Service intervals for low mileage cars

John, great question! My guess is that it all relative to how you drive.

If you just putter around town, or really drive the pants of it without mistreatment,
Is what it is all about. Those are the two differences.

I go one year on every car, drive the pants off them, even track them, as they are lucky if they got that kind of mileage.

If that is the case, and you use top quality oil, I consider once a year is perfect.

Regards, Alberto

 

Congrats on your first year with the Dino.

I would personally do the following:

Oil annually
Brake fluid every two years
Coolant every two years
Gear oil every two years

Tires no more than ten years

 

Oil every 1-2 yrs, assuming you are using synthetic oil

Brake fluid absorbs moisture from the atmosphere, regardless of whether the car is driven or not, so I say that should be changed annually.

Coolant every 2-3 yrs. Modern coolants are much better than the stuff of 30 years ago.

Gear oil is very little stressed during normal driving, so, assuming you are using synthetic oil, every 5 yrs is OK

Tires every 10 yrs, again depending on how you drive. What I notice is mainly poor braking performance with old tires-- they lock up early because they are hard.

Jim

 

If it is stored indoors and a dry/non-condensing environment, you can in my opinion use an interval of 5 years on all fluids, apart from coolant which is usually 2-3 years. Brake fluid does absorb moisture, but it first needs to be in the environment before it can get in. You will need to test it to be sure, testers are readily available.

I know collectors who never change fluids. Not very good for the cooling system, but I have bought cars myself that did not have anything done to them for a decade and then used for tens of thousands of miles after servicing: no damage, apart from braking system damage to calipers or brake cylinders (from the outside in, where there is no brake fluid present so fluid changes would not have mattered; non-use in a moist environment seems to be the killer there).

So my take is, as long as the storage environment is good, the car is occasionally used and re-stored when hot (after a spirited drive), and never started after that, the detrimental effect of non-service seems minimal, apart from the cooling system. Of course it makes sense to do other fluids when changing the coolant. Gear oil seems the least affected in our older cars.
In any case, non-use in a moist environment is the worst you can do.

 

I would not worry so much with changing all these fluids. There appears to be a difference in opinion from US to Europe, were in the states fluids are changed more often than I am used to here in Europe. This subject has been discussed to death several times, but I would not be worried by changing engine oil every second year, brake fluid every 5, coolant and gear oil every 10. I believe that approach will save you money and grief. Anyhow, the chance for having to change any of the fluids for other reasons than planned service is very high if you own one of these old buggers so you might end up with shorter service intervals regardless..-

Regards Peter

 

Tend to agree with you on all those points, I wouldn't use synthetic oil either.

Tony

 

Not meaning to get off the topic, but when I acquired my GTS a few years back, I studied a FC/Dino thread on oil preferences. The strongest support was for Castrol Edge - a synthetic oil. I've used it with success. As suggested in the thread, I add zinc to the mix. (Sorry, I don't know how to add a link to the thread).

Also, after rebuilding the ATE brakes, I began using synthetic brake fluid - to avoid moisture absorption, and in case I manage to spill some on the paint. Again, I've had a good experience with it.

John, congratulations on getting your Dino!


Ken

 

By synthetic brake fluid do you mean silicone, DOT 5? You have to be sure you get ALL of the non-silicone fluid out when you change over to silicone, but it does work and not damage paint.

Valvoline DOT 4 fluid is "synthetic" also but will damage paint.

 

There is no scientific logic to using "dino" oil rather than synthetic.

The main advantage of the synthetics is they are less viscous at startup temperatures and lubricate the bearings faster.

 

Regarding brake fluid changes, is there a good technique for accomplishing this? I read here that bleeding the system can be problematic.

Many thanks,

Andres

 

Get a mityvac system. It sucks the fluid through the caliper bleeders. Works great.

https://www.amazon.com/Mityvac-6830-Brake-Bleeder/dp/B000JFN9WC

 

Simple is best: Open one of the caliper bleed valves and have an assistant pumping the fluid out using the brake pedal. Close the bleed valve on all pedal up strokes to avoid air being sucked into the system. Continue until the fluid level in the reservoir is low. Fill reservoir with fresh fluid and continue displacing all lines to fresh fluid one by one via the respective bleed valve. Start furthest away in the system (rear rhs) and voila you are done before you know it. No problems with bleeding the system as long as you do not introduce air into it. Consider to buy a vacuum unit as mention above if you are lacking an assistant.

Best regards

Peter

 

Ken

For older cars such as the 246, I used to use Castrol Edge Sport 10W-60 – this has now gone through a few revisions so I understand from my supplier, and the latest variation is called Castrol EDGE Supercar 10W-60. It is a fully synthetic and uses the latest Titanium strengthened base oils.

This oil would in my opinion be the best oil you could use and would offer excellent cold start properties, being a 10W would allow easy cranking and fast starts – with faster transition from boundary to full film lubrication. At working temperatures the 60 offering a slightly thicker fluid film between all the moving surfaces, but being a synthetic, the frictional characteristics would be less than a basic mineral 50 grade so would flow better and be more efficient.

If the engine has been well cared for, and isn’t worn or full of sludge or deposits, then I see no reason why a modern full synthetic is not as desirable as it is derived from mineral base stocks originally and is fully compatible with the old classic 20W-50 mineral so will be no more an issue with seals etc than a mineral or part synthetic would be. If the engine is worn and uses a little oil, the extra viscosity of the 10W-60 may also prove beneficial but doubtful.

I don't see the real benefit of a full synthetic oil on the 246 but that is a matter of preference

Of course, choosing a oil is a personal thing and not necessarily "dearer is better" if you do not want to use a full synthetic as I do but have a preference for a more basic oil

Bear in mind its not just the zinc, with modern formulations they have a much higher strength base oils and other additives in balance as well so the oils are better than they ever were anyway.

If you think about zinc – adding more doesn’t increase the protection, but in effect makes the protection longer lasting. To use a simple analogy – imagine the ZDDP as thousands of tiny firemen floating round in the oil – as long as the oil does its job and keeps all the metal components apart, they are not needed, so it doesn’t matter how many firemen you have. However, if you get a break in the oil film which allows metal to metal contact – a fire starts and the firemen all rush to put it out ( the zinc activates and creates a sacrificial non weld surface at the point of contact – so protecting the metal ) during this exercise, some of the firemen are lost, but there are still plenty of firemen in the oil to last the service life of the oil. So, having more firemen doesn’t mean its more protected, just they last longer in service ( if they are needed at all ) Actually having too much zinc is worse than not enough as it can create pitting on certain metals.

The zinc in the EDGE 10W-60 is nominally 1000 ppm which is plenty and more or less in line with the original shell 100 motor oil Ferrari recommended in their owners manual.

Kind Regards

tony

 

Many thanks, Skipp, Peter. I will do what you suggest.

Andres