348.....wet sump or dry sump oiling system?

It's a dry sump.

 

Dry sump.

 

Hi, Reed: And welcome to FerrariChat! Just to expand on the answer to your question about the 348 dry sump system:

The 348 engine has two oil pumps. The first one pumps oil out of the engine (through hose #9 in the diagram), into the oil cooler in the bottom of the RH radiator, where an electric cooling fan is located. The oil then flows into the dry sump tank (#1). A second pump in the engine draws the oil out of the tank (through hose #8), and circulates the oil under pressure throughout the lubricating system. Since the "sump" on the bottom of the engine is not used to store the oil, the engine is able to sit as low as possible in the chassis, and the seperate "dry sump" tank fills the job of storing the large amount of oil used.

An oil and filter change on a 348 requires 12 quarts of oil.

 

It also means you don't suffer oil starvation and screw up the bearing shells when pushing on through fast bends. This can happen with many wet sump engines, where baffles try to help but often fail to control the 'location' of oil within the sump, resulting in the strainer inlet loosing submersion.

Scares the life out of you when you get your first dry sump car and do the oil level check!

 

I dont think I understand this, but if you have a dry sump car, i.e 348, do the oil check, then doesnt it still have to be between minimum and maximum as its taken from the oil resorvoir?

 

To quote the Owners Handbook:

"The oil level must be checked every 500km by means of the dipstick on the filler; the level must always be between the "min" and "max" limits marked on the dipstick.

To check the oil level, run the engine at idle for several minutes: oil temperature greater than 158 degrees F. (70 degrees C.) and then check the level immediately after stopping the engine."

The level does not remain constant under different conditions. Check it as the manual specifies and you can't go wrong.

 

To do this procedure every 500 km should be quite stressful for your engine. I do the oilcheck after driving the car while the engine is warm and still running - any risk to get an erratic reading from this?

 

i do the sameway, engine hot and running...

 

What type of oil is best when adding between changes????

 

Thanks for above info, as always I should have read the owners handbook. When I drove the car back home this weekend Ichecked the oil, probably 20-30minutes after parking it. I was astonished to see that it was just under minumum, and had visions of engine seizure etc. Then went off to petrol station in another car, bought 4 litres of 10/40 and put it in, after seeing friends etc on the way. engine now cold. Dipstick showed no oil it - so poured in the 10/40 until it was halfway between min and max. Now having read these posts and checking oil as recommended, its over the maximum level by about 2-3cm. I would be grateful for any advice on what to do about his, can it be drained off or will it be o.k not to worry about it. i havent driven it yet. Any helpful advice would be appreciated. I have obviously only had the car 2 weeks. Also how often should it need new oil, i.e whats the oil consumption generally like on these?

 

Your engine should be the same like mine. I personally would not care if the oil level is just 2 - 3 cm above the max. level. It never happened to me in my F., but a couple of times in other cars, and I have been informed that just a little overfilling won´t hurt the engine.

As to the oil consumption: My engine has now 70.000 km on it and the consumption is less than 0,5 l / 1000 km.

 

You can use a heat-safe turkey baster to suck out a bit of the excess oil.

 

AR: Why would checking the oil level be stressful on your engine?

 

I think its stressful if you follow the procedures in the owner manual as cited by you.

Here is my little knowledge on the subject: Every start from cold is a stress to the engine as the oil hasn´t reached full viscosity yet and the engine components are expanding due to the heat. At idle you have a rather low oil pressure which isn´t healthy for your crankshaft bearings and your camshaft. Am I wrong?

Thus to start the engine from cold every 500 km (!) and let it run hot at idle surely is not what you want for car. Of course the picture is a little different if you drive the car afterwards (because then you would have had the cold start stress anyway ...).

 

While I applaud your caution, I think you are being way overprotective of your engine. There is plenty of oil pressure immediately after a cold start. You should avoid hard revving of the engine before it has reached operating temperature, but it can't hurt anything at idle.

If you don't wish to start and run the engine from cold just to check the oil level, then let the car idle for a few seconds in your driveway after you drive the car, then shut it off and check the level as described while the engine is at full operating temperature.

I don't think the engine is going to burn a significant amount of oil in as little as 500km, but it's always a good idea to keep an eye on it, particularly if you have noticed any leakage.

 

This might well be

In our engineering classes we have been taught to respect the work of other engineers which includes a careful treatment of the machinery created by them

 

I'd listen to Jeff, he's helped me on my 348 many a time.

 

Thanks, not sure if this is serious or not, but the germ of an idea is there. failing all else I might try a siphon or intact cloth that could soak some up. Have heard that too much oil can be just as bad as too little, also might put seals/valves under pressure.

Thanks to all.
Robin

 

I wouldn't use a rag. There's the possibility that lint/rag crap gets into the engine oil. Also, yes, too much oil is bad too. A little bit can be ok, but too much can be bad. Go get a Turkey Baster at the grocery store, take a bit out, sleep at night...........

 

Cheers man

You read my mind.

Robin

 

O.k, here it is, after much deliberation and the arrival of the weekend I worked out how remove the excess oil. Unfortunately Safeways supermarket didnt have a turkey baster, though they had plenty of turkeys.

Wine and beer making shops sell a device called a 'Siphon Pump', see attached picture. This is ideal for the job. I got mine from a very helpful lady at Maidstone Wine Centre on Hardy Street who told me she gets quite a few motorists ringing up for the same reason (made me feel better). It only costs £4 !!! The rigid end goes down in to the oil resorvoir and the other flexible end hangs over the boot lid and drains into a waiting bucket - it works perfectly given the shape of the car, location of oil resorvoir etc. Pressing the red pump delivers the requisite amount of oil into the bucket. WARNING: As the pump siphon is plastic its best NOT to allow the engine to get too warm.

Other bits of useful info I worked out along the way:

a)Ferrari quote running temperatures and pressures in metric units in the owners handbook, however the displays in the car are imperial units!!!
b) Correct oil pressure when running is 5.5 to 6.5 bar (80 to 94 ib/sq inch), minimum at idle after warm up should be 4.5 bar (65 ib/sq inch)
c)Oil temperature should be 60 to 70 degress Centigrade (141 to 160 degress Farenheit)
d)Best way to check engine oil is to let the engine run for 3-5 minutes, then check immiediately after turning off ignition. When running, the oil does warm up more than this and you wont be able to remove it with the siphon either as it will be too hot.

Thanks to all who provided me with helpful advice. Hope this helps someone else who, like me, neglected to read their owners handbook.

regards
Robin