348 operating guages...new owner

Hi Mike,

Don't let the car sit and "warm up." Start the car cold (without touching the gas pedal of course) and let it run for about 15 seconds, and then take off! Letting it sit running at idle is not good for the engine. There are threads on this; if you'd like to learn more, search the archives.

Be VERY gentle with the car when it's cold. Shifting will be tough. The car is VERY delicate when cold! Most people say that in older Ferraris, you must skip second gear for the first few minutes of cold driving. You can go into second, but be VERY gentle.

I'd say after about 4-6 minutes of driving, the gearbox will loosen up a bit. But the car is nowhere near warm, and neither is the gearbox. A fully warmed 348 takes at least 15-20 of driving after cold ignition.

Obviously, keep the RPMs under 4,000 (I try not to go above 3,500) until the oil is warm. After some driving, you should see the indicator on the oil temperature gauge (located on the center console) move to the right from from its initial (cold) position, which is just to the left of the first line. Initial warming is indicated when the indicator moves just to the right of that first line.

However, the car will not be fully warmed until several minutes later, when the indicator moves beyond the second line. Optimum oil temperature is reached when the indicator is positioned about half-way between the second and third lines (the third line is right smack in the middle of the gauge--at "12 o'clock"). I'm sorry I can't give you actual temperatures because I don't have my car with me at the moment.

I have noticed that during the winter time, optimum oil temperature is not nearly as high as during the summer time. So optimum oil temperature in the winter may be a little less than half way between the second and third lines.

The water temperature gauge (on the dashboard in front of the steering wheel) is not relevant to determining how "warm" the car is. That indicator on that gauge will move immediately after ignition of a cold car--maybe a minute or two after. As in any car, it will reach optimum water temperature after only about 5 minutes of driving; but don't let that fool you into thinking the car is "warm."

 

I'd generally agree with the previous post - I let my car warm up just until the idle drops to right at 1,000 rpm. Gearbox wise I do the first/third shift, when I see the oil temp guage start to move off the peg I will start using second but with a bit of throttle blip on both up and downshifts just to match revs and that seems to work.

Cheers
Kevin

 

There are probably widely differing opinions on this, and I personally don't agree with Dave about taking off after only 15 seconds of warmup time on a cold engine. With the remote oil sump tank, cooler, and lines holding more than 10 quarts of cold oil, I feel that much more warmup time is needed. The engine itself may warm up fairly quickly, but that much oil, held outside the engine, needs some time.

My own warmup procedure, at any time of the year, is to start the engine in the garage, back the car into the driveway, and let it idle for a least five minutes. Since I live at the end of a 100' driveway, on a dead end road, I don't have to worry about the car being spotted and stolen while it's warming up. The engine makes a distinctive "burbling" sound from the air injection system while it is warming up. I generally let it idle until the thermoswitch shuts off this system, and the normal engine note returns.

I have never read that it hurts anything to let the engine idle for prolonged periods. The oil and coolant warm up to their normal operating ranges and stay there. The radiator fans cycle normally. I have never experienced any trouble with the plugs fouling at idle.

In normal driving conditions, the water temperature on my 348 reads just above 1/2 on the gauge, and has never gone any higher. The oil temperature never goes to even 1/2 on the gauge, but will rise and fall depending on the ambient air temperature and how hard the car is being driven. I have never driven my car on the track, so I can't comment on the readings seen there.

When I first got the car, I was overly cautious about watching the gauges for signs of trouble, but so far, I haven't seen any readings out of the normal ranges.

 

I can't seem to find any good discussions about this, but here is one post of someone trying to explain:

http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showpost.php?p=137441&postcount=7

If you delete the "&postcount=7" part, you can view the whole thread.

Many people warm up their engines and let the car idle for a while. I'm not a techinical person so I can't articulate why it's bad. But it's been explained to me over and over again by mechanics, and all I can say is that I don't do it because I've followed the advice of people whom I considered to be qualified to speak on the subject.

 

I've noticed this as well - often I am putting the top down and securing the tonneau and although I didn't know this was what was happening I did notice that the engine note changed to normal. Thanks for the new info.

My car lives in a warm-ish climate in a warm garage so I don't worry too much so my drive off is definitely longer than 15 secs but shorter than 5 mins.

Cheers
Kevin

 

Good to know, mate. I lived in PDX from '79-'91 and my daughter lives with her mom in Oregon City (the 'OC'!) so I get up there from time to time.

