Living the Nightmare...

It this was a 1995 GTB in the correct color, I would not be afraid of buying this car.

 

I think that makes a lot of sense.

 

I haven't been around a while so I got caught up. Anywhooooo, last time I was here, the low jug was reading near zero on the leakdown, and very poor on the comp test, and a borescope identified a scratch on the wall of the bad jug. Now, we have a car that's been run some, put new plugs in and you have 190s on other jugs and 160 on the bad one. Hmmmmmmmm? What about the scratch on the cylinder wall? Was that confirmed? How about the results of the new leakdown test? Were they able to accurately identify where the leakage was going?

At this point, you need to take the oil filter out, cut it open and inspect it for metal. If the engine is making metal due to a bad ring in the piston, I don't think you want to drive it very long. If it is not making metal, or if it is making metal and it's a very small amount, I guess driving it for 10k miles won't hurt much. You can also take an oil sample and send it to a shop for analysis. They will give you a baseline for the metal in the oil, and you can find out if there's a problem with the ring(steel), piston(Alum), or cyl(Alusil). Once you have the baseline, I would sample again in 4k miles, and see if anything is changing.

At a very minimum I would want to know the results of the leakdown(where's it going?) and the borescope exam. If the car is up in the Dallas area, I'd be willing to go have a look in the bad jug with my scope. If not, no prob. You don't want to run a car that's making metal too long as it just slowly grinds away at the rest of the lubricated bits in there. Sure, the filter will take out the big stuff, but some of it will get by, and BMW found out the hard way that 'just drive it' for a while is not really the answer.

At the very minimum, change your oil and filter at very short intervals. Maybe every 2k miles, and keep sampling so you know when things go south. Strange things have happened to cars with low compression. I've seen cases where cars are run hard, and hot for a while and the engine has fixed it's problem. Maybe a ring expands better, or a valve seats better, or a lifter collapses better, or a combo of all of them. I had a Fiat(didn't we all) that I bought not running for 6 years. I put some auto trans fluid in the first couple of oil changes and that damn car went for +35k miles before needing teardown. Yes, I know Ferrari and Fiat are different......

 

Excellent points you make, doc.

 

Just drive it already!

You came here for advice, advice was "get a second opinion". You got the second opinion and the guy says drive it. Now people are saying "get a 3rd opinion", "don't beleive the second opinion". Some people won't be happy 'till they see you lay down $15k so they can say how crap the 355 motor is.

This reminds me of my sister who every time she gets a headache goes on the internet to research the symptoms until she convinces herself she's developing bovine spongiform encephalopathy, when actually she's just got a headache.

Do you trust the indy shop? Do they have a good reputation? If so, then how can anybody's advice on an internet forum be better than that of a tech that has physically had their hands on the car??

Brim the tank, check the tyre pressures and go do a track day.

 

Exactly

 

... I own a Ferrari.

I had kind of forgotten this over the past few of weeks. I picked it up yesterday.

The shop is convinced that there was some carbon or water (problem cyl. spark plug was fouled/corroded) corrupting the cylinder in question. They speculate that the car sat for a very long time before I owned it. There right, it did. In the cold for at least the last 6 months before my ownership.

Anyway, after running some cleaner through it, running it some it, etc, the compression difference is now less than 15%. The leakdown also shows the problem cyl. at less than 15% difference from the good ones. The shop also has confidence that it will be even better after I get if the "Italian tuneup" for a few weeks. I'm not as convinced on that part, but hope their right.

The car sounds fantastic, runs smooth and pulls hard. It but an even bigger grin on my face last night than the first time I drove it. The plan for now is to drive it regularly, watch it closely to make sure its not consuming oil/etc, and enjoy the hell out of it.

The best thing about it is that, at least so far, I still love the car. I was afraid that I would be timid to drive it... but I'm not... and it is simply an amazing feeling to have it back in my possession. No telling if all progresses smoothly from here, but for right now, it feels great.

Thank everyone for their advice and support. I'm not convinced I'm out of the woods with this car yet and could see a rebuild thread in my future... but hey, for right now, things seem to be looking up a bit.

(PS what leakdown tester should I buy?)

 

Kinda like a woman. All that cash and all that drama and all she really wanted was to be taken out and rode hard.

 

Glad your driving it. Enjoy the heck out of it

 

Glad to hear, enjoy it!

Rob

 

Drive the crap out of that thing! Hopefully this will all just be a funny story to tell people down the road.

 

Glad to know you listened and didn't get burned by an unnecessary rebuild.

Have fun driving it.

 

This is so great to hear. I have been checking in on this thread and hoping for this kind of outcome. You will fall in love with the car and learn so much about it that you will be able to make wise decisions on if, when and how to rebuild the engine.

 

What cleaner does that and how do you use it? Never seen a cleaner that really worked. 85 to 15.... Hmmm...

FAA calibrated tester...

 

Great news

 

Enjoy it... yet be prepared to tow it.

 

+1000

 

If you build up enough speed then you can always coast home

 

Weeeeee!!

Glad to hear you're having a great time again with it!

 

So did the 2nd mechanic you went to fix it?

If so was the first mechanic that recommended a full engine out doing it for revenue.

How can we as consumers trust these guys if this is the case? A touch scary.

 

Seafoam?

 

Well, the 2nd shop was never showing 80% down. More like 30%.

I wouldn't say the second shop "Fixed it", more just diagnosed that it was still in working order and did not necessitate an immediate full-blown rebuild. Then helped shape up the details (plugs, engine cleaner, exhaust bolted together RIGHT, sticky throttle, etc).

My problem with the first place was not that they weren't right. The cylinder is leaking afterall. I can't totally blame their mentality either. As an F-car dealer, I'm sure they are used to money not being an issue and "Hey, its leaking, needs a full rebuild back to perfect order" is how they approach it. Fine. I guess thats technically how things should be in Ferrariland.

However, as a brand new first time owner, who just paid up for what I thought was a mechanically perfect example (see PPI leakdown results earlier in thread haha), my mentality is just a little different. For me, a $20K rebuild after a year of ownership is 100X better than a $15k rebuild after I've driven it 4-5 times.

 

That's what I was thinking too.

 

Is Seafoam good or is that a joke? Sorry for ignorance...

 

Seafoam is a real product than many people have used. I have never used it personally so I don't know for sure if it is or isn't good. But from those that have used it, they say it works. To what extent? I have no idea? Ask the shop what they used as the internal engine cleaner? Inquiring minds wanna know.