers crossed the rest goes as well!!!

Attachment 155356

Quote:

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Originally Posted by A348W

All a bit quiet on here so a copy from Fchat…(I know its too easy, but I cant help wind-up the yanks on the crazy prices they pay for services :grin:)

"That" time has come around all to quickly, and having owned my 348 for 3 years now, its time for its first major and belts in my ownership. (Once I have baselined the maintenance I wont be doing it every 3 years, more like 5 as I just dont see the justification from an engineering perspective!)

I've done a fair amount of reading and getting quotes from indies and main dealers alike....so it has gone into DL, who are actually cheaper than some indies (those around London)! I only didn't use the indie I have for the previous services as they are a little way away and it would mean a day out of work to take the car there and drop it off and another to collect, whereas DL is 20 minutes down the road and at the moment work is flat out. Some may remember I was talking to Carrs and they had agreed to call me in Jan to make arrangements. As they didn't call and DL were interested...!

So, first impressions!?
1) They were expecting me and had all the paper work ready. Always a plus!
2) They are happy to fit some aftermarket coolant hoses I had that I could not get access to with the engine in the car, the ones at the front;
3) They have offered to let me into the workshop to clean the engine and engine bay. (Very impressed with that!):thumbsup:
4) They have techs that just do the older cars (ie those that know how to fault find without a laptop!), and I know they look after some nice stuff including a 348 etc.
5) They have put me on their premium scheme which is free, whereby they give me a list of things they think need to be done/ changed, I get a healthy discount on some parts (up to 50% apparently; but that doesn't mean they are any cheaper than aftermarket parts/alternatively sourced!), if within 10 years I clear the list I get a Classiche Certificate! If I don't clear the list, I still get the discount. I know classic marketing scheme, but I'm not complaining.

So I'm having the major service and belts, rocker covers redone powder coated crinkle finish, and I've got a quote for all cam shaft seals and shims (I'm not sure when last the shims were done) as I have a couple of leaks so they have given me a worst case quote. The tensioners were done last time with Hills so I don't feel the need to replace those. I'm sure there will be a few other bits and bobs, but hopefully not too much as she currently runs very sweet; although I wouldn't be surprised to hear I need new engine mounts etc, and there are some other annoying oil leaks or something!

More to come as I fully intend to spend a day in their garage cleaning (day job be damned!), as it has had a leak for a few years and whilst I've cleaned the areas I can get to with the engine in the car, with the engine out there will be a lot more to do...and pictures to take.

Fingers crossed the rest goes as well!!!

Attachment 155356

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Hope the end result is a pleasurable experience, minus handing over the credit card.
Personally I always had a good experience there and paid less than advertised rate with scheduled work very competitively priced.

Richard was the after-sales manager for a while and had a great attitude. He has moved on into sales now but last experience was things hadn’t changed. Always helpful and the fact they will let you clean the engine bay in workshop is a bonus.

And there is always plenty of nice stuff to look at when you waiting.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

These guys don't hang around...:shocked: Email video health check received lunchtime today.

Engine is out, cam covers off and in the post to be powder coated. As thought cam seals are leaking so that will be done.

Additional things picked up:
- left hand radiator is missing a few veins. I knew this so that's fine and will get that re-cored myself later this spring.
- two brake pipes are corroded and need replacing. Not the end of the world, but I do have a receipt from an Indie that was suppose to have replaced those prior to my purchase, and a comment about the use of mole grips (farmers micrometer to you and I):thumbsdow.
- one tensioner pully is sweating a lot of grease. This is odd as they are Hills and only replaced 6k miles ago!
- my handbrake shoes are likely to be worn, again I have a receipt that says they were replaced 6k miles ago by above indie. I cant recall that many handbrake turns since I bought her :grin:
- my rear brake calliper clips are in upside down. Well that's my fault!:laugh:
- and some "tool" has damaged the cam belt covers (another one being sourced!)

So all in all, not as bad as it could be and just re-enforces my view of a particular indie.

Could have been a lot worse so whilst I've got to find a few more pennies all good so far!

Just as a thought...

Are they going to carry out the mod to the cam seal cover ie drilling a v shaped groove in a a small hole so oil can drain better (and stops cam seals leaking?

