Ferrari 308 Lower Dipstick Tube - Is it Essential?

Why would you pull the oil pan in 100 miles or so?



Boss Kettering once said about car parts, in fact it is referred to as "Ketterings Law"

"Parts left out cost nothing, require no maintenance, and do not fail"

In other words, if its there it's important and needed. Put it in unless you want your dipstick pushed out and oil all over the place.

If you do not know who Boss Kettering is, close the hood and back away.

 

Well if its not good its because a bad job was done.
Dont do a bad job.

Even a UAW hack can build an engine that runs a couple hundred thousand miles without baby sitting.

 

Do it once, do it right is my mindset.

 

I work on the theory if it was there from the factory, then there is a very good reason for that! From memory it goes in from the top once you remove the dipstick tube? I would just refit it

 

Thanks for the history lesson rifledriver. I've worked closely with GM folks for the past 10+ years and had no idea who Charles Kettering was. For those like me that didn't know, Kettering founded Delco and was a prolific inventor with many of his inventions (the electric starter for one) applied to the early automobile and still in use today.
He is also the man that gave us leaded gasoline and Freon; two of the most significant, world-wide environmental contaminants of the 20th Century. Far from being unaware of its adverse health effects, Kettering even hired a medical expert to proclaim that leaded gasoline was safe for humans when questions arose about its use......this occurring shortly after forming his company to produce tetraethyl lead for use in gasoline. Go figure.
So apologies, but I'd rather leave my dipstick tube on the garage floor than build any shrines to Boss Ket.
- Dave

 

It has a function that's very useful, fluid dynamics is why. Makes little sense to leave it out.
But everyone is free to make their choices.

 

So if you rebuilt the engine, I assume you know how the upper part of the sump looks like from below when the oil pan is off... and from what I remember when I took the oil pan off to install the sump baffle, there's nothing of the rotating engine bits that can be seen from below because of the factory windage tray. I'm really curious what internals you would be wanting to look at as a check?

Gordon