help! 456m oil question

There are some horror stories about being over in dry sump engine so sounds like the wise thing to do. You will need to have the car jacked both sides and need one of those flat tanks intended for draining oil.

 

make sure you stay withing the min max.. too much oil can damage your engine..

 

Done a very similar thing myself. Checked the oil when the engine was cold, added a litre or so, after a drive when the engine was hot it was over the max.

I drained some oil out very simply. Basically get some hose and syphon from the top of the oil tank.

Here's exactly what I did:

Got some spare fuel line about 2 meters is plenty, feed it into the oil tank, take the other end, make sure it can reach the ground.

Suck like mad on the fuel line - I did this when the oil was cold and very viscous - until the oil is near your mouth. At this point lower the end that was in your mouth to the floor and place in a suitable container.

It takes ages to drain with the small bore fuel line, guess you could use larger diameter stuff but you need to poke it past the fixing inside the oil tank. Remember mine was cold, maybe better to go for a drive to warm the oil - I've no idea really as I've only done this the once.

Anyway, saves all the hassle of jacking car, undoing bolts etc. I only drained about 1/2 L out as the car will use some oil anyway - incidentally I have found the difference between min and max on dip stick isn't much and it seems very easy to over fill the 456.

When I check my oil I don't necesarily do it with the engine running, immediately after a drive seems to give the same reading. You may have been a bit low on oil anyway and the overfilling probably took place after you'd added the initial litre (?).

Let us know how you get on.

 

NOOOooooo andye, your advice is good except for the sucking part....

go to harbor tools or something and buy a cheap 1 time liquid transfer pump for about $5-10 depending on sales that week.....One I got had a vacuum pump with two plastic see-thru hoses and it make the job not only easy, but safe ....actually it's a gas transfer pump they have for about ten dollars.

don't get that liquid in your mouth. save the llama or is that a camel... one lump or two

 

Worth checking...

My BMW had a patchy service history (despite all the right stamps) and the first few oil changes, the oil was always black until all the crap was out of the engine. cost me a bit with frequent oil changes (every 3000 miles) but this a cost that easily repays itself with improved engine longevity.

In an answer to a question about 500,000 miles car, Evo Magazine's technical expert said that very frequent oil change (disregarding all the hype about the long life of modern oil) is one the best way to improve longevity.

I certainly follow this with both BM and Ferrari

 

I don't quite understand the mech's measurement technique explained here of min/max .. sounds like he did this cold or just after you drove it there? did he warm it up to get the measurement...not quite understanding the sequence of events here....but would be nice to know his style.

 

Glad to here it worked for you

My oil had done about 2000 miles and wasn't quite black - more like a dark-brown/slighly-yellow colour.

I too was surprised by this as I expected to be more like the colour of new oil. Like it is in my Merc after 10K miles!!

I may give it an oil change - or get someone else to do it. Unfortunately I think using the tube-in-tank method would take hours for 10L of oil!!!

 

My BMW (2002 530d) recommends a service interval of 20K miles!!! This is a diesel. I think that these car manufacturers have realised that people do not keep their cars for 200K miles and make the short term ownership costs appear cheep by stating a long interval.

 

AndyE technique works fine, but one must syphon off one liter at the time.
Run the engine after removing the first liter, check the level, get another liter out if necessary and re-start the engine before checking the level and so on.
Also, the engine must run for quite a few minutes before the oil level has the chance to stabilize in the reservoir, so patience is a key ingredient.

 

Totally agree. I would not trust any oil, including Motul v300 and the parallel Silkolene to last that long.

Funny enough, Ferrari service book states once a year or every 12,000 miles service and no oil change in between. Normally people do not do more then few thousand a year so no issue. But as I do more then the average I make sure I change oil after no more then 5000 miles - much less if I track it.

