New 308 Owner questions

Looks like probably steam from condensation, not oil smoke. If it dissipates its steam, if it lingers its oil. Coming from one pipe is normal. The muffler does not flow evenly. Generally speaking the choke is never used. Long story but better not to. For one thing they tend to stick partially on.

Did you say it does not go away when warm?

 

Smoke that is blue-ish is usually oil burning. On an engine that has not been run in a long time, it might improve with some "spirited" driving. If it smokes blue at idle and, when driving, if you let off the throttle but does not smoke when accelerating, it's valve related and likely that new seals would correct the problem. I can't imagine with only 24k miles that the valve guides/stems are excessively worn. Valve seals can get brittle after years of sitting and will not seal properly.

A leak-down test can identify ring sealing/guide sealing as well as other issues quite easily but is fairly involved. A compression test is easy but, at best, can only give an indication of an issue AND it can be misinterpreted. The leak down is THE test if you have the option!

Obviously there are other things to check prior to that spirited drive. Obviously, in addition to checking safety related items, fluid levels, etc before you head out/decide to red line the motor through a few gears it would be best to know the condition of the cam belts/when they were last replaced!

 

Have the cam belts been changed recently or are they 20 years old? I wouldn't be red lining the engine with old belts. You might want to do a compression check.

 

First thing you need to do is remove that extra Ferrari badge below the license plate. Then belt and fluid service. After that I would drive it a bunch to see how the engine smokes after a few long drives. It may just need a nice “Italian tune up” to wake it up.

 

A few decades back Ferrari offered guidance that cam belts should be changed every 3 years. The general consensus around the forum seems to be that changing cam belts every 5 to 7 years is a safe period.

Yes, a 16 year old cam belt should be changed ASAP!

 

Change the oil . Use a mineral 15/50 valvoline VR mineral . But any 15 or 20 - 40 or 50 mineral will do .
It might have iron liners and rings and someone’s put synthetic in . A runny say 5 -50 synthetic will get past the loose rings . “Loose “by modern day standards .

Yes a fresh belt service is imminent but not related to the smoke .

There might be a bit of iron liners corrosion while it’s been stud ( damp humidity) air gets through open valves .Hence the suggestions of a “ Italian tune up”……but be gentle with it, just a good 1 hr run should clean up the cylinders . Yeh fresh fuel high octane.

After firing up get it off the choke ASAP as it bore washes and dilutes the oil . So maybe the oils washed out with fuel as well ? Hence change it .A mineral oil handles fuel dilution better than modern synthetic oil btw ,

 

Just a rule of thumb

White smoke: water
Blue smoke: oil
Grey/ black smoke: gas.

How each came to exit the exhaust is the big question.

 

I agree always start with the simplest things first.

 

Remember:
Blue smoke = oil burning
Dark/black smoke = usually too much fuel
White smoke = steam from water burning or from cold start condensation

 

So… my 1975 308 GT4 was doing this EXACT same thing. I took it to a mechanic who told me it was nothing to worry about and they could fix it when I had my major service in a couple of years. He was much more specific than that when he told me, I just don't remember the details now. The reason I don't recall the details is because he was wrong—it was something to worry about.

Literally three weeks later, my engine just stops working while driving home on the highway. Shuts off. Long story short, my engine now needs a complete rebuild and is completely undrivable now. Don't know the root cause since I stopped the work when they discovered a piston ring failed which seems to have let the piston float around in ways it shouldn't and cause severe bore scoring in cylinder five. At that point, the further they dove into it, the more it would cost, and I wasn't ready to take on a $40k+ rebuild yet.

I think the root cause stems from its previous history. My car sat untouched and neglected for 25 years in a garage in LA by its fourth owner, then the fifth owner got it back up and running but never actually took apart and rebuilt the engine—just got it running. And it seemed fine, and even the mechanic that did the PPI for me said the same. The car only had 27k miles when I bought it, I put it in the shop for two months to have the major service done, exhaust and one of the gas tanks replaced. Then it spent another 10 months getting repainted to its original color. Then two years later, the above happened!

Don't leave anything to chance.

 

It looks you have to replace the valves rubber rings, who sat too much time without moving and without oil.

It's time to replace the belts, belt bearings and oil + oil filter: use a modern one fullsynth, the most suited for standard classic car driving is 5W-40
Before doing that, do a compression test

I would avoid high RPM revving until having done all those works

Ciao

 

Always start with the simplest and easy stuff first, then work your way up.

Never assume.

I don’t care how nice a car or what mileage it is when you buy it— there’s always something.

Ask yourself if you believe the Ferrari engineers or factory workers thought or worried about issues the car might have 50 years in the future. The answer is “no”

 

Fixed it.
The only people that will notice - or care - about that silly badge are us FCar nerds. You have plenty of other issues to deal with on this car and besides; removing the badge without correctly repairing the bodywork will leave a mark that everybody will notice.
- Dave

 

Funny! I didn't even notice the extra Ferrari badge until someone pointed it out and I went back, looked at the pic, and said, "Oh yeah!" Removing it wouldn't be on my things-to-do list right now. Heck, for me it would probably never get on the list!