[Guest]

Hi All,
Just about to change

Hi All,
Just about to change the oil in my 308gt4 for the winter. When I changed it in the spring I used silkolene 10w 50 synthetic, this was the only brand of oil that I could find here in the UK with that rating and it cost £90 for 2x 5litre cans!

Does anyone know of a cheaper fully synthetic alternative? Castrol Magnetec 10w 40 for example I can get for £53 for 2x 4.5 litre cans, but can I use the different grade in my engine?

My second question is a dumb one but bear with me; how do I know how much to put in? The handbook says that it takes 9litres. The previous owner (who had the car for 21 years) had painted a yellow dot on the dipstick that sits about 1.5 inches above the max line. He told me that at cold the oil level should sit at this dot? He said he had worked that out by draining the engine then filling with exactly 9 litres. He further added that the max / min lines on the dipstick were only accurate if you took a reading straight after turning off the engine?

This sounds crazy to me! However when I did the last change I drained it completely from hot, refilled with 9 litres as per handbook and of course it came to the yellow dot. I have run it for 2000 miles like this no problems. Am I over filing it? Can anyone help??

 

[Guest]

I do not think that this engin

I do not think that this engine is spec-ed for a 10W-50 oil, but for a 10W-40 oil. Contrary to many people's beliefs, you should use the thinnest oil that does not result in excessive oil temperatures during operation. In this context, excessive temperature is above 265dF. Thinner oils will enable easier starting, and lower wear durring warm up (first 30 minutes). Thinner oils do not result in higher wear under heavy useage until the oil tempserature gets above 265dF.

With your weather in the UK, I would even be tempted to put 0W-30 oil in my F355. I, personally, have run 0W-30 oil on a race track in the heat of Texas summer (103dF) without ill effects, and the only reason I went back to a 10W40 was oil consumption at the track. 0W-30 woud consume 1 Qt/track day while 10W-40 would only consume 0.4 Qts.

I have run tests on M1, RedLine, and AMSoil and found no usefue differences in oil performance on both the streets and tracks. I suggest that any fully synthetic oil you have access to will perform well.

A Ferrari Race prep mechanic said that the proper point for the oil fill is right at the 1/2 way mark on the stick when the car is fully warmed up. My F355 will consume some oil at a slow rate until it is down to this mark and then consumption stops and the oil level will stay at the 1/2 mark for several thousands of miles.

When a Ferrari engin has too much oil in it, it will produce copious amounts of blue smoke out the exhaust. Since you are not experienceing this effect, it is highly likely that your engine has the correct amount of oil.

 

[Guest]

You should ALWAYS check the oi

You should ALWAYS check the oil in a GT4 just after shutting it down.
If not the oil will drain from the oil cooler and give you a false reading

 

[Guest]

How much time after shutting o

How much time after shutting off the engine before checking the dip stick? I have an 84 308 QV

 

[Guest]

The manual says check it 15 mi

The manual says check it 15 minutes after shutting down.

I've done what Wayne's prior owner did. I got an accurate full reading according to the manual. Then I waited a couple of days to allow the oil to drain from the oil filter/cooler and got another reading and marked it. I always check my oil before cranking the car, and knowing where it should be after sitting for a while is helpful.