| Author |
Message |
Paul Sloan (Sloan83qv)
Member
Username: Sloan83qv
Post Number: 518
Registered: 3-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, March 23, 2003 - 4:04 pm: | |
Mike,
Pull the line (1/2" rubber hose)off the lower part of the air box, and see how oily it is as this hose is only suppose to carry crankcase air and oil is supposed to seperate and drain back down to crankcase.
By the way adding a quart or two of the Durablend would not have changed anything. The biggest reason for excessive leaks beside a damaged gaskets or seals is excessive pressure in the crankcase which usually leads to those damages gaskets and seals and a plugged seperator is the main cause of excessive pressure. A blocked or plugged seperator pushes oil through the air induction system rather then returning it to the engine. |
Ben Millermon (Brainsboy)
Junior Member
Username: Brainsboy
Post Number: 150
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, March 23, 2003 - 3:28 pm: | |
I had a mobil-1 agent tell me its common to see oil leaks in older cars when they switch to a synthetic. As he explained it to me, Conventional oil is like have a box of marbles all different sizes and shapes. Where as synthetic is like having a box with all the same size small marbles. Conventional oil is more likely to plug up and stop micro-small leaks |
Dr Tommy Cosgrove (Vwalfa4re)
Member
Username: Vwalfa4re
Post Number: 869
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, March 23, 2003 - 2:50 pm: | |
Mike - Did you wait 15 or so minutes before checking the dipstick? 308's are funny about this. The owner's manual says we must wait 15 min before checking the oil level to get the most accurate reading. I have tried hot, cold, wait, don't wait and I get different levels everytime. I used to run Mobil 1 for the track too because my oil temp would always get so hot. I couldn't keep it in the engine either. I had to scrub my driveway at home from the oil leaks. When I went back to mineral based oils the leaks stopped completely. |
Ken Ross (Kdross)
Member
Username: Kdross
Post Number: 287
Registered: 2-2002
| | Posted on Sunday, March 23, 2003 - 9:21 am: | |
Bill:
The reason why people say to over fill the oil by one quart on the 308 is because the car experiences oil starvation issues during hard right turns. The extra oil MAY provide some relief for a few seconds, but is not a solution to the problem. The best solution is to install a dry sump lubrication system. |
Bill V (Doc)
Member
Username: Doc
Post Number: 257
Registered: 9-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, March 23, 2003 - 8:37 am: | |
Mike--I can't answer your question precisely as I don't know the mechanical anwer to your question, but I can share a couple of facts with you which may help shed some light on it. I was told by a Ferrari mechanic and saw written in print ( A. Bishops's book, "Ferrari-Guide to Performance" ) that one should always overfill the crankcase with at least a quart of oil when tracking a 308. The mechanic specifically told me that he's seen 308's seize on the track when this hadn't been done.
Re: the synthetic issue, I put Mobil 1 into my '85 over this past Winter , due to the extreme cold we experienced, and I thought it would be good to minimize start-up wear. Well, I'd never seen so many leaks under the car before! It was unbelieveable--just from starting up and idling to warm- up once a week. I switched back to Castrol 20w-50 and the extreme leakage stopped almost immediately. I know that the synthetic oil issue has been beaten to death on Chat with the final conclusion being that the new synthetics don't leak--but mine did seriously. So, perhaps, with its improved slipperiness, it may be blowing by a lot faster than pure petroleum. Anyway--that's my 2 cents. |
Mike Procopio (Pupz308)
Junior Member
Username: Pupz308
Post Number: 195
Registered: 10-2002
| | Posted on Sunday, March 23, 2003 - 8:24 am: | |
Paul,
Thanks very much for the lead... What would be the easiest way to check if this is happening? |
Paul Sloan (Sloan83qv)
Member
Username: Sloan83qv
Post Number: 517
Registered: 3-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, March 23, 2003 - 8:18 am: | |
Mike,
Last time I tracked my 308 I found out that my oil seperator (or blow by) was shot and was directing oil into by air box instead of back into crankcase. These things were never meant to last 20 years. nick at forza ferrari sells an aftermarket crankcase breather setup that will solve this problem and lower crankcase pressure as well. |
Mike Procopio (Pupz308)
Junior Member
Username: Pupz308
Post Number: 192
Registered: 10-2002
| | Posted on Sunday, March 23, 2003 - 12:02 am: | |
I tracked my 308 today, she did very, very well. This was on a road course, speeds up to 90mph, always 100% on throttle (when accelerating), most of the run at 5000 to 7000 rpm for about 15 mintutes at a time.
I had a full complement of Mobil 1 10w50 full synthetic.
After my third run, I started to lose oil pressure--pulled off into the pits, and sure enough, the oil dipstick read below the minimum line. Strange, I say--I checked it earlier and it was OK!
So OK, I add another 1.5 quarts, and go out for two more runs, 20 minutes total race time. The second run, I also began to lose (slightly) pressure towards the end. And when I got back, again, I was well below the minimum line on the oil dipstick.
Geeze! I burned more than a quart of oil in some 30 miles!
Well, I was out of synthetic... My instructor had some Valvoline Durablend (conventional with synthetic properties) which I added in, two quarts of.
One more run later, I had barely lost any oil. I understand that the thinner, synthetic will tend to seep past the rings more?
Can somebody please shed some light on what's going on here? Otherwise, I believe my engine to be very healthy--good service history, very good compression, no misfire, just good stuff.
Thanks... --Mike |
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