See Steve's post above: I don't know for all wet sump engines, but for the later (= injected cars) it is: "wait until 15 minutes after shut down, then take your measurement". But the best advice of course, is that: "when in doubt, read the Owner's Manual" Rgds
It is not well described in the old owners manuals but they do say to check right after engine shutoff on a warm engine on the dry sump cars. You are correct about the wet sump time delay. Without going into it at length we do know the wet sump 308s took quite a while for oil level to stabilize after shutdown.
To nerofer, my vin number is ZFFCA03C000031161. And for my 15 min oil level check I cant remember where I read it but thats how I have always done it,incorrectly it seems now.
That will result in some as yet unknown amount of overfilling. While it may not be the problem at hand it could be contributory. I would go to the trouble for the sake of complete information, of taking out all 8 spark plugs. If they are all like or close to the one pictured you can put to bed any idea that the motor is burning oil.
Thanks for the VIN. Your car is in the last group of "about a hundred" built, but not that close to the very end. Rgds
I can't speak directly about Ferrari dry sump systems but those that I am familiar with on cars and motorcycles that have the oil tank located higher than the engine sump, will slowly seep oil from the tank to the sump through the oil pump/around the various bearings. This can take anything from days to weeks to months to eventually drain all the oil from the tank into the engine sump. Then, when checking the oil after some period of time of layup, the oil appears "low" and the owner adds more to bring it up to the "proper" level, thus waaay overfilling. Some folks with DS motors that are prone to this will, either before a layup or after the layup but before starting the engine, drain the oil out of the engine/refill the engine with the same oil/checking the level before startup. One can argue that the owner knows the amount of oil in the engine is OK because it was checked before layup and there is now none on the floor so it's still in the engine and OK to start. That part is correct, it's in there and, and minute or two after startup, all the oil is back to where it should be. The downside to that method is that until sufficient oil is scavenged back into the tank, the engine is running with no oil pressure... Again, I am not familiar with the Ferrari DS system and don't know if it's more or less prone to this than other designs. The speed at which the oil drains to the sump is based entirely on the height of the oil tank above the sump, the effectiveness of any check valves in the system, and the rotor clearance within the primary oil pump.
