[tazandjan]

I have attached the latest tech bulletin from Ferrari on cambelt change interval, and it states the change interval for the 575M and 612 is five years, but for earlier V12s like the 456/M and 550, the interval remains at 3 years. So why it this? My answer is that Ferrari could not afford to do, and had no desire to do, any accelerated cambelt wear testing on older model cars like they did for the 575M when the belts were upgraded very early in 575M production.

So what is the point of this thread? In my opinion, if 456/M and 550 owners use the late 550/575M tensioner brackets, and the only belts now sold, the 575/612 belt, the change interval on belts can be extended to five years without risk. This is predicated, of course, on changing the tensioner bearings/pulleys at that five year interval.

None of the pros can tell you this, of course, and my opinion is probably not worth much, but now you have it. Ricambi actually has a deal going on a tensioner/bracket combination. If your car has not been upgraded with the late bracket, I highly recommend it even if you decide to stick to the three year interval.

Taz
Terry Phillips

[henri66]

Hi,

Thanks for the information. As a 456M owner, taht could make sense to me to jump from 3 to 5 years. need to think about it.

[tazandjan]

Henri- Welcome to Ferrari Life and to another V12 owner. Since I wrote this thread, I tracked down the Assembly Number where the tensioner bracket change was made and it was AN 26814. If your car has a higher Assembly Number than that, you do not even need the new bracket, you already have it.

You might want to start a thread in Member Introductions below, and we can get you signed up as an owner.

[bay]

Originally Posted by henri66

Hi,

Thanks for the information. As a 456M owner, taht could make sense to me to jump from 3 to 5 years. need to think about it.

Hello Henri
Welcome

[enz898]

Thanks for the info Terry its a great benefit for all us v12 owners to know.

Jacob

[tazandjan]

Jacob- I figure we have enough things to pay for on our V12s already. No sense spending money when there is no need. For a while, we even had 575M owners doing three year intervals because Ferrari never changed the owners manuals or the workshop manual. There were 575M owners manuals printed in 2003 and 2005, but they never bothered to change the belt change interval.

[Granucci]

Thanks Terry.

As a side note, based on a 'reliable and trustworth person in the community' I will also extend this to the 456 GT 2+2.

My odd has just passed the 75k mark, and with care and normal watching it should be just a guarded event.

[tazandjan]

Rik- I have to be more careful with my notations. When I wrote 456/M, I meant both. Will start using 456/456M to be more clear.

[Rallyman]

Sorry to ask: how do I check the assembly number in my 550?

[mark]

Hi Terry:

Thanks for the research, I'm sure it was not easy to ascertain, knowing what I know about the folks in Maranello. For the record my 550 is assembly # 29398.

Cheers

Mark

[tazandjan]

Mark- Welcome to Ferrari Life. You should already have the updated tensioner brackets. They updated the tensioner bearing/pulley at the same time. Just so we have a reference, when was your car built?

You should go down to Member Introductions and introduce yourself and we can get you signed up as an owner.

RM- Here you go. Courtesy of Carbon.

[mark]

Terry:

My car was built in Feb. 98. By coincidence I was in Maranello at the same time. My wife and I picked up our M3 in Munich and put 3K miles on it over the course of a month.

I took your advice and navigated through the introduction process, thanks for the suggestion.

[tazandjan]

Mark- Thanks, that gives me a reference point. Looks like the change was made in Fall 97, based on Assembly Numbers.

[henri66]

Originally Posted by tazandjan

Henri- Welcome to Ferrari Life and to another V12 owner.

Thanks

Since I wrote this thread, I tracked down the Assembly Number where the tensioner bracket change was made and it was AN 26814. If your car has a higher Assembly Number than that, you do not even need the new bracket, you already have it.

The assembly number is 31270 from Nov 98. So looks like we are OK with the 5 years regarding the tensioner bracket itself. I guess the belt is also OK with 5 years?

You might want to start a thread in Member Introductions below, and we can get you signed up as an owner.

Will do.

[henri66]

Originally Posted by tazandjan

I tracked down the Assembly Number where the tensioner bracket change was made and it was AN 26814. If your car has a higher Assembly Number than that, you do not even need the new bracket, you already have it.

just a quicky. On the service bulletin, they talk about assembly number 43847. And you wrote 26814. Where is the mistmatch coming from ?? (obviously mine is 31270 so still with 3y as per the service bulletin 31270<43847).....

[tazandjan]

Henri- Assembly Number 43847 (a 575M) is where they introduced the new belts in the winter of 01/02. Since that date, those are the only belts that have been produced. All the new old stock early belts were sold out long ago (we hope) during routine cambelt changes, so only the new belts have been available for quite a while.

At Assembly Number 26814, the new tensioner brackets and new tensioner bearings/pulleys were introduced that are still used on the 612, the last cars Ferrari built with rubber cambelts. In all likelihood, nearly all the 456/456M/550 cars have been fitted with the new cambelts during routine changes and all but the early cars already have the new tensioner brackets and tensioner bearings/pulleys. If someone has a 456 or 550 with an Assembly Number earlier than 26814, they need to change out their brackets and bearings to take advantage of the five year interval.

[henri66]

Taz,

That sounds realistic. Thanks for the details.