I have a Ferrari Dino 308GT4 1976 Carburettor Model. My engine smokes from cold, slightly blue smoke, and then when the engine warms up to about 70 degrees centigrade, the smoke turns intio a white smoke, and when the temperature reaches 90 degrees, the left twin exhaust pipes (looking from the rear of the car) stops smoking completely, but the right side twin exhaust pipe continues smoking white smoke, the engine does not seem to be down on power, and the engine revs gloriously, and pulls well! The mileage of the car is genuine at 11692, very very low mileage for the year, can anybody tell me, if they have the same characteristics with their Dino's, and is this normal, and more importantly anyhthing to worry about? Do these cars smoke when new? I dont seem to be using any water, only that their is a light hissing noise from the pressure cap on the expansion tank, faulty cap i suspect? the spring is possibly a trifle to weak! Your comments are always appreciated. Thank you to all Regards Sir Marco
Maybe one of the intake manifold gaskets has a very, very slight leak (?). These gaskets are sandwiched between the intake manifold and the cylinder head and do form part of the cooling system gallery. Over time, these galleries corrode and that could cause a leak into the intake tract. Just my guess. Caps are cheap. Replace it and see if it still hisses. Be sure the flange that the cap screws onto on the expansion tank is in good shape and not corroded.
It could be valve stem oil seals they can go hard over time and given the low mileage and age of car. But its difficult to pinpoint fault and could be other posibilities however you could do a compression test and a leakdown test to check if all is ok. But old saying if it aint broke dont fix it, I would just enjoy car and monitor the situation.
