*GASPS* Area man changed his own oil on his Ferrari.
I’ve been procrastinating for about 3 weeks, but I finally got around to changing the oil on the 348. For the most part, it’s a pretty simple job, but it does require you to move a few things for access. Well, it’s typically an easy job, but I had to take a pretty long break due to dehydration. We are having a heat wave and I did a long run in the morning. I’m always good about drinking water and whatnot, but the heat hit me a little different yesterday.
Here is a quick rundown for anyone who is interested!
First step: open a refreshing Italian beverage. I went with Pellegrino this time, due to the heat and the long run earlier in the day. AP, Peroni, wine, Prosecco, whatever, will work.
Step two: Lift the car. I use two AL harbor freight jacks on the rear subframe, then jack stands.
Access: you need to remove a small panel on the bottom of the car and also the air box. Both are pretty simple, but the air box has two additional hoses on the bottom that can be slightly difficult. Also, if you are a towering 5'9", you should probably remove the air box before you lift the car. I used a step stool because I forgot. Lol
Drain the oil: Remove the drain plug on the reservoir. About a glass of wine’s worth of oil might come out here. Maybe none. New crush washer and I put the plug back in. Then crawl back under the car and take the engine’s drain plug out. The majority of the car’s 11 L will come out here. I got 9.5 this time. There is another step where you can remove the hose to the oil cooler, but most people I know do not do this step. I pulled off the oil filter and let it drain completely before putting a new drain plug and washer on.
New Filter: easy, especially with a specialty oil filter socket. The filter also has a one way check valve so no oil spills out while you remove it. Gotta keep that Italian masterpiece clean!
Put the car back together, fill it up, idle until the engine is warm, and check the level. Being a dry sump, you cannot check the level with the engine cold/off. I usually keep the level on the low side of normal, per recommendation from literally everyone with these cars
Last step: go for a drive! I woke up at 6am this morning and put 150 miles on the car. It ran great and it was nice going to a cruise.
That’s it! It’s just like every other car, with one minor addition due to the dry sump. The 348 community is great about DIY. The rest of the Ferrari community should take a page out of our book. They are cars. Especially this being an old car, everything is surprising normal once you get over the anxiety of tearing apart you Ferrari.
Happy Sunday, OPPO!