Okay... it's time for my first 348 oil change. I bought the good Ferrari oil from Walmart (Hahaha... make me laugh every time). And I bought the Ferrari 348 oil filter kit from our F-Chat sponsor. Now, is it really that tough to do? I've done it a thousand times, but never on a Ferrari. I would think you simply ... 1. Drain the engine 2. Drain the dry stump 3. Pop a hole in the top of the oil filter 4. Let it drain over night 5. Replace and oil filter, washers and plugs (from kit) 6. Fill with new oil 7. Warm it up and check it Is there anything I'm missing? Someone said (a Ferrari mechanic) I needed to... "blow out the lines in front of the engine" and "use a special tool to drain another tank in the front". Really ??? Any advice would be helpful. Randy
Nothing fancy about it. Just make sure you use the drain on the front of the engine (think its a hex drive), not the large brass plug which houses the oil pressure adjustment spring/bolt. I even think the overnight drain is an overkill. If you use good oil and do with engine warm and do at regular intervals, there should be no sludge or possibility of sludge in the oil lines.
2. "Drain the dry stump" - I assume you mean the oil tank. It is possible to pull the threads off the bottom of the tank when unscrewing/retightening the drain plug. Be careful. Don't cross-thread! Don't overtighten! 3. "Pop a hole in the top of the oil filter". Never found this necessary, don't know that it would do anything. Ferrari filter has anti-backflow valve, I believe. 4. "Let it drain overnight". Never heard of this one. 5. Don't forget to lube the rubber seal on the new oil filter, and tighten the filter by hand (don't overtighten it - have heard of old filters that had to be totally destroyed to get them off). 6. "Fill with new oil". Don't overfill. Follow the correct procedure, check level with engine running (dry sump). If you overfill it, the excess oil will get blown into the crankcase ventilation system and cause unnecessary engine smoking. If you disconnect the line to the oil cooler in the bottom of the radiator, be VERY careful not to crack the hose/fitting. You'll be sorry if you do... and it isn't really necessary. A new hose is shockingly expensive, and accidents can happen. Might also give warning that a standard oil drain pan might overflow onto the ground before you get all of the oil out of the tank. Or the full pan will be too heavy to move without spilling dirty oil all over the place. Put the drain plug back in and do it in two steps if necessary. As said above, "nothing fancy about it", no reason you can't do it at home if you're careful.
Found the oil cooler hose nut was cracked on my car. Yup that hose is V expensive (why Ferrari thought they needed such a hose for a low pressure system I'll never know) but if it is damaged, pop it into your local hydraulic hose company. Mine was repaired for £26. Elbow removed, new nut which had to be machined out to go around the tight elbow, re-crimped. They also advised a small amount of locktite around the seal; and when tightening I worked on finger tight plus 1/4 turn. Done 300 miles and no weaps/leaks. Happy days!
There really isn't much to it. The only real difference is the second drain plug under the oil tank. When you drain the oil tank though, make sure to either leave the plug in to slow down the flow or use a funnel or a deep receptacle. The oil comes straight down and the first time I changed mine I had a shallow oil pan to catch it in, it splashed all over my garage floor, muffler, just about everything and made a real mess. Also, as mentioned, make sure to only put in what you take out, and check it a full operating temperature. I overfilled my a bit the first time I changed it and used a turkey baster to pull some out of the tank.
http://my348.com There should be a very complete step by step on there. But yes overall you have it down. No need to punch hole in filter as it has (should have if its the right filter) anti flow back stand inside
Randy, This us what stooge events are for. Oct 7 we meet in sherman oaks. Do your oil with us and learn the ropes. I guarantee you will learn a lot, have fun, eat too much food, and drink too much beer.
Thanks for all the advice. It's my first Ferrari and I don't want to F-it-up. I think it would be great to change the oil at the Stooges event. However, I can't stay long. Is that okay? Maybe from 10-1pm. The reason is, there's a big Shelby event Sunday morning at Galpin Ford in Van Nuys and they want to display my GT40 on their show room floor with the 2005/6 Ford GT and the new 2017 Ford GT. I need to clean up the car and bring it over Saturday afternoon.
That is correct, it is a 12mm hex. Under tray needs to be removed to access this. The tank is a 22mm bolt, located back right corner of car, right underneath, very easy to access.
Whoa. Wait one moment here. I see no reference to the following required items: 1. 12 pack Peroni 2. Chilled glass from the freezer 3. Bottle opener WTF is wrong with you people?
