oil level on a 328

you should consult your owner's manual in situations such as this.
if you don't have one, consider purchasing one.
it contains invaluable information on your car.

let your engine cool for 15min. read the dipstick and make sure the oil level is at/near the topmost mark.

 

echo Bill's recommendation. The manual for my '86 says that after engine / oil at normal operating temp, shut off and let cool for 15 minutes then read. Vastly different readings if you wait to engine is "cold."

 

I usually check right after shutoff and then around ten-fifteen minutes.

 

Yes, can be a very big difference. For example, right after shutoff, mine shows no oil on the dip stick. After 2 minutes I have about 1/4 of an inch showing on the dip stick tip. At 10 minutes, the oil is above the bottom "low level" mark and at 15 minutes, the oil is at the top level mark.

 

I'm not Sam but I ran two tests for checking on my 328. Checked every 5' for 20' after a drive, and from immediately after shutdown to 15' I saw about a quarter difference.

 

Right, more at 15'.

 

Yes, higher level after 15 minutes. If I check the oil after the car sits over night, the oil is about 2 inches above the upper oil level mark.

 

There was a very long thread in the old FerrariChat 7-10 years ago.
I posted this chart based on many of those readings.
http://www.sites.onlinemac.com/pbennett/oillevel.gif
Some who checked realized differences in the time line due
to many factors...but in all cases there were wild swings.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

It'd be interesting to see where all the oil sits if the graph is a true representation. There are few possibilities, and there is an awful lot of oil in that wet-sump. Flow back from the heads must be extremely slow, but how many liters can hide in there?

It would also explain the surge in long right hand corners, as there is very little left in the sump to suck up.

It must be a marginal thing, as over-filling the sump with 1 litre at first cold measurement cures the surge.

 

Most of the drain back comes from the oil cooler and plumbing, oil filter and main oil gallery. The heads retain very little.

 

Ah yes, I forgot about the oil-cooler.

Still, it;s a lot of oil 'hanging in mid air', and I find I more or less consequently overfill by at least half a litre, when goinbg to the track by a litre, and I haven't experienced surge, nor am I able to detect any other negative effects.

Would love to dry-sump it and forget about the whole problem.

 

Very impressive, not only identifing the issue, but producing a graph. Way cool!

 

It could but I think any harm was probably very minimal if any at all unless you were tracking the car. So I wouldn't worry about it. In my owner's manual, it states: the oil should read between the marks 15 minutes after the engine was turned off. I stick to what the manual states.

 

At 15 minutes you are at the min. mark. So add a little bit of oil and try it again.

 

328 has a bad reputation for starving in RH turns. If my oil is a little low it is pretty common to see zero pressure on a freeway cloverleaf.
Do not let it get low.

 

The oil pickup was changed via service bulletin to deal with the starvation issue.

But, for a little perspective: The 328 holds almost three *gallons* of oil.

On most Italians the "min" mark is two liters below max.

Measuring oil to the milliliter isn't all that significant.

 

Typical Ferrari fix. Didn't fix anything. They still starve in right hand turns and still blow up.

The "Fix" was the 348 oiling system.