Checking 355 oil level

You are doing it right.

 

I've been told to check it c 2 minutes after shutting down the engine

 

This is how misinformation spreads. What does your owner's manual state?

 

2 minutes too late! You want to check immediately after shutdown.

 

"Conventional wisdom" is generally to check your oil either about 10-15 mins after engine shut-off or just prior to start-up after a rest of the engine/transaxle.

That said, each dipstick could be calibrated for a different set of conditions. Ferrari may have scored the dipstick lines for min and max based on checking it right after shutoff, while another manufacturer could have done theirs based on checking it after engine cooling.

If you follow the OEM manual you can't really go (too) wrong...

 

I think checking it at idle is just fine - so long as you're extra careful - as the oil has a tendency to drip off the stick and cause huge clouds of delicious smoke when it hits the headers down below.

This is probably why the manual encourages you to check immediately after shutdown - just to be safe that it won't "snowball" into a full on fire (if the car were still running).

 

Lets let one of our head Ferrari techs speak up on this one, but I have heard from at least 3 different head techs that the 355 oil level should be checked when the engine is warm and immediately after it is shut off.

I have also been told that overfilling is not a good idea, and this will happen if you fill the tank to the full line on the dipstick when the car is off for more than 2 minutes and/or the engine is cold.

 

With all due respect, we are talking about properly measuring the oil level in the oil tank of a dry sump engine, not the factory's methodology of marking the dipstick. You want to turn the engine off and hightail it to the filler cap as soon as possible (I'm talking seconds) before gravity does its thing to the hot oil in the reservoir.

 

Ahh, I see. My misinterpretation.

 

Ferrari mechanic also told me to do it like this. But that damn filler cap is sooooo hot! Where a mechanics glove!

 

I have burned my hand on many occasions

 

In the manual it is says immediately after shutting the engine off.

 

Except for the belt change interval (oops, shouldn't have gone there )

 

lol

 

I googled this subject and it took back to my family here. I guess I could have checked to see what the manuel said. But, then again. What fun would that be? :>)

 

Yeah, but how the dipstick is marked still matters. I mean, you can measure it as you say... but you're still reading the dipstick. And the right read of the dipstick is going to count on the factory putting the marks on the expectation that people reading it are going to do whatever process they recommend.

 

It was a great day here in Tulsa for a drive, I also took this opportunity to follow up on this concern on my 97 355 spider. I might add that I am having a major done in early March where this issue wil get taken care of. I am just curious. If my Dip stick reads what it reads (see pics) Why is my oil pressure reading what it is? Thank you... ps. That dip stick was read 5 seconds after shut off with the oil temp at whats in the pic...
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I'm no tech but I don't think there is a direct relationship between amount of oil and the pressure reading. I've been down 2 quarts and had perfectly normal pressure readings.

The real point here is that your car is waaaay over-full on oil and that does bad things to these engines. I would get one of those cheapie suction deals at Autozone and siphon out at least a quart, maybe 2, by the looks of it.

Who did your last oil change? You should have a word with them.

 

Thanks. It was like that when I bought it. I am parking the car till the Major is done. Its only a few months away. I'll live without her till then. I was just curious.

 

OK there is a very important distinction you need to understand between a DRY SUMP system (Many Ferrari's, 2006 up Z06 Corvette, race cars and others) and a WET SUMP system 99% of the remaining cars made since the invention of the wheel.

A WET sump dipstick extends into the oil pan in the bottom of the engine where gravity pull all the oil into after a short time following shutdown.

A DRY sump dipstick is in a remote oil tank where the oil is pumped after going through the engine..the oil drains OUT of this area as gravity pulls it back into the engine after shutdown.

On most cars, the WET SUMP will give a slightly false LOW reading immediately after shutdown until the oil drains out of the heads and down into the WET SUMP oil pan where it is measured. This takes a few minutes. On a wet sump, you can wait few minutes or a few years and get the same accurate reading on the dip stick.

On DRY SUMP cars, the oil will read slightly false higher immediately after shutdown and will slowly drain down to a very false LOW reading after the oil drains out of the remote tank where it is measured and goes back into the bottom of the engine. On a DRY sump, if you miss the window of time the oil is present in the tank, it will read alarmingly low, even if the proper amount of oil is in the engine.

You don't need a stopwatch, but if you read it within a minute or so on your 355, you should see a level within the safe range on the dipstick.

That's probably TMI, but no one needs to park a car if the oil level is not exactly right but within the safe range. (NOTE: The oil level in the pictures here is slightly too high but not dangerously so)

 

Thanks APEx. I am parking the car due to a faulty Oil pressure gauge and some other issues I haven't shared in this thread. I bought the car a few months ago sight unseen. Though it seems I may have gotten away with one here (no ppi or leak dn/comp check) before I purchaed. I bought the car right enough to compensate for the major i am having done in a few months. I just wanna play it safe since I have no real history except for a car fax and few service records. Wow Talk about TMI. I was just curious as to the relationship between that dip stick reading and the oil pressure gauge reading so low. It is my understanding it should read at least 70@3k rpm so...If I haven't bored everyone to death with my story I would appreciate more input. Thanks...:>)