F430 Oil Overfill

[roygarth]

Dipstick is indicating that there is 1 litre too much oil.

I have driven approx. 1000 miles since service/oil change.

Should I be concerned?

Thanks in advance!

[voicey]

1 litre too much?! That sounds like a lot and yes you should be concerned. Although the 430 has a different disaerator to early 360's you can still get oil in the air intake. Have you got smoke pouring out of the exhaust?

First step is to remove a litre of oil from the tank.

[johnnyreggae]

Surely if its been overful these past 1000 miles you should be aware of it already ?

I've read before of there being a strange procedure to checking the oil in some Ferraris : did you definitely check it exactly according to the manual ?

[voicey]

I did think about the possibility of the level not being measured correctly but if it was done when the oil was cold then it would read low, same if it was taken with the engine switched off. I'm struggling to think of a way you could generate a high (false) reading...

[neil-f]

If the oil is frothy when dipped it can show higher up the dip stick!
But 1 litre is a lot of extra oil...

[voicey]

neil-f said:

If the oil is frothy when dipped it can show higher up the dip stick!
But 1 litre is a lot of extra oil...

Very true but the froth should be distinguishable from the oil on the dipstick (at least it was the last time I had frothy oil). 1 litre is a hell of a lot of froth!

[Ford 2]

The car wouldn't have lasted the 1000 mile's if it was over filled that much. I'd say it was the cold/hot engine issue. If it was over filled that much the cat's would have taken a hit and the would have been plumes of smoke on start up. No ferrari expert but know enough about normal car's etc

[roygarth]

neil-f said:

If the oil is frothy when dipped it can show higher up the dip stick!
But 1 litre is a lot of extra oil...

Oil is very frothy, why would that be as it hasn't been so before.

Definately checking it correctly ie flat ground fully warm engine running etc...

[voicey]

I'm not entirely sure why the oil goes frothy sometimes - when I had it I asked Geoff @ Shiltech and he said it was nothing to worry about. If you can't get a good reading because of the froth then switch the engine off (hot of course) and take a reading almost instantly. The froth will have hopefully subsided enough for you to get a good reading- engine off isn't ideal but if you are quick enough the reading will be OK.

If it really was 1 litre over then you'd have smoke pouring out of the exhaust.

If you're handy with the spanners then an oil change is very easy to DIY and will cure the froth.

[Mario149]

My oil on my 996 Carrera 4S was overfilled slightly before a track day once....was going down the straight at the Bedford (West I think) circuit and all of a sudden I lost power for a second followed by a James Bond special effects amount of smoke coming out the back...I properly shat myself thinking my engine had immolated itself!! I was black flagged in and had to have a marshal check my car over to ensure I wasn't littering engine all over the track. Luckily there were a couple of other Porsche drivers who told me the world had not come to an end thank god Not sure about what happened to the cats as the car was sold before the next MoT to be fair, but hopefully they were all right

[Hedgetrimmer]

Froth is generally due to two things. Windage as the crank strikes throught oil in a non dry sumped engine or too much oil in a dry sump tank as would be the case on a 430. The DS tank is designed to allow oil to decend through it to remove all of the air from within. If it is overfilled this process is compromised leading to air in the oil as it flows through the engine. This could lead to damage especially at high revs but you would probably know about it by now.

I am no expert re 430 but I would have though the oil would either breath into a catch tank or be dumped into cylinder and burned off (hence cat issues). I would definately get the excess removed.

[jdw1234]

Sorry for being really patronising.

You did wipe the dipstick before popping it back in to check level after driving?

Don't take offense.