What is your Oil consumption on your 308 gts/gtb

i was always told half a ltr per 1000 miles, is about the norm, but of course every car is going to be slightly different, and i suppose it also depends very much, on how you drive the car.
BR,
Jez

 

Assuming you both live in similar areas and have similar use patterns another variable could be the type of oil - my recollection is that a full synthetic in a 308 may burn more than a semi or traditional (I think thats the right way round)

 

My '79 uses no oil between maintenance changes. However, I had a complete rebuild in 2009. No leaks, no oil consumption to date and almost 10,000 miles on the clock.

 

I quart per 1000 kms for my 78. Engine has never been pulled.

 

I have always been shocked at Ferrari's statement in the owners manual that a quart of oil in 600 miles is "OK." This is the same factory-acceptable oil consumption that Mopar stated for the 426 Hemi in the late '60's, an engine almost 3 times the size and double the HP. In a 3 litre motor, that sort of consumption being acceptable indicates TO ME a rather poor quality control re engine assembly/acceptable tolerances and, of course, an intention to NOT perform warranty work for excessive oil consumption.

That being said, my 328 (I realize the question was re a 308) used about a quart of oil in a 2700 mile trip so clearly there is a lot of variation in engines - maybe it's the Monday/Friday thing…"always buy a car made on Wednesday" was the old saying…

Re smoke on deceleration: that is a well-known symptom of valve guide/seal issues.

 

no 3x8 uses 'no oil' he must properly check the oil level best around 20 minutes after a drive.

yip valve stem seals, synthetic oils tend to evaporate faster than others, so even with the car standing it can loose oil through old/ perished seals, they can be replaced, its been done on a friend of mine's GTSi not sure on the QV but I presume its harder to perform the work than on other cars. little space to reach the valvestems but maby from the side cam shafts.

the cams seals also 'sweat ' some oil after a drive on most..

valve seals need oil on them ie good to roll the engine once a week or just drive !!

my 328 uses around half to a liter every 2500km, which I believe it perfect and no problem,,I replace oil anually.

J

 

+1

 

I change mine so much I never have to add any.

 

1980 308 GTSi. Seems to use a quart per tank of gas.

 

I was about to make the same comment. I don't think that I have ever added oil between changes.

 

Hmm…so frequently you have to add 9 quarts; that's a lot of oil to use!

 

And the little 308 turns twice the revs (or nearly so).

So ..........

 

That's way too much.....(IMO)

 

The Mopar street Hemi was a detuned race motor with a 6000 RPM redline at the time so yes, the 3x8 revved higher. But when you consider that the rings/bearing/cam/lifter surfaces are so much larger on the Hemi, it still seems to me that a 3 litre motor using a quart in 600 miles is a bit "excessive."

I suspect that for Ferrari, as per any manufactured engine, especially back then, sometimes the parts' tolerance combination in a specific engine worked in the engine's favor…and sometimes they didn't.

Re that and FWIW, we use to specifically look for Hemi engine blocks where the cylinder walls were thicker on the thrust side of the cylinder because those engines could produce more power than engines where the wall thickness was equal all the way around. Equal all the way round was "correct" as far as the ideal casting spec-wise but the tolerances involved in the casting process could produce shifts in Cyl wall thickness. As it turned out, if that shift was in the direction of the thrust side, the engine could produce more power than rated. We dynoed stock motors that varied from as low as 390 to as high as 510 HP. 425 HP was the rating but 440-450 was pretty common. In every case, the highest power examples had core shifts that produced thicker cyl walls on the thrust side, the very low power examples had the opposite.

 

Motors are mysterious things. Lots of "HuH?" moments.

 

What do your plugs look like?
And/or your garage floor?

 

It's the old "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". At the moment, and for as long as I've owned it, the engine runs perfectly. If a motor runs like that, I will gladly add oil every fillup until the condition changes. If, in fact, there is a problem with an engine that creates excessive oil use, it won't make any difference if you fix it now or when it shows symptoms...which it "may" never do in a weekend driver

P.S. Just pulled plugs two weeks ago...perfect burn! Car has 34,000 miles and I use traditional 20-50 Castrol...Floor? The usual drop or two.

 

Oil is cheap. Rebuilding a Ferrari motor is not; even a top end overhaul is not. Might wait until other symptoms start to appear...? How about a leakdown test?

Cheers,
Rich

 

I have been working on cars as a hobby for 50 years and I always get a kick out of people who think a car shouldn't leak oil. Well, you're right...it shouldn't. But to spend thousands on a Ferrari, or any other car for that matter, to reseal an engine instead of adding a quart every couple of months or so, is ridiculous. Has no effect on the engine at all...just your floor. Excessive oil leak...that's a different story

 

If it's a issue get a lift after your drive wipe it down with a rag.

When I worked on Helicopters in the Marine Corps They leaked like you wouldn't believe.

We just wipe them down on post flight and top off the oil. Passengers would get on and freak out (mainly because they have no idea how machinery works)

We would just tell them " only worry when it stops leaking"

Because that means its empty!


Some people want that completely clean engine, no oil leaks, because they really don't understand its ok to have some, when the time comes you can fix all them leaks but why sweat it.

If its a leak its a leak, If its oil consumption your plugs and exhaust should be showing it.

 

a good Ferrari 308-328 engine doesn't leak oil and the oil consumption is very low (unless you race it...).

A small oil leak is not a problem at all, it's just some dirty.

Big oil consumption means the engine needs rebuilding: 1 quart every 500-1000 miles is not normal.

ciao

 

So a bad 308 engine leaks? Should I punish it?

 

Alberto, I disagree, what do you mean with big oil consumption ?

Remember we use synthetic oil and modern oils are even more refined today and will evaporate faster, all cars even new uses oil at some point even if its just 500 ml every 5000 km, most don't even bother to fill to max because its not necessary since there's a min and max mark...

your owners manual (Ferrari ) states 1/2 liter every 1000km (600miles) is considered normal.

cheers
J

 

I don't know: just I do not want oil on the floor.

If I see oil on the floor, i send the car to the mechanic shop

ciao

Alberto