Warm up a 328?

Sounds just like my 92 BMW 5-Series.


Starting and immediately driving (when cold) ANY car is BAD stewardship in my opinion. Although not a mech, I never do it. Too much strain on cold parts=bad things happening.


Try letting it warm up a bit and then see what it does.

Remember, it really takes cars about the first 20 miles to thoroughly warm-up, THEN you can start driving.

And do not forget the oft applied 2nd grear "feature" when cold.



What say you Pros out there: Dave, Brian, FBB, Others .......... ?

 

Start the engine, let it idle for about a minute - but blip the throttle asap to cut the alternator in so it starts charging. You will see the ignition light stays on till you do this.

Drive. No WOT or more than 3K rpm till you see water temp up & no more than 4K till oil temp makes it to first mark & no more than 5-5.5K till it gets to the second mark . If your engine is "uncooperative" & hesitant when cold then maybe something is not right (could be something in the CIS warm up system, could be a vacuum leak, could be a host of things.)

Bear in mind even after you have oil temperature in the engine the gearbox needs 10 miles if not 15 before its warm.

Why would you need 2000rpm to get the car moving?? Don't need that to get my 328 off the mark needs 14/1500 max. Think of your poor clutch!

Lastly re not being a "high RPM person": its a 328, it only comes alive above 5K rpm. Get used to it!!

 

Steve,

What Seattle dealer did you buy your 328 from? Ferrari dealer or just a used car dealer?

328s (like most Italian cars) appreciate a little bit of warm-up time before hitting the road. I let mine idle for a couple minutes before pulling away.

You shouldn't need a lot of revs to get her moving...and she shouldn't stumble in the process either. It sounds to me like there's something wrong with the cold mixture - perhaps the warm up regulator isn't functioning correctly. If you bought the car from Ferrari Seattle then they should look at it and make it right for you. If you bought the car from a used car lot then you're going to be on your own, however, there are a couple good independent Ferrari shops in the Seattle area if you're not handy with mechanical stuff yourself.

Good luck and enjoy!

 

I let my cars idle for about a minute after starting, with one blip of the throttle to get the alternator working. Further blips on carbed cars just flushed excess fuel into the cylinders. The FI on a later car like yours, should handle everything. If it isn't, repairs/tuning is required.

As others have said, these cars don't come alive until about 4500 rpm. The fluid dynamics associated with the cam profiles make the cars perform at high engine speeds at the expense of low speeds. Modern cars, like M-B, have variable cam timing to deliver good low speed torque AND high speed performace. Even 328s are WAY old-school.

My 308 is a dry sump car so waiting for oil temp is a l_o_n_g process. FWIW, my 308 is a pig when cold and below 2500rpm. I consider that time 'dues' paid for the enjoyment later.

 

"As others have said, these cars don't come alive until about 4500 rpm. "

Actually, I don't see any noticeable increase in power delivery as the engine RPM climbs in my 328. It pulls just fine from 1500 all the way to the redline I don't find any feel of "coming on a cam" at some higher RPM. Sure, it makes more power at higher RPM but there is no sudden increase in the delivery and I would expect a dyno plot of a stock 328 to show a fairly straight power curve with no big jumps anywhere in the rev range. Actually, that's a good thing.

Frankly, what impressed me most about the 328 was it's smooth power from low RPM and it's total ease at sedate around-town motoring with no dramatics at all. It's pretty remarkable that Ferrari was able to do that with such a small engine and none of the later high tech stuff like variable cam timing, variable intake volume, etc. Of course, if they HAD had those capabilities these cars would probably be 290-300 (flywheel) HP cars instead of 260HP cars.

 

I have the same "problem" with my car. It had a new clutch in 2006. If I don't warm the engine up (for a few minutes), on 1st gear, when running cold (the first 5 minutes), I feel I have to give it more throttle (ie., more gas) otherwise, I feel the engine hesitates a bit or may stall. After the warm up, it just drives normally.

 

I think if you have your 22-year old car running properly you will be amazed how easy it is to start and move off from a standstill. Mine needed practically zero throttle to start off in first.

I disagree with the 15 mile warm up. Just watch the oil and water temp gauges, and unless it's really cold outside everything should be working fine after 8-10 minutes of driving. Don't redline it too soon, but you don't have to lug it around at 2000-3000 rpm.