With you trackday plan I would say an oil change is not a bad idea but change the filter juts as well

 

The colour of the oil is not an indication of viscosity breakdown.
If you are concerned about the oil, then spend the $25 to take a sample and send it in for analysis.
This will tell you far more about the health of your engine!

 

thanks for the reply, don't want to sound stooopid, but oil thing is always a fun issue with me: add 1/2 gt, full qt, 1/4 gt....sort of pinch of salt etc.
On the 348 engine, took some time to not panic and add only when I was sure I could get a fairly good reading and then lust a little oil

456 is a dry sump and expect it to be the same way but didn't understand the quantity to fill issue until now: THANKS.....haven't the need to add oil at moment, but will soon.

 

I just purchased a 456 GTA M about one month ago. I've put approx 500 miles on it in the last 30 days. I never checked the oil when I purchased the car but had it inspected. I'm assuming they checked the oil level but can't be sure. The last oil change based on records of the car was done approx 11 months ago / 2,000 miles ago. I checked the oil level yesterday (engine warm, shut it off, then immediatley checked oil. The oil apperas clean but barely touches the bottom of the dipstick (it is not even at the min marker). Should I just have the oil changed at this point? If not, what is the best oil to use for the car for refilling etc. The manual says shell helix ultra 5w-40 but I cannot seem to find that oil here. On cold start up, the engine oil pressure is approx 140, then drops to approx 35 during idle and approx 70 during normal operation.

Is it normal for the engine temperature to hover slightly past 190 then drop back down to approx 190 when engine cooling fans go on? During normal freeway speeds, engine temp is approx 180 degrees on a cool day and approx 190 on warm days.

Thanks in advance for any input.

 

When I first got my 456, about seven months ago, I decided one of the first things I would do, is have all the fluids changed. It was done in the last year, but I wanted to make sure I was in control. Therefore, I started my own timeline and knew who did it as correct [Ferrari of San Francisco did the job]

But as you, I was concerned about the amount too. My oil is 0w40, and is now 5w40 synth/aquip.....I let ferrari make that decision.

Your 'pressure' question might be better seen via this link from an Fchat member is a must read, as several others: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=136338

it is oil basics, but this is perhaps something you already know: reason I bring this up is your 'pressure' questions.

You cold startup sounds fine to me. The oil is cold, takes awhile to warm up, so one might expect the pressure to be high and backoff to 'normal' when warmer.

the water temp sounds great, and is the only issue I have with my car on HOT days. It rises above normal near redline during hot runs and then to stop go's on hot days....it needs looking into, but yours sounds great.

Make sure NOT to panic when you see the oil level low on nice warmup, and checking the oil just after turning off the engine. IT reads low, and do NOT, NOT add more than 1 qt/litre at any time in normal operation. matter of fact, I usually ONLY add 1/2 qt if needed. and check several hundred miles later where I 'might' add the remaining 1/2 qt/litre....better to be moderate than take the overfill chance. There is a LOT of oil in that engine, and you will not burn it up that quickly if your oil is near that amount.

r

 

thanks for the info. I did speak to my mechanic who did a preinspection of the car before I bought it. He suggested changing the oil every 3,500 miles. Since it has travelled approx 2,000 miles since the last inspection, he suggested reading the oil temp with the engine warm and while idling. He thought it would be ok to add approx 1 qt of mobil 1 5w-40 0r 5w-50 if the oils was onthe low side. I thought might be better to change the oil, but he suggested refillng for now. By the way he quoted me approx $350 for oil/filters change. Does that sound appropriate?

 

sounds good to me.

 

+1

 

I've heard that it should be checked right after shutting down while warm. Will one receive an accurate reading if done with the motor running?

Thanks,
Grant
98 550M

 

That is the way I do it.
I wait for the engine to warm up and for the cooling fan to start and then I add 1/3 of the can at the time.
If you do it right after stopping the engine you get one good reading, but that is about it and if you need to add oil then to check the new level you need to start the engine again and go through the whole exercise.