Regarding Ferrari of the 60's and 70's. Does anyone know it they tended to leak oil? This would have been before silicon sealant.
Fluid containment, not high priority for English or Italians "back in the day". Both are a bit better now.
My Dino had the typical problem in them. The distributor lies on it's side and oil leaks up from the drive gear. Of course, leaks directly over the exhaust so every now and then a small puff of smoke from a drop would waft out from the rear vents. Then some wise guy would pull up to me and yell at me "your car's on fire! I saw smoke". I would just nod my head with a little grin and drive away. You should have seen the looks on their faces. I was at a Maserati dealer once in the early 80's. They had a brand new Quattroporte sitting in the showroom that I wanted to see. Under it: an oil pan with drops of oil. The answer is yes, they all leaked.
I was once told by the Rolls Royce Area Technical Manager regarding their motorcars: It's NOT a bloody leak. It is a patented Rolls Royce engineering accomplishment. It is called "Controlled Seepage".
Today, they do not have to leak oil or anything else. My '63 GTE had a minor oil drip when I bought it. Had the motor rebuilt by a competent engine guy and it never leaked another drop.
The old casting techniques were not what they are today, sealing leaks with exotic alloys like aluminum back then was tricky. Leaks were considered to be the car "marking its territory" like any good animal
+1 The old stuff was all hand-cast aluminum with sand molds. Not every mating surface was perfectly flush, and machining precision was not as high as it is today. I would also add that the engine gaskets in our Ferraris were NOT meant to live for a quarter-century without replacement and STILL take these motors to red-line after warmup....things can fail simply due to fatigue or age. Why are gaskets any different?
Not only 60's and 70's cars. This is an excerpt from the first service of my 1989 328. If it had been me, I would have got them to fix this on a brand new car! I have now fixed this, 23 years later. It was bad sealing of the gearbox pan, easy fix. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Us old Jag guys used to call it "controlled seepage" . We also had a problem where if the wiring harness "leaked smoke" the car would not run well. I never heard the Italian explanation .
Exactly - I am amazed at how many current owners don't realize that by replacing certain gaskets with NEW ones, a touch of Hondabond along the bottom-edge of the cam-cover mating surface, and a few good sealing nuts on the oil pan cover....suddenly, their Ferrari is leak-free!
Don't know about honda bond but I see Phil Swift sellin that there FLEX SEAL on the TV. Looks like all you gota do is spray the stuff on the leak and wahla it stops. 2 cans for 19.99 . LOL
My '79 does have a small leak but it is the result of a bad seal that is about to be replaced. It is unusual in that the brand new seal has a crack in it. No other leaks and any well maintained and/or rebuilt engine should not leak. These things are old and if you do not replace stuff it will leak. That said, I have seen plenty of leaky engines. Never heard of electrical systems leaking smoke, I like that one.
Need to clear up the terminology here. A LEAK is when you find a puddle of some fluid on the floor. WEEPING is when there is fluid covering some parts of the engine or frame. So please be specific as to the issue as we don't want to spread misinformation. Oh yes sometimes weepage can turn to a leak if it is not wiped by the owner. Also SEEPAGE is a form of weep. I keep a roll of paper towels in my tool kit. LOL
On the original Lotus Elans the oil leaks were generally referred-to as "automatic anti-rust treatment". It worked as well, often kept the chassis from rusting.
Took years to root out and fix the leaks from my 330 2+2. A very slight seepage from the differential was the only one left unfixed and not a big deal enough to worry about. The 308 has suffered from coolant, transmission, and engine leakage. Now closing in on the last of them. I'm an OCD type when it comes to my car and can't put up with leaks.
