New 308 Owner needs pointing in the right direction

I hope that you got the "it has some bits that could do with some attention" discount on the purchase price.

What is the SN of your car? Early in the 308i-2V production, they changed from the non-contact throw out bearing design (some play necessary at top of clutch pedal travel) to the always-in-contact throw out bearing design (little to no play at the top of clutch pedal travel). Yours being a 1982, I'd guess that it's the later design, but here are some references for you:

308GT4 WSM:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/g1eldf93xydo27acwn2jv/308GT4_workshop.pdf?rlkey=5bxdrp2drax9hp61yrlfv2kza&st=kcbk1mqq&dl=0
(has the early clutch mechanism adjustment/design)

308QV/328 WSM:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/gsa3hcovaa8ivnee7pkxb/308QV_328_workshop.pdf?rlkey=88ryrc4fsqtge0vkp92ybpa2v&st=h2c475nt&dl=0
(has the later clutch mechanism adjustment/design)

Service Bulletin 21-2:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/9d42ieh4xowkwihtceydd/308-clutch-service-bulletin-sb21-2.pdf?rlkey=d9xnooxigipi9ie8jmj2my1ob&st=ytxdx0p6&dl=0
(shows the update that was available to go from the early design to the later design)

Not a good sign that 4th and 5th are the only two gears with a selection issue (they share much of the same gear selection mechanism hardware), but I'd certainly try a gearbox oil change before tearing it apart (using something like the Ravenol VSG 75W90 or Redline MTL and hopefully no chunks come out) and have a look at the shift shaft rubber bushings. Welcome and good luck with the sorting.

 

That's the safety switch for the fuel pump. When unplugged, the fuel pump always runs whenever the key is "on". When plugged in (and things are working correctly), the fuel pump only runs when the starter motor is cranking or the engine is running (not with just key "on"). Its purpose is to shut the fuel pump off if you get in a bad crash and the fuel system gets ruptured so fuel doesn't get sprayed everywhere at 5 bar when you are unconscious and the key is still "on" -- that can be handy .

 

42501 should be an 83 QV, no?

 

Yes, read Service Bulletin 21-2.

Yes, but you should add year/model/version to your FChat Profile and, at least, the country where you, and the car, live. A US version "1982 308i" is for sure a 2-valve 308; a Euro version "1982 308i" can be either a 2-Valve or a 4-Valve QV.

 

It's a little high-ish if it really is 1200 RPM. The tachs are notoriously inaccurate at low RPM (my ex-TR tach read about 1150 RPM when the engine was really at 1000 RPM). Better to use a timing light with an RPM function or a freq meter on the Flywheel RPM Sensor signal (and do some math) to know the relationship between actual engine RPM and what the dash tach gauge shows. Some Mechanics set the warm idle RPM (with AC "off") a little higher than the nominal 1000 RPM value to compensate for the slight RPM drop caused by AC "on". Since you report that your AC is not working now, there's no reason to not target a (true) 1000 RPM warm idle IMO.

 

Congratulations on finally getting your 308, it’s a great feeling!

 

42501 is a very late Euro RHD GTSi 2v. Not the last one but definitely very few before (approx June/July 82 production date).

It would be very interesting if you could share its body number to see how many had been built.

 

Enjoy the car! Rebuilding and adjusting the shift linkage front to back, plus changing to MTL trans oil, was one of the earlier jobs I did on my 308. It's a looong run back there and everything needs to be precise for smooth shifting. It is one hollow tube... it rotates axially when you move the lever side to side, and then of course forward and backward. It connects to one fork in the tranny that likewise rotates to to line up with one of three levers that engage specific gears. Moving an extra inch likely indicates one or more of: worn u-joints in the shaft (one is under the console behind the shift box), maybe a loose fork (it has a locking bolt against a "scallop" in the shaft, but if the bolt isn't tight I believe the fork could have play), or the the box has wear/damage. In my case, the outlet bore of the shift box was worn oval due to discovery of a bent shaft. Rebuilding the box and straightening the shaft brought shifting back to normal. Of course while in there I changed the shaft seals, u-joints, and precisely aligned the fork. This job requires dropping the oil and trans pans, so you get to visually confirm if there are other problems inside the tranny. Excellent F-chat posts exist for all of this.

Holding the shift lever firm then seeing if you can rotate the shaft under the car and/or move it up or down would be an indication of box, joint, or fork issues. I am not a pro... just sharing one person's experiences. Good luck.

 

Tom,

Congrats on your new car!

There is only 1 fork and 3 levers. 1 for R-1, 1 for 2-3, and 1 for 4-5.

I am not a transmission expert at all, but a couple things I would suggest to check which will require pulling the pan.

1. Check the fork alignment. Also, have someone run through the gears while you watch the operation.
2. I don't know if it would cause your symptoms, but it could be that the 4-5 detent spring and ball are stuck.

Here is a picture of the fork and levers with the car in 2nd gear.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

I had issues with my 4-5 engagement when I bought the car, and even after removing the shifter for a clean and lube, replacing the two bushings at each end of the shift rod with nylon (from Verell at Unobtainiumsupply.com), and a change to Redline MTF, issue persisted. So I dropped the transmission oil pan and followed a procedure I found online (see attached) that essentially followed the workshop manual but with a few extra tips thrown in, and now all gears smoothly engage.

And I would add, you can't determine the smoothness of change unless you are actually driving. Sitting in the car with the engine off is not indicative of how it will work on the road.

 

Agree with above. Drop the gearbox cover and see what happens when you go through the gears. Most likely someone who didn't know what they were doing might have messed with the adjustments. Once you verify what is happening at the box, you can better determine the solution (adjust, replace worn parts, etc.)

 

on post 158 of this thread, you should be able to find the good location (it changed from carbureted, 2v, QV and Euro/US):
https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/308-assembly-sequence-numbers.61994/page-4
It is on the left side of the engine bay when you are front to the engine. Stamped on the top of the frame, approx aligned with the rear bank cylinder
thank you!

 

@Boaty_Tom Congratulations on joining the club. These cars are such a pleasure to drive once you get them sorted. Something I consider critical, which no one has mentioned yet: Unless you can document that it's already been done, replace EVERY fuel hose before you do much more driving. First priority. You can't see them rotting from the inside out, and at this age they all need it. Don't forget the filler neck, as well.

 

I have an '82 and just drove the car for the first time last week after having it for four years and having to fix everything that was broken on it.

In my case the transmission needed to be rebuilt. So I sincerely hope that isn't the issue with yours.

Once the engine was pulled to fix the transmission, we decided to replace the sodium valves. The car was so neglected that some of the studs had to be drilled out to get the heads off. The coolant was basically never changed so it solidified in the head which also needed to be drilled out and which caused one of the valves to be burnt so it's sort of... kind of.... a blessing that the thing wouldn't go into gear because it was probably very close to losing that valve anyway.

I don't know if you're aware but your car (unless they've already been done) has sodium valves that have a tendency to snap and cause catastrophic engine failure.

So you might want to think about that. I was also unaware of this until AFTER I got the car.

I'm guessing you didn't have it inspected before purchase (neither did I which was a very expensive mistake), so if you are capable, you'll need to go through every piece of rubber on the car as others have written above.

You'll likely need all fuel hoses, coolant hoses, brake booster hose, air hoses... basically all the hoses. Probably all the belts too. Unless you have a service history. The filler hose for the gas tank is especially "fun" to put on.

I hope yours is in better shape and it doesn't take 4 years to get it going like mine