Hi Everyone: I just bought a 2004 Ferrari 360 with a 6 speed manual. It had 7,500 miles on it and it is just about to turn 8,000 (I just drove it home from Ferrari of Washington DC to New Hampshire. It just had all of the services done before I brought her home (including the belt service). So here is the question. When it was idling in my driveway and I backed it out of the driveway, the low oil pressure light came on. I never saw this before...but I only had the car two days. Is this normal? The pressure at idle seems quite low (about 10 psi). I am hoping that I did not jump into a nightmare. Any insight here would be greatly appreciated. I know that you need to have the engine running to check the oil level...but I do not want to even start it up. Brian
Your oil pressure sending unit is defective. I had that happen to my car at about the same miles. This is a DIY repair or relatively inexpensive service. Don't try and add oil, you'll overfill and get into a much more expensive repair and cleaning. Good luck, Mark
+1; likely sending unit BUT; visually inspect oil fill to make sure its not really low. That could be a costly bad assumption.
And very importantly, check the oil level when the engine is running at nominal temperature, otherwise it will not show up on the oil-level-stick at all.
Could be a couple of things including the wrong viscosity oil and a hot engine. Don't worry about starting your car to check the oil level. Just be sure the oil pressure comes up to a reasonable level right away. If it does, proceed with checking the level. As you may know, a typical Ferrari will show very high oil pressure with cold oil and it increases with higher RPM and drops much lower at idle, especially when hot. In other words, your oil pressure swings will be much greater than in other cars you may have owned. With any luck, your warm oil pressure will be OK. Be SURE to follow the procedure in the owners manual for checking the oil level, i.e. engine at idle, warm oil, oil cap resting on the filler neck ( not screwed in), etc. I have seen my 360 Modena low oil light blink on once for a couple of seconds after a particularly hard thrash on a particularly hot day followed by a long hill climb at walking speeds when the engine RPM dropped to a low idle. The engine wasn't overheating but it was quite warm and the oil hotter than normal. It didn't cause me great concern, but enough so that am definitely changing the oil pressure sender when I change oil later this month.
Hey Everyone...thanks for the posts. In New Hampshire, there is a Ferrari service center (not a dealer) that I was chatting with later last night...and he was saying the same exact things. It appears that being my oil pressure at 70 mph is only about 70 psi, it seems a little low so he suspects a bad OP sensor. He is actually coming by this afternoon to check out the car (he makes house calls). It is funny, about 20 years ago, I was an ASE Master Tech and, needless to say, had no problem turning a wrench. But being this car is so new to me...and so different, I need a little help (at least for now). What an amazing car!
My mechanic advised me that the current procedure is to check the oil level with the engine hot and not running. I checked mine after he changed the oil but immediately after turning it off and there was too much froth to get a really good reading (I guess that's why it's called a de-aerator) so I'm going to wait about five minuted next time. Alan
The Ferrari service center is Ferrari Service of Bedford (NH). Here is their link: Ferrari Service of Bedford David Feinberg is the owner. Great guy...has a BS in Mechanical Engineer and Electrical Engineering.
If you wait 5 mins after switching off you'll never get an accurate reading, do what it says in the manual, check when hot with engine running, you'd be amazed at the difference in reading if engine just isn't quite up to temp. John.
the way i was told to check it was get it good and hot, shut it down for 3-5 minutes, restart and check. The reasoning is that all the frothing/bubbles are gone and the oil has not had time to cool down enough to make a difference. The few minutes waiting will not change the oil level but gives you a clear oil level line on the dipstick instead of guessing with all the froth.
The procedure is to check when at temp and running. It isn't just thermal expansion that causes the change in level. It is a dry sump so when you shut down the system the oil starts to run back down. You guys can check your oil how you want, or dare. I am going with the specified process because the potential for and cost of damage from an error are just too high.
I am fairly sure I know who this is. (David) is a Master technician and will point you in the right direction!
How hot was the oil at the time of the low idle? My guess (like others here) from street driving is the sender unit, given the fact it just had its fluids done presumably correctly. What I did want to add because I haven't seen anyone talk about this previously, is the guidance from the workshop manual regarding temp and pressure (that I use instead of just picking the 10 year old recommendation) to determine the appropriate weight of my oil depending on season and use. Again, probably not your problem, but just fwiw. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Mike I like your suggestion and will try it next time after a good run. The frothing really screws up the reading. I had to guess where the level was. Thanks Alan
So it looks like I have a bad sensor. Going to be about $550 to R&R. Concerning the oil, the Ferrari tech came by and showed me how to do it. And the thermal expansion aspect was quite large. We started up the motor and immediately checked the oil when it was dead cold (just to demonstrate the point) and it read about one quart low. We then allowed the motor to idle for about 15 minutes. His rule was if you can remove the cap without a rag to prevent you from burning your hand...it is too cold. So when the engine was warm and running, we checked the oil and it was just below the max line...so it went up about one full quart. Would have never thought it would have expanded that much. Importantly, he said that when you check the oil...do not screw the cap down...only lay it on top of the tank. I am happy to report that he said the car is pristine (even no bolster wear) and the motor sounded perfect.
I would like to see a picture of the froth on the stick if anyone grabs one. Can you use an improvised tool to break up the froth by swishing it around during the process?
I might be tempted to kindly pay the gentleman for his time and then RR myself. Maybe throw in a nice bottle of Italian wine so he feels loved....I was under the impression that the part was very cheap to obtain if you got one without the Ferrari box! I could be mistaken though.
$550!! I replaced mine for $155, I got the part from ferrparts (on an e-bay auction) for $155. I've bought from them twice before without any issues. I replaced it by myself in under 20 minutes, It was VERY easy! I did it all from above. You just need to remove the oil filter, remove the one wire terminal, then use a crow foot wrench to loosen the sensor. replace everything, and you are done!
Hey Kevin...Good point. He explained that the sensor uses some weird thread and that the standard VDO(?) part does not have the same thread. He said that is is a $23 VDO part with a unique thread that Ferrari charges $275 for.
20 minutes huh? I have all of the tools (was an ASE MasterTech in a previous life)...now I have a lot to think about. I will look for the part online.
That is true about the VDO part. There is a same "almost exact" part that can replace the Ferrari part for approximately $50. The ONLY difference is the thread size. You can go that route, but you have to also purchase a thread adapter if you want it to work. I'm anal like that, so I chose to blow the $155 on a genuine Ferrari part. Do a search, there are a few very good threads on this same topic.