Cheers
Kevin

 

In the summer, I let my car (1990 348) warm up for a minute or two -- just long enough to remove the targa top, stow some goodies, organize the crap in my trunk, and basically get ready to drive.

In the winter, it's a different story. I let the car warm up for about 5 minutes -- long enough for the burbling to kind of die down and the plume of water vapor coming from the exhuast to mellow down. My garage is detatched from the main house and is not insulated. Winter temps will average about 40-degrees F in the garage.

In terms of oil temp/water temp settings I think you'll probably run just shy of 160 in the oil, and "midway" on the water. It seems that no matter how hard I beat my car (on a track), I can't get the oil temp to exceed 160. On a really hot day, stuck in traffic, things might get a little warm... but nothing that exceeds the midpoint on the needles.


Welcome to the brotherhood of 348 owners. Pictures?????


-Daniel

 

Had the 348TS for about 7 months now. Typically let the car warm up for a few minutes(engines races a bit then settles down), then take off! Avoid 2nd for about 10minutes plus, and find that once the car's at operating temperature (supposedly 7minutes), use all gears.

Water temperature settles at about 195 degrees, oil takes a great deal longer to climb away from the left of the dial. Don't expect to see it move for 20 mins +

Julian

 

Well, reading all of this makes me feel better about my testarossa -it takes forever for the oil temp gauge to move in the winter...

The oil temp gauge is a reflection of the engine oil only - correct? How long do you guys figure it takes the gearbox to warm its oil in the winter??? I assume it is LONGER than its takes the engine oil to warm up.

When its 30 degrees F outside, or colder, the gearbox stays very notchy for a LONG time...how long do you figure it takes the gearbox to fully warm up in these temps? (Wind chill is likely well below 30 degrees...)?

 

Most gauges are designed to read "normal" when they are pointing to the center of the scale of the particular gauge. I know on my Boxer, the center of the scale for oil temp=100c, water temp=90c, and oil pressure=6 bar...which are all listed as the normal operating temp/pressure in the OM.

 

Mike -

There are a lot of 348 bashers out there. There are Flat-12 snobs, there are 355 snobs, there are 308/328 snobs, heck there's even a P3/4 snob (just kidding).

Ignore 90% of the crap you hear about the 348. If people come into this thread and start bashing the 348, ignore them. Just drive it and enjoy having YOUR DREAM CAR. If problems arise, so be it. Trust me, the MORE you drive the car the better it'll feel -- for you and the Ferrari.

ShanB, Miltonian, Ernie, fatbillybob, 348sstb, Kevallino -- those guys didn't just fall off the turnip truck. They're 348 junkies too.


Sometimes I feel like a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest.

-Daniel

 

Hey, don't forget me, I'm 348 through like a stick of rock!

 

Good attitude - frankly I have had some stuff break but have bucked up and fixed it. Fortunately I am at a point where I know what cars I want so each one is a keeper, and I don't begrudge the capex on a car I'll still be driving in 20 years.

Daniel (Jack Russell Racing) is absolutely correct, though, there are definitely 348 bashers out there, but if YOU love your car then it isn't important. Stuff will break on any of these cars - it just comes with the territory. And it is expensive to fix, relative to regular cars. But if you fix things properly and don't try to nickel and dime the car once you get through the niggles you will be happy.

I love my car and can't really see getting rid of it (could certainly augment it with, say, another F-car, though!!). So if this is what you wanted then spend a few shekels to get it sorted and then enjoy it. The REALLY expensive things like engines and gearboxes seem to be pretty much bulletproof so keep telling yourself that!!!

Cheers
Kevin

 

When I got my 348 back in June I soon found Ferrarichat and I was totally dismayed at the way some 'experts' spitted venom at the 348 and was even offended in some cases due to the fact I had wanted a 348 ever since they come out and felt they were belittling my dream. It was the model I had a 'spritual' bond with and to see many people slagging it off really pissed me off, but as time went by and I kept going out to my garage and looking at or driving my car I just thought who cares what other people think, what do they know, its my dream and i'm living it! There is a very passionate 348 following on here and i'm one of them.BIG UP THE 348!!!

 

I think it's supposed to be a "one-legged indian".

348s rule!

 

There's nothing like bashing the 348-bashers.



Us 348ers are few, but we're tough! Beware 348-bashers!

 

It may be just a deep seated jealousy.......
It's not their fault.