[mleizza]

I posted recently about my 328 leaking from the cam seals which I recently had serviced and took it back to the shop that did them and they pointed out to me that they were not the cam seals at all but the shift shaft seals. It was also pointed out that Ferraris are notorious for this as I saw a 308, 328 and 348 on the lifts with the same problems. I was told that this was a very poor design by Ferrari and that fixing them would result in them leaking two months later. Is this correct?

I did ALOT of homework on the 328 before I bought one and NEVER came across this as being one of the problems.

Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Marc

 

[Brian]

It is a common problem but I will disagree as to the frequency. I will also agree that it is not as well designed as it could be but what oil sealing devices are on Ferrari's? The shift shaft seals on the 308/328 series if replaced properly , making sure there is no shaft damage etc will be pretty oil tight for 2 or 3 years in a car that sees regular use and will after that start to weep in a slowly increasing fashion for quite some time. They really leak when they get old enough to get rock hard, as all seals do, so that the rubber has lost is slight tension on the shaft and allows a large leak. Most I replace are in this state and have gotten hard enough that the rubber breaks into pieces taking them out. That is a process the will take a decade or more.

It sounds to me like you should get another eyes on opinion. I do not make a business of going after every damp area on the bottom of a Ferrari and try to make a sale to remedy it but on the other hand I have enough confidence in our work to know we really can fix leaks when they rise to the level of being a problem. You should find someone with a little higher standard.