355 - My Oil Analysis | FerrariChat

355 My Oil Analysis

Discussion in '348/355' started by PaulK, Oct 24, 2019.

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  1. PaulK

    PaulK F1 Rookie
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    Hi Everyone,

    I have been meaning to post this for some time. This is my second oil analysis on the car and I want to see what everyone thinks. How does it compare to your car?

    I am concerned with the copper.

    Thanks for your help!

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  2. EastMemphis

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  3. flash32

    flash32 F1 Veteran

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    Cooper runs higher in some of our vehicles due to the copper oil coolers which I believe you have ..that being said that is still higher than one should expect

    How are you taking sample .. at oil change and reaching 175 or higher ..after a quart or two comes out ?




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  4. SoCal1

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    Just a word on this
    Oil sampling is a long term process starting from new for mostly fleet and info gathering for specific reasons that has a dedicated team
    Trying to figure why one thing is out of wack will drive a person crazy figgering and rekonning whats wrong when it's totally normal
    When I was OEM we did this with every lubricant in every test mule them in long term donkeys.

    If no chunks come out of your oil filter your in pretty good shape :)
     
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  5. Ferrarium

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    yes important to note for others who consider analysis as not everyone gets the memo, it's important to pull sample when warm and from mid oil drain.
     
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  6. zstyle

    zstyle Formula Junior

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    As stated, you should review the latest oil sample in comparison to previous ones. Changing the type of oil and viscosity will also change the results.

    I have been sampling my Ducati 996SPS oil since I bought the bike to monitor the internals. The bike has Ti rods just like the 355/360 and the rods are known to fail in the bike when the engine is stressed consistently (ie track use). Although not as common on 355/360, be sure to watch the Ti levels over several samples.

    Other materials relating to the bearings should be watched. It does help give piece of mind when the levels of materials do not fluctuate.

    Will start sampling my 355 after I flush the fluids since the current fluids have no history.

    Be sure to always sample directly from the vehicle and not from a catch pan since you can't determine what residue was left in the catch pan.
     
  7. johnk...

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    If it's got good compression and leak down, good oil pressure, doesn't run hot and there are no spurious noises, what does this tell you about the condition of your engine? And at what point does anything it tells you require action? Even if you watch it over the long term, without a referenced as to what it should be how do you interpret it?
     
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  8. EastMemphis

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    Oil analysis is a tool like any other. The analysis provided by the company is pretty easy to understand. Looking at the values for similar engines can show how the tested engine compares. Oil analysis is more common in aircraft engines and for an engine that's more expensive to rebuild than a Lycoming IO360, cheap insurance.

    I pulled my test sample from the car while it was running and warm.
     
  9. SoCal1

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    Funny thing back in the 70-80 they were sending salesman out with sporting event tickets and hundred dollar bills to push this service at dealerships. When that dried up they started going for general public sales

    When we took samples it was extremely strict, the chemists did it. They took the parts are normal operating temps. Completely drained them and timed the pull as they called it. Put the sample in a really cool blender that had a magnet in the bottom and nothing going through glass jar on top. Think it was called a magnetic mixer. Heated it to several temps and took samples along the way. They had the full list of elements much more then the blackstone list

    In cars today it will tell you if you ate a bearing or something but my thoughts are if you ate a bearing the same outcome, rebuild motor. I guess if it fails a test for aircraft it's had to call a tow plane :)
     
  10. PaulK

    PaulK F1 Rookie
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    Thank you all. My concern is with the valve guides, as mine have not been done. I am wondering if that is causing the copper to be higher than normal? Mine is an early '95 so its a twin fuel pump model.
    I do find the value to be in the trends. Plus its something fun to do!
     
  11. flash32

    flash32 F1 Veteran

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    Looking back and having another look at your results I noticed 2.5 quarts of oil in 1000 miles ..that seems excessive anday indicage bad guide /seals ..strange the last round you did not add any ? Give us some insight on that ... Also does it smoke at cold start up ?

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  12. PaulK

    PaulK F1 Rookie
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    Good eyes! Yep I did add oil but it does not smoke at all. The first analysis was the first oil change when I bought the car. I really don't think they added enough oil on the dipstick to register, looking back. They probably measured out what came out and put in exactly that... I hope!

    So I'm keeping an eye on that big time.
     
  13. taz355

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    I do this every 200 hours in all our equipment.
    I do not bother on my ferrari because it does not get even close to the usage and likely contamination would be your worst enemy.
    Most of my equipment I am trying to get 10s or thousands of hours of life so it’s important.
    In my car not so much other than curiosity.
    Kinda interesting though.
    As John and others have said oil at start, slight oil when accelerating seen from your buddy following you and how the car runs are likely far better
    Criteria to watch.
     
  14. Challenge

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    Normal oil consumption on a 355 per the WSM is up to 2L per 1,000km. That's over 2 qts per 600 miles!
     
  15. johnk...

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    Depends on how you drive it. I do about 1k miles a year. Never had to add oil. I drive like the old fart I am. :)
     
  16. Ferrarium

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    Pretty sure that's not normal rather that's the max tolerated?
     
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  17. Challenge

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    #17 Challenge, Oct 27, 2019
    Last edited: Oct 27, 2019
    Every time I have posted this over the years people want to sharpshoot me and interpret the factory's stats in a new way. Why on earth would Ferrari publish figures for "Oil Consumption" in the workshop manual that are NOT normal??

    And technically the "normal" range of oil consumption over 600 miles is not 0L to 2L. It is actually 1L to 2L. So for all those who claim their 355's never burn a drop of oil over thousands of miles....this is technically NOT normal. ;)
     
  18. flash32

    flash32 F1 Veteran

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    I realize what all wsm say but definitely not normal ..just a way for ferrari to avoid repairs ..I think they even said 1 qt for 500 miles in a 360 which is ridiculous ..unless driving at full rom in a track etc

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  19. Ferrarium

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    I wasn't sharpshooting I was asking if its saying OVER 2 qts per 600 miles or was it up to 1 qts. I assume > 2.5 quarts in 600 miles would be considered out of pattern per factory? What about 3 quarts in 600 miles? 4 quarts? Clearly there is an upper range to oil consumption, I assumed it was the 600?

    If you don't know then just say so, I wasn't attacking you I was trying to understand whats normal, Geez.
     
  20. flash32

    flash32 F1 Veteran

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    Was debating you or what the wsm said ..just what people on various threads are saying is truly there oil consumption

    Even chevy had a normal consumption on earky zo6 and definitely having two of them there were way off ..

    If you are using over 2 quarts in 1k miles ..unless reving to redline and /or racing ..that is imho extreme ..I would pose question to f355 owners in general

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  21. Ferrarium

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  22. Challenge

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    Strange way to ask a question since your first words were "Pretty sure that's not normal..."

    Anyway, we can debate about interpretations and the factory's intent all day. My take is that anything over what is specified in the WSM is above the specification limits and indicates a problem.
     
  23. PaulK

    PaulK F1 Rookie
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    I didn't mean to start a war here. I really appreciate everyone's thoughts. I wanted to see how this compared to other 355s but it seems not many do them.

    I am going to keep my eye on the consumption. I really don't think it burns that much oil, just that they didn't fill it up all the way.
     

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