So a year after purchase, I read the owner’s manual..

Yea... I don't do that.

 

I don't either!
I guess I should read my manual....

 

I read my manual, I did do it twice at first. I don't anymore. I keep it around 3000-3500. I'm curious why the 4000-5000 rpm. blow out the carbs?

 

My owners book says the same thing for the 308, the real question is this.
Why would you do something contrary to what the bible tells you to do?
Maybe the higher rpm provides more pressure for faster oil circulation?!?! I don't know, but I do know this, Jesus him self wrote that owners manual and if the good book tells you to do it, maybe we should, even if it's against all our better judgment, he knows what's best for his engines. After all this is Enzo we are questioning.

 

Maybe that is for US spec carb manuals only as (for example) 124/76 & 155/78 do not appear to mention it

 

I have no experience or knowledge of the carb 308s at all, but I know on my QV, my Euro manual makes absolutely no mention of such procedure. It cold idles at 1100pm and warm idles at 1000, On the other hand, I know US injected cars would warm up at 3000rpm unless the warm up crap was removed (virtually all have been by now). The purpose of that junk was to get the cats heated up and reduce emissions ASAP. Did the carb US cars have similar emissions equipment?

Regardless I know of no other road car that ever recommended doing such a thing at startup, carb or injection. I do know manuals sometimes give lip service to regulation though... the Japanese manual for my Land Cruiser says to warm up if possible, the US book says "move off immediately."

 

It may be one of those "Ferrari dealers need work" items. You know, like change the belts every 3 years.

 

I don't know about the manual but I can tell you that while I curated a very high-end Ferrari collection I used to warm all the cars up that way.

I was told to by their restorer who is one of the nations very best. I was also told the same thing by a long time Ferrari master tech who used to work on the NART cars.

Rather than let them warm up slow at idle or occasionally blip the throttle, they both recommended bringing them up to a mid range rpm and holding for a minute or two. Then repeat. They mentioned the absolute worst thing to do is let them just sit idling for any extended amount of time.

I believe this method is also called the "Italian tuneup".

 

To echo Anthony's point, the recommended start up procedure for my 1973 Carrera RS by one of the top vintage Porsche techs in the US is to start it and put it at 3000 rpm for 20 seconds.

 

Reduce the time the engine is not warm?

Piston slap? I.e the time the pistons and rings are not warm enough
to fully ride against the cylinder walls?

If you think about it from an oiling perspective -- it should only take moments (a few sec?)
to fill all bearing surfaces with oil -- after that your protected.

Now having said all that -- I tend to let my cars warm up -- but it doesn't mean I really thought about it.

I have various P-cars not F-cars. Oil and Water cooled both.

M

 

Yikes- rev engine at 4000?? Cold?? Thats when the most engine wear occurs. Even if it does encourage oil to pump faster, its just for a short time before oil gets up in there to lube- during which time, the engine is STLL cold, and wear is at risk. Theres got to be an explanation.

 

Just need to not use the choke and back off the screw on the cold start valve. I believe the high start idle is done to burn off the rich fuel from using the choke. This would stop fouling the plugs. I use the method of turn on the key and listen to the fuel pump. When the "seat belt" light goes out pump the throttle 3-4 times and start it up. When it fires keep throttling the peddle and keep the RPM's at 1500 until it will idle (maybe 30 secs). Then let it idle until it hits normal 1000rpm with some water temp. Works for me.

 

I'm not home in Ontario now, but if I was i would have taken a pic of tr start procedure for the 77 GTB, carbs. It is a horrible thought that goes through my head as well when reving to 4-5000, but it is what it is. It also mentions to not drive hard until water is up to temp and oil as well. Does anybody put a synthetic oil in there older engines? I use Castrol GTX
Check out these beautiful original pistons and walls after 36 years of use.
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It's easier to do when you don't have to worry about paying the bill!

Seriously, once you get used to it you'll be ok. Every car is different but I know from personal experience the old Columbo v12s loved being brought up to temp this way. I can also say that the worse thing you can do is loaf around town keeping the revs low. Once these older cars are warmed up there is nothing they love better than to be flogged a little. I did this for over 13 years and they loved it.

I'd also recommend running race gas in any car that doesn't have cats. We used to get 150 gallons of VP fuel delivered to keep in the cars. Luckily we had a station nearby that sold race gas as well that we used before we got the VP deliveries. The older cars love that stuff and it makes the greatest smell in the world when they burn it off. It smells like racing!!!

 

I've read discussions in the P-car forums that while the pistons are cold,
they are much smaller than up at temp and
this can lead to scoring of the pistons, ovality issues, and blow by.

The thought is that there is lateral movement (ok vertical with the flat sixes)
that either wear the piston skirts, jug side walls, or the rings.

I'm not en engine expert -- and it could be internet BS -- but I can buy the arguments.

I still have a tough time flogging my engines at any time. I let them warm up.
I'd rather replace a jug at some point -- then wear out my bearings and loose the whole engine.

Mike

 

MY 1988 UK 328 owners manual says "don't fully push the accelerator pedal until the engine oil is warm to approx 150°F"!
It also says don't use any accelerator pedal for cold starting but slightly push it for warm starting.
There's no reference to recommended warm up RPM, except don't floor it till its warm!
I've heard that Porsche always claim you can drive a 911 at full throttle on an Autobahn when cold and that there's always been a bit of competition between sports car manufacturers on how quickly there cars warm up. This could have something to do with the limited info in my manual as the 328 doesn't warm up as quickly as other contemporary cars I've driven, but is well worth the wait when it does!

 

I have tried it different ways, and there is no doubt that following the procedure in the manual makes the engine much more happy more quickly. After 20 seconds of 4-5k RPM, it idles nicely and purrs. A lower RPM or not at all makes it take a long time to get to this point (carb 2 valve).
I have been considering an oil re-charge system, but the pressure gauge comes up full immediately at start up. My understanding of start up wear is that it is primarily caused by lack of pressure and the resulting lack of lubricant on moving parts, more than temperature. I am using Mobil 1, don't modern lubricants preform better at maintaining a lubrication film on parts even after sitting?

 

The first few times I warmed at 5k per the manual in the garage rattling everything and reverberating off the walls, my wife came yelling at me, funny I couldn't I hear a word she said. I still try to warm at 3-3500 to keep the neighbors at bay. That seems to be the sweet spot for my car, as a non expert. Less at 1800-2000rpm the car seems to cough, sputter and spit a bit.

I'd like to hear more from the experts. I may grow brave as Anthony suggested and go stronger as he does, unfortunately I foot the the bill .

 

Following this procedure is not the same as immediately driving at 4000 rpm after a cold start since the motor is spinning freely without the load associated with driving.

 

78 carb. I have the cold start disconnected. I keep it at 3-3.5k for a minute or two, then bring it down to 2k, then 1500, then let it idle for a min or two, then take off. Seems to work well.

4-5k with no cats cold will make you reek like fuel, so that is really not an option for me. With the above procedure I really don't stink at all. Car drives fine also.

 

My manual (78 GTB drysump) says at start no more than 2.000 rpm.