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/oil-hole-drilling-jig.440919/#post-142992181

Ferrari do a jig for it

Quote:

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Originally Posted by irarref

Just as a thought...

Are they going to carry out the mod to the cam seal cover ie drilling a v shaped groove in a a small hole so oil can drain better (and stops cam seals leaking?

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/oil-hole-drilling-jig.440919/#post-142992181

Ferrari do a jig for it

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Thanks for that Jeff, I wasn't aware of that.

I'll ask when I talk to them. I cant seem to find the date they changed the design over, but note the bulletin on FChat is 10/10/91 and mines a 92, so close and could go either way I guess!

I'll see what they say, but if I have to pay for it...nothing wrong in a little rust treatment :laugh:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by irarref

Just as a thought...

Are they going to carry out the mod to the cam seal cover ie drilling a v shaped groove in a a small hole so oil can drain better (and stops cam seals leaking?

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/oil-hole-drilling-jig.440919/#post-142992181

Ferrari do a jig for it

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my 328 has the same mod but the indi still made them leak :thumbsdow
so i did them myself this time, it is a common problem.
I found on strip down my drain holes were not lined up with the valley in the collar correctly for the oil to flow back into the engine, instead it just sat there over time and leaked, so maybe I've fixed it now as zero leak----so far
good luck on the service/repair:thumbsup:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by A348W

- two brake pipes are corroded and need replacing. Not the end of the world, but I do have a receipt from an Indie that was suppose to have replaced those prior to my purchase,

- one tensioner pully is sweating a lot of grease. This is odd as they are Hills and only replaced 6k miles ago!
- my handbrake shoes are likely to be worn, again I have a receipt that says they were replaced 6k miles ago by above indie. I cant recall that many handbrake turns since I bought her

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Shocking re the brake pipes. Not like that's a safety critical part, is it? What's the point in a PPI (guessing that's how they were picked up?) if the selling indie simply lies about fixing things / replacing parts afterwards. I'd be livid if they had done that to me and I'd since had my kids etc in the car.

Handbrake shoes - not a chance they would be worn after 6k miles unless you'd been driving round with the handbrake on. Think you would have noticed that.

All the above makes me wonder if the tensioner bearings were actually replaced - Hills bearing should be fine for many more than 6K miles. Easy enough to check as all Hills bearings are stamped with a batch number. Get that number and you should be able to check with Hill Engineering to see when they were sold. Be interesting to see if it was significantly more than 3 years ago.

DL had their apprenticeship day yesterday. (If only I was younger, how awesome would that be!)

Seems my 348 had some extra help :thumbsup:

Attachment 155371

Invited to a “dealer clinic” and to spend time tinkering with my car whilst it’s on the lift.

Very pleasant day; nice to do some cleaning with the engine out and spend time talking detail with the mechanic and service manager! Extra bonus was I got some NLA caged bolts which he remembered they had that I needed for my front anti role bar. Just a shame I can only “spare” one day to tinker!

One of the many things I learnt was that all brake pipes are steel; even new ones. They are plastic coated/treated to prevent corrosion, but seems odd to me as this does degrade/gets damaged. Anyway, some of mine are being replaced with “proper” copper piping!

And the finish to the day was a test drive in a GTC4Lusso! What a beast; and yes the back does step out; quite easily actually :laugh:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by A348W

Invited to a “dealer clinic” and to spend time tinkering with my car whilst it’s on the lift.

Very pleasant day; nice to do some cleaning with the engine out and spend time talking detail with the mechanic and service manager! Extra bonus was I got some NLA caged bolts which he remembered they had that I needed for my front anti role bar. Just a shame I can only “spare” one day to tinker!

One of the many things I learnt was that all brake pipes are steel; even new ones. They are plastic coated/treated to prevent corrosion, but seems odd to me as this does degrade/gets damaged. Anyway, some of mine are being replaced with “proper” copper piping!

And the finish to the day was a test drive in a GT4Lusso! What a beast; and yes the back does step out; quite easily actually :laugh:

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Sounds like a fun day. Got to say the main dealers do look after you pretty well these days - lower hourly rates for the older cars, happy to fit non-OEM parts (where appropriate), time in the workshop, test drives, and as you pointed out before; attractive receptionists and good coffee. It’s clear that they’re pushing hard to win back owners of the older models from the indies. At times they make a fairly compelling case........