another oil-level question...

When you say "cold" do you mean "cold and not recently run" or "recently run, but at low oil temperature"?

 

Assuming "cold" and "not recently run", it is common for oil to drain from cooler, filter et al into the sump. Read the OM. It'll advise checking the oil level shortly after you turn off the engine when it is warmed up. In this condition, the oil should be between the two markers on the dipstick.

That said, the cold to warm height variation sounds high. Do you have a leak?

Look underneath. If dry, check the level. Warm it up. Check it again. This will now tell you the "normal" change in level on a cold to warm engine. Fill it up as you need. Don't overfill the sump by more than 1/4 inch above high when engine is warm. They don't like to ingest oil.
Philip

 

Here is what I did and please tell me if I'm thinking about this in a wrong way. I drained my oil (1980 308GTSi) and put the required amount of oil in. I then ran the engine and let it set overnight. I then checked the oil level with the engine totally cold and scribed a line on the dip stick. I use this mark to check the oil level before I start the engine each and every time.

 

What you are likely seeing is the time for the oil filter and cooler to drain their contents back into the sump. Normal. The OM tells you the time to test the level. I seem to recall it is less than 5 minutes. If it is below the min at this time, add oil.
P

 

Check the level based on the owner's manual (which is 15 minutes after shutdown I believe). Just be consistent, and don't worry about what it reads cold.

 

The Good Book says:
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And I might add, the french & italian translations are NOT identical to the English ones! If you speak French, you must check the level immediately after shutting down the engine. In English, it doesn't really indicate how fast you should rush to check it.

Maybe the Italians enjoy watching the French run around their cars like little chickens? Maybe they want the English speakers (Americans and Brits) to toast their cars so they can sell expensive replacment parts? Maybe the truth is somewhere in the grey mist of Maranello....

 

I know this is a dumb question, but how many quarts is a 308QV supposed to take.

I put a total of 9 quarts in mine, using part of it to partially fill the filter before installing.

It reads 1/2" above full both hot and cold.

 

Daniel looks like the OM you have is for a dry sump car. My 77 OM says 2.34 gal or 9 liters of oil with a filter change. Also says "check engine oil every 300mls using a suitable dipstick. Carry out this operation with warm engine just after its 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."
So what I do is pull the car into the garage after a run and after I shut it off I get out , pull the hood lever , open the hood , and pull the dipstick and take the reading. This takes anywhere from 20-30 seconds. So do this right after an oil change and you can't miss. You just need to verify that you did put 9 liters of oil in the car.

 

That's how I check mine... it's a baseline with known vairables.

People (and the manual) advocate checking at "time X" or "time Y" after shutdown... I think there are too many variables. My thinking is that depending on the temp the engine reached during use, the temp of surrounding parts, oil weight, oil age, ambient temp, etc. all will effect how much oil will drain back to the sump to be read on the stick at any given time.

Just an opinion

 

Are you sure you drained ALL of the oil before adding the 9 quarts. Just because the owners manual states it takes 9 quarts, doesn't mean that 9 quarts drains out during an oil change....

You might be way overfilled now...

And I sympathize with you, I just went through the same issues on a testarossa...

 

4 Inches above Max--it sounds like you drained the tranny & filled the engine.
This has been reported before...

Mark

 

Sounds like you are overfilled...but then, what the hell do I know .

If you are as overfilled as the dipstick suggests, you should be smoking like a james bond gadget-mobile...

I overfilled a nissan sentra once by 2 quarts (the dipsticks are damn near impossible to read with clean oil)....oooooo....you would not believe the smoke. We immediately siphoned it down, no harm no foul....I killed a lot of mosquito's that day .

 

Bingo! There is no way the oil should ever be 4" above the max mark. You now have way too much oil in there! Don't try to drive it until you figure out exactly what you did!

Daniel did post the instructions from a dry sump car. The instructions seemed to change with the QV's. That's where Dave got the 15 minute wait time before checking.

The QV manual says:

"Check engine oil every 300mls using suitable dipstick (fig.45). Carry out this operation with warm engine (140 to 158 f) waiting a few minutes after it's stopping (15 minutes for precise checkings). The oil level must always result between the "min" and "max" marks on the dipstick."

Personally I use the cold method, I didn't actually scribe a mark on the dipstick but it is usually about 1/2" above the max mark. Using this method and then checking it warm always results in it being between the "min" and "max" marks for me.

 

I am amazed at how much confusion. misinformation, and mystery surrounds the act of measuring oil level. I am also amazed at how many people have decided that even though Ferrari is a car builder that they love and admire to the extent that they go to the not inconsiderable trouble to own one that they completly ignore the factory information, recomendations and instructions that have been provided to you free of charge in the owners manual.

A. There are clear and concise instructions on how to check oil level in the owners manual. Get the one for your car and read it. It has been made as simple as humanly possible. In the instructions you will see the phrase "The oil level will be between the max and min marks" or words to that effect. That is about as simple as it gets, but it has other comments too so just read it.


B. The capacity section in the front of the manual gives a number for TOTAL CAPACITY. That is not the number you are supposed to use for an oil change. If it was, under the section on changing oil they would say so. Total capacity is the amount of oil put in the motor on the assembly line when the motor, filter, oil lines, oil cooler are all dry. It is not possible to drain all that from a motor on an oil change, I don't care how you do it. Any one that fills their car using the capacity number is overfilling the car.
And by the way the capacity in the book for a 308 is 2.11 gallons, not 9 qts.


Read the book. Do it their way, they are almost always right.

 

Ditto.

For anyone WITHOUT an owner's handbook, just register at www.owners.ferrari.com with your details & serial # and you can download it free.

It includes a full section on basic maintenance such as gearbox & engine changes, so you don't get the drain plugs confused. A must-have document.

 

I recently learned a valuable lesson on my 1st 308 oil change--recommend you read my lessons learned and hopefully it'll help you diagnose what did or did not occur to your car.

 

ditto ditto ditto. I am equally amazed. But I also think part of the trouble is people trying to be too precise, too perfect.

Some other thoughts:

1. An overfilled wet sump engine can blow out oil seals, costing you $$$$$$$ in semi major repair work. It can also foam the oil resulting in loss of lubrication. If blown out oil gets on cam belts and they slip.......

2. overfilling a "dry sump" engine could either rupture the oil tank reservoir, blow out excess through the cap, blow a line, blow the cooler.... When the engine starts the scavange pumps WILL push the oil out of the sump into the tank, and there is no pressure relief valve on that side. If there is to much oil in the sump, its going to go somewhere one way or the other. The pressure pump is not able to accept oil as fast as the scavenge pumps can feed it.

I almost learned that the hard way on a Beechcraft Bonanza, as they also are dry sump. They also drain back after shutdown, but unlike a Ferrari, you read the stick in the reservoir, not the sump. So cold in the morning it "appeared" to be low on oil. We poured in another some six quarts of oil and stood scratching our heads until someone wiser than we explained we were about to commit major damage. Had we started the engine, it WOULD have instantly ruptured the tank, and the cost of the tank alone would be probably more than an entire dry sump kit on a 308.

So my rule is ALWAYS check oil within 5-10 minutes of shutting down, either hot or cold, on ANY engine, by ANY manufacturer. But also, as stated, always refer to the service or operation manual, and never someones "opinion". The manual should be "prima facie" proof on specifications, unless superseded by a later factory service bulletin. Give it a few minutes for oil to run off the heads, cams, sides of block, etc.., and then check it. Any longer and you risk erroneous readings. I would further add that on a dry sump motor, check the oil before leaving the car for a night or longer, after shut down, so there is no confusion on oil level at startup time.