Ferrari Testarossa Oil Change (DIY)

Hello FChatters,

We put together a complete how-to/DIY of all the steps we used (and worked for us) to perform an engine oil change on our 1987 Ferrari Testarossa (thankfully ordered the oil change kit before the oil filter saga began). There is a better formatted (with more pictures) version on TrueDriversCar.com. We will continue to document and share our experiences with the Testarossa and other cars on there too, so more to come. Hopefully some will find this helpful.


Overview

It is definitely a necessity to have the car lifted enough such that you can get under the middle of the car - the oil filter is at the front of the engine, nearest to the passenger compartment. Having more space to get under the car is helpful. Note, we found that you have to be mindful when removing and re-installing the drain plugs. It seems easy to strip the aluminum threads on the oil pan and oil reservoir - which has been covered in numerous discussions on this forum. It has been noted on later model Testarossas, it seems that the oil tank reservoir came with a steel helicoil from the factory, making it less vulnerable to stripping.

Parts Used

• 1 x Oil Filter, Ferrari #124228 (UFI 23 192 02)
• 1 x Oil Pan Drain Plug, Ferrari #103974
• 1 x Oil Reservoir Drain Plug, Ferrari #10300711
• 2 x Oil Drain Plug Crush Washers*, Ferrari #10257060
• ~15.5L of oil, Mobil-1 10w-40 OR Royal Purple 10w-40

* These are copper crush washers. We used these automotive self-centered bonded seal/gasket washers that work like copper crush washers, but do not require to be tightened as much. These have been working well for us and reduces the risk of stripping the soft aluminum threads.
** We use and have good results with Mobil-1 10w-40.

Tools Used

• Quick Jack BL-5000XL portable lift
• Jack Stands
• Large Oil Pan
• Funnel
• 17 mm 6-Point Socket, 3/8" Drive
• 22 mm 6-Point Socket, 3/8" Drive
• 3/8" Drive Extension
• 3/8" Drive Ratchet
• 3/8" Drive Torque Wrench
• Rubber Strap Wrench

*** We purchased the 299 piece socket set from Craftsman a while ago. We became tired of purchasing smaller sets and always missing the socket sizes in between - they get you in an endless loop of buying small sets!

Procedure Used
1. First, we warmed the car to operating temperature. We like to take the car for a short (~15 min) drive to get the oil circulating and evenly heated.

2. Next, we lifted the car off the ground - enough for us to get under the middle of the car to reach the oil filter. We used a QuickJack along with a few jack stands to be on the safe side while under the car.

3. Before removing any oil, we checked that we could fully open the oil filler plug/dip stick, which is located on the left side near the fire wall. This can be more of an issue with gearbox oil, but we figured it is better to be safe than realizing it's seized closed after draining all of the oil

4. Moving under the car, we located the oil pan drain plug under the centre of the engine. It is labeled OLIO MOTORE. The drain plug was removed with a 17 mm socket. We made sure to have a large oil pan immediately under the plug to catch the oil. There will be a lot of oil!

5. After the oil finished draining, we located the oil reservoir tank drain plug under the front left of the engine, just above the hand brake cable. We placed some tape over the electrical connections and hand brake cable to prevent oil from getting on them. The drain plug was removed using a 22 mm socket with an 3/8" drive extension. Again, we placed a large oil pan immediately under the plug to catch the oil. NOTE: we emptied the large oil pan before draining the reservoir to prevent any accidental overflow of oil.

6. With most of the oil drained, we moved near the centre front of the engine to locate the oil filter. With an oil pan under the filter, we removed the oil filter by twisting counter-clockwise with a rubber strap wrench. Alternatively, a Hill Engineering oil filter wrench can be purchased from Ricambi.

7. After all oil had drained, we put a light coating of oil around the seal of the oil filter to insure a proper seal and then installed it by twisting it clockwise. We hand tightened the oil filter and then tightened another 1/4 turn with the rubber strap wrench.

8. Next, the new drain plugs and crush washers were installed. Note, the larger head plug goes on the oil reservoir tank (22mm plug). We then tightened both drain plugs using a 3/8" drive torque wrench to prevent stripping the threads. Since the owner's and workshop manual do not specify the amount to torque each plug, we made sure not to tighten more than 25 lbs ● ft. For reference, the Ferrari 360 Modena gets tightened to 36 lbs ● ft and a Porsche 911 (991) to 27 lbs ● ft.

9. New oil was added through the filler using a funnel to prevent spills. We measured the total amount of oil we removed to be roughly 15.5L. We added 15L of new oil, started the car for maybe 30-60 seconds and then checked that the oil level was not overly high or low. Since the Testarossa is a dry sump lubrication system, the oil cannot be measured until after the car has run and is near operating temperature. This is why it was important to keep track of how much oil was removed and added. In total, the car took roughly 15.5L of oil.

10. Finally, we ran the car to get it up to operating temperature while periodically checking the oil level. We also checked the drain plugs and filter for any leaks. We continued to check the oil level and always keep an eye on the oil pressure. From the service manual, oil pressure should be 5.5-6.5 bars (79-94 PSI) with the engine running at 6000 rpm and oil temperature of 100°C. When the engine is still hot and running at idle, an oil pressure below 4.5 bars (65 PSI) is normal.

 

rpissm - As much as I would like to, I really hope that we don't have to!