Hi all As mentioned in previous posts I recently bought an f355 Berlinetta 97' manual. The car is in perfect state and as with every other car I get I decided to do a major service. I have used 5w-40 motul engine oil and 75-90 motul's recommended transmission oil. I'm located in Turin where now is still a bit cold. I have two worries. 1. At cold start I think I hear the valve lifters slightly (its very difficult because of the tubi exhaust). This slight noise stops after 5 minutes driving. I hope it's something normal. 2. When accelerating hard there'a a smell of transmission oil which is considerable. It's not burnt oil and I have no leakage whatsoever. I sensed this smell towards the gearbox breather tube when I opened the engine lid. But this smell feels a lot when I push the car hard. Has anyone had such experience? Any opinions? P.s. When cold there's a difficulty putting the second gear but it doesn't crunch. Since I changed the clutch the gears point but when warm there's no problem at all. The car shows good pressure and pulls smoothly and nicely and sounds fantastic!
Any gearbox is going to produce oil mist due to the action of the gears meshing at high revs, since you mention no leaks it would go back to being oil when cool. Gear box oils contain an anti foam, plus an r and o additive ( rust and oxidation inhibitors to stop the gears rusting from water condensation ) The big turbine gearboxes we used had about 25 000 ltrs in them , which also supplied the turbine and gearbox bearings- you could certainly smell them at the breathers.
re the gearbox oil smell.....look under the clutch cover ...there is a grill....see if there is any oil dripping here . The grill is removed with a couple of bolts....have a look up there to see if there is any oil spray in there ....could be the start of a triple seal leak.
re the second gear shift tough when cold? this is normal.....just shift 1st to third till it warms up.
re slight valve lifter noise (barely noticeable) at startup that goes away after 5 minutes? Car has hydraulic lifters....from what you are describing doesn't sound like an issue.