Once the oil pressure gauge registers, tap the throttle as Iain says so the alternator light goes out. At that point, you should be able to gently back it out of the garage and put it in gear. Sometimes 2nd gear is reluctant due to the design of the gearbox, so skip it and use 3rd till warm.

Also, I think if you test drive a paddle shift car (at least the 355 and 360) you will find they are very jerky, hard to park and will make you appreciate three pedals and a gearchange. I'm sure the 458 remedies some of these problems.

Definitely have it sorted out. The 328 is one of the sweetest driving Ferraris out there.

 

20 miles?! Where do you live Antartica?
Yesterday morning it was 45F here in Milwaukee (308 parked outside) and both water and oil were up to temp well before 10 miles. Water temp needle starts to move after ~3 minutes of gentle driving, at which point I bump up the revs limit to about 5, then when the oil temp start to move a few minutes later the taps go wide open.

 

I wrote, "As others have said, these cars don't come alive until about 4500 rpm." Then MIKE 996 wrote, "Actually, I don't see any noticeable increase in power delivery as the engine RPM climbs in my 328."

I think the magic word/numbers there are "328". My car is a carbed, standard specification 308GTB - dry sump and the lumpy Euro cams ground for top end performance. And as others have said, it will pull away from a stand-still at idle, but it definately comes alive about 4500 RPM. I have attributed the characteristic to the cams but who knows?!

 

Point taken - I should have paid more attention to the actual differences between the 3x8 models. But OTOH, the only real experience I have is with the 328. I drove a carbd 308 many years ago in Hawaii at the height of Magnum PI - rented one for 3 days but I don't remember that much about how it actually drove. I do remember that I thought it really sounded good!

 

+1,000,000 to all points made..especially the last one !

 

I am very curious to hear what the dealer says. When we first got our 3.4 Mondial, It drove ok but I was not impressed with its throttle response. When the water temp was up I floored it. My first time in a Ferrari under full power!!! Nothing! My wife's scooter could give it a run for its money. I tried it several times and then all of a sudden it came alive. Everything was different. Fast, responsive, better sound! Eventually a yellow engine bank light began to come on. The problem turned out to be an O2 sensor that was causing one cylinder bank to shutdown, even though we wouldn't always get the light.

Your problem sounds so extreme that I have to wonder if you are running on 4 cylinders. With the left-right firing order, it idles smooth on a single bank, there is just no power.
Dave

 

15 miles before shutting it off? Full throttle on a cool engine?

I fear with the quantity of oil these cars contain you are not getting up to full operating temp, ever. You may be building up contaminants and moisture in the engine. My prescription for keeping your car in good shape is that every weekend you must run your car properly to clean out the system. You must drive the 101 loop on the Olympic peninsula. You can probably take the ferry over, or go down to Olympia, across to Aberdeen and then up and around to Port Angeles and back. As time wears on (for variety) you can take the ferry to Victoria then north, ferry into BC then back down to Seattle. If you have an S.O., you may have to explain that this is part of required maintenance. For those of you not in the area, it's a 4 to 8 hour trip of lightly traveled twisty two lane roads through forest land with some up and down and occational vistas of the ocean, bay or straights. (Except for 5) The price we pay to maintain our cars.

 

Good luck Steve. Keep us posted. Thanks.
Ron

 

In cold weather I put a plug in the oil cooler duct. If I don't do that, the oil temperature never gets above 150 F. I like to see it a little higher. The plug gets it to about 170, according to the gauge.

 

Point of clarification: I let the car idle for several minutes (3-5), from cold, not 15.

I could be very wrong but I do not believe the car is truely warm in just 10 miles of driving.

Yes, the gauges can show water and oil temps are correct but I don't think all the metal is up to operating temp completely thru.


Maybe I'm all wet on this one, but I like it that way.

 

3-5 minutes idling will warm the thing up quite a lot before you even start so it probably is warm in under 10 miles. Just bear in mind that it takes longer for the gearbox to warm through.

 

You are making my point..............................................



Right or wrong, I want everything warmed COMPLETELY thru, before I "step on the gas."

 

Great to hear! It's always good to have someone show you how to drive the car after you buy it. I was, like you, a little hesistant initially to "spin the motor". It's a Ferrari, afterall. Now it's routine.

Ace