Wanna know what happens if you overfill the oil............

Tom:

Wasn't trying to disrepect you. I know what you posted. Just didn't want to miss a chance to slam Pete.

Cheers,
Erik

 

Erik,

Thanks. I feel better now. You know how sensitive we Mondial owners are.

Tom

 

perry308 , don't worry about learing the lingo. You'll get it and don't let some people here make you feel dumb. We all had to start somewhere. On and over head valve engine (OHV) like a chevy the cover over the valves is the "valve cover" . It is called that because the cam is in the center of the block and not directly over the valves. In the over head cam (OHC) engines like the Fcar you have the cover directly over the cam shafts which is the cam cover. Also you have 2 configurations here where some engines have 1 cam which opens both intake and exhaust and some engines have 2 cams (4 for a V-8) 1 for intake valves and 1 for exhaust. Next is your question of the cover over the (timing belts not gears) which is the "timing belt cover". On the Fcar you have seals where the cam shaft comes out the front of the motor. On the end of the cams are bolted timing sprockets which are driven by a rubber timing belt. These seals are prone to leak and a PIA to replace . But as mentiond above there is no pressure to speak of in the cam covers so they should not blow out. I believe that the the only way you would get excessive pressure in the cam area is if you have excessive blow by (compression rings worn ) . This would blow oil vapor into the cam area and the carbs or intake pleminum. This is the short course and hope it helps.

 

well, just so 99% of the oil that's gonna settle already has.

 

My lovely Ferrari dealer when I first got my 348(1990) they changed the oil....and of course they overfilled it. The oil fouled my plugs when it blew through the rings. It all made quite a mess.

Ciao...Dino

 

New Masers should be checked with oil warm and engine running.
As Eric said READ the manual. My Duesey has a great system. Look at the pointer on the oil pan. When it's time to change oil open valve,drain out oil, shut valve put in new oil. It's a bit weird that that system circa 1931 isn't used today. The MK-IV isn't too bad either. Simply look into the glass window into the oil tank, thorogh the body plexi sight circle while engine is running or imeadately upon shutdown. If you see oil you're fine. (That one holds 5 gallons of oil)

 

6 weeks after I bought my 456GT I was asked to take a colleague to a conference and could I take the Ferrari so that he could experience the thrill of actually sitting in one. I agreed instantly as it also meant I could do some serious showing off at a conference full of Porsche owners (an opportunity too good to miss). Being a good little boy I checked the Oil dipstick and F**k Me, it's not even touching the bottom of the stick. After several minor heart failures I proceeded to put in half of Shells gross domestic output into my car, and feeling rather smug with myself for saving the day then took the car out to pick up my client.
Result?
A cloud of smoke that looked like Concorde's vapour trail at 35000 feet coming out of the back of my car, and me having the coronary that I foolishly thought I had just avoided.
This was then followed by a bill for nearly 4K (GBP) for the ensuing damage.

The lesson guys is fairly obvious.
READ THE BOOK

And we missed the conference

 

I got ya beat! I drained my gearbox (Not paying attention thinking it was the crank case) and filled the crank to 16 quarts total (Don't change your oil with a bad hangover!). It ran great for 300 miles before the gearbox went into a total meltdown. There were no VC leaks with all that oil. UH HU! Live and learn the hard way!

 

The timing belt cover.

 

Perry308 as you are starting to see here there are a few quirks about checking the oil on these 308's. What I do is 1st drain the oil and remove the oil filter. The book for my 77 wet sump says 2.34 gallons or 9 liters of oil with filter change. I use the Baldwin 253 filter with extended internal oil tube. So I fill the system and wait a couple of minutes and check it COLD. I then measure the distance up the dip stick. So the oil filter and oil cooler are empty. Next start it up and run it to normal operating temp. Next I follow the book " check engine oil every 300 miles using the suitable dipstick. Carry out this operation with warm engine JUST AFTER STOPPING , IN THIS WAY RADIATOR OIL does NOT discharge into the sump. The oil level must always result between the min and max marks on the dipstick". Now after I do this I wait until the next day and check the oil with the engine cold but in this case the oil filter would be about 1/2 full. Now this may be a PIA but you now have a set of data for any condition to measure the oil level. The last measurement is usually the one I use before taking a ride. Refill accordingly.By the way the book also says using 10W-50 oil you should be getting 600 miles per liter but usually its better than that. Enjoy the ride.

 

roger that.

 

You might also want to blow compressed air in your blow by system. Just in case

 

, I'm honoured ... hahahaha!

Pete's been slammed

 

wot, you think you're Jim Morrison or something?

 

My owners manual for the 308 GTs States to check the oil level IMMEDIATELY after the engine is shut off - when hot, where did anyone get the 15 minute thing??? if you wait too long to check the level, you will starve your engine of oil.
john

 

ditto on the 78's and 83's.

 

To quote the 83's

"Carry out this operation with warm engine (140 degrees to 158 degrees F) waiting a few minutes after its stopping (15 minutes for precise checkings). The oil level must always result between the "Min" and "Max" marks on the dipstick."

 

Hi,
My 308 had an oil overpressure issue at a track event. I looked out the rear mirror and saw a large amout of white smoke comming from my engine. after getting back in the pits I found the dip stick about 3 inches out from normal, and oil everywhere. It appears the o-ring alone did not hold off the pressure. Next event I used a couple of tye wraps to keep it in, no problem. I would like to know if there is an overpressure valve somewhere, because mine may not be working.

 

A very nice and helpfull mecahnic/fellow owner who was actually run off F-chat for other reasons made something like the following comment on checking oil levels. (this is not a direct quote)
He said when you change oil, simply refill with the the recomended amount of oil for your model. Run the car briefly to circulate the oil into the coolers and filter and let the car cool. Then check the oil level on the dipstick once the car had a chance to cool and the oil settled into the sump. Make some sort of mark on the stick or some other way of remebering what the level of the oil was when the car was cold... and then always check the level when the car was cold.
I think what he was getting at is that when you cahnge oil you know exactly how much you put in and then by checking itright after you did it you would have a reference for future checking??
Those were his thoughts....

 

Back to the matter at hand: is replacing the cam cover gasket on a Ferrari rocket science? It's not on my Lotus and one can save a bunch of $$$ if that's all there is to do besides draining off the excess oil. While you're in there, check the valve clearences.

Ken