OIL CAPACITY OF THE DRY SUMP TANK

What is tank capacity or how much oil should the car have? The tank capacity is a great deal more than the amount of oil it should have.

According to Ferrari the dry sump cars should have 11 liters.( a lot more than I remembered). When its running about 10 of that will be in the tank with the remaining liter or so being in the engine. That information is in the owners manual. As soon as it is shut off oil begins to drain from the tank and go back into the engine, usually about half of it eventually, sometimes more.

Why? What problem is being solved?

 

I know less now than before I read it.
First let me say this. I think its an exceedingly bad idea to change oil via sucking it out the top. The manufacturers put plugs in the bottom for good reason. Use them.

If it was my car Id put it up, pull both drain plugs then refill. I really do not understand why that was or has not been done.

Dry sump systems do not need to be full to lubricate the engine. On a system the size of a Ferrari 4 quarts is all thats needed. I would not drive it that way but it can be run. I do it pretty regularly to get a start on heating the oil while I am still filling it.

 

The only drain plug a 288 GTO ever had in the oil tank was the temp sensor, a few earlier cars too. Never had issue doing it that way.

 

The wire is not the issue. Do I think it should have a drain plug? Yes and if the tank was ever out thats what I would do.
In many cases the oil temp senders are a pipe thread which means its a tapered thread. On every reinstallation it needs to be tightened a hair more to prevent oil oozing out so some care needs to be taken. The reason we see so many stripped threads on oil drain plugs is paranoia driven overtightning of the plugs. The pipe threads will not strip out but the same paranoia will wear them out very quickly. But with some care they will last for years, just not permanently hence the plan for a plug.

The bad stuff in the oil we really want to get rid of is in nearly every case in the bottom. Suction from the top is not very good at getting it out but the oil draining out from the bottom is pretty effective at washing it out.

 

Its not a pipe thread and they are using the tapered seat as a sealing surface. Effective but in aluminum it will have some limit on use. Not something to just mindlessly be reinstalling.

 

Steve, I was wrong. After a better look at the picture while that sender was been contacting the tank in the tapered area it does have a flat area just above for a washer. I'm thinking its the wrong part. I'll try and find myself a picture of the correct part.

 

Steve, Maranello Classics shows 100453 as the correct sender/pug for your car and their pictures are better than yours. Its clearly made and in fact they show it having a copper washer.

 

Quite all right.

When that plug was last installed the copper washer was left out. When reinstalled with no washer it threaded deeper in and contacted the tapered portion leaving the witness mark. Had the version survived into later years Ferrari would have used a helicoil at the factory making the threads more robust and more able to survive less cautious, repeated installation. Just get a few copper crush washers and be your usual cautious self when doing oil changes.

 

I am sure of it. You have every 308 lovers dream car there. Take good care of it.