250 GTE - Another Newbie Question!

Musicman · Post by **Musicman** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 7:10 am

Hi All

I've noticed on my car that when the engine is warm, there is light oil smoke coming from the underside of both the oil filler caps. It's not a massive amount but it is noticeable. I've taken the filler caps off and note that they both have a guaze filter and a perforated underside of the filler cap itself. This leads me to think that the perforation is somehow designed to allow venting.

Is this smoking a normal (acceptable) occurence or does it possibly tend to indicate something else that may need looked at ???

thanks, Graham

Post by **tyang** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 8:12 am

Hi Graham,

Do you know the compression numbers on your engine? Three common places for smoke on a vintage V-12 Ferraris are worn rings, valve guides, and valve seals. There is always a small amount of oil vapor in any older designed engine, and the design of the filler caps is to keep some this contained, but anything more than normal oil vapor is from worn parts. The seals are the only thing that are relatively easy to repalce (still a lot of work), so you'll have to see how much you can live with this situation.

Tom

Post by **330GT** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 9:59 am

There should be hoses that are clamped to the underside of the oil filler assembly that vent these gases down under the car. If you see oil vapor up at the top, either the hoses are missing or something else is amiss (like the O-ring that seals the filler cap).

Matt F · Post by **Matt F** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 9:19 pm

One more thought: the oil filters may be restricting flow. What kind are they, are they the same or different, and are they new?

Musicman · Post by **Musicman** » Mon Nov 06, 2006 12:20 pm

Matt F wrote:One more thought: the oil filters may be restricting flow. What kind are they, are they the same or different, and are they new?

Yes the filters are new - the car had an oil and filter change immediately before it was delivered to me. The two filters are different, both FRAM and one is a P2808 and the other a PH 28041. Both filters were supplied by Maranello Classic Parts in UK. I've checked the oil level in the sump and whilst it is at the upper end of the min-max scale, it doesn't appear to be overfilled. I'm just wondering if perhaps there was slightly too much oil added at the change and this is the excess blowing off?

Yale · Post by **Yale** » Mon Nov 06, 2006 12:47 pm

I know next to nothing, but I have heard that if you fill the oil up to the max level and it gets quite hot, it will expand to be over the max level. Yale

Post by **330GT** » Mon Nov 06, 2006 1:04 pm

This isn't causing your problem, but the oil filters you mention are not correct for a GTE. The main filter is a Fram PH2815 (was PH3) and the by-pass one is a Fram PB50 or equivalents.

The PH2804-1 is for later Ferraris, starting with late 330s. I can't find a cross reference for P2808, so have no idea what that filter is for. This risk you run is the filter bursting on a cold start. The 2804-1 won't have that problem, but I would change the 2808. A burst filter really makes a mess and if you are away from home, you are stuck until you get a new filter.

There have been a number of discussions about Fram quality vs other filter brands. You might want to do some searching for appropriate posts.

Musicman · Post by **Musicman** » Mon Nov 06, 2006 1:51 pm

330GT wrote:This isn't causing your problem, but the oil filters you mention are not correct for a GTE. The main filter is a Fram PH2815 (was PH3) and the by-pass one is a Fram PB50 or equivalents.

The PH2804-1 is for later Ferraris, starting with late 330s. I can't find a cross reference for P2808, so have no idea what that filter is for. This risk you run is the filter bursting on a cold start. The 2804-1 won't have that problem, but I would change the 2808. A burst filter really makes a mess and if you are away from home, you are stuck until you get a new filter.

There have been a number of discussions about Fram quality vs other filter brands. You might want to do some searching for appropriate posts.

this is potentially quite worrying - the filters were ordered direct from maranello classic parts in uk and the order, whilst not specifying the exact filters, did specifically refer to the fact that they were for a 250 GTE. One would have presumed that maranello knew what the correct filters are. This was all done just before i bought the car. I will follow up with Maranello tomorrow and see what they say.

Post by **tyang** » Mon Nov 06, 2006 3:19 pm

Hi Graham,

Please let us know what Maranello Classic Parts says about these filters, and I will try to get some information for you as well. Perhaps I should put a Oil filter parts cross reference together for this site. See if you can get Baldwin filters.

Tom

Post by **330GT** » Mon Nov 06, 2006 4:26 pm

I just did some cross refreshing using Balwin's website:

The FRAM P2808 crosses to Balwin B50. The Fram PB50 also crosses to that same Baldwin filter, so it sounds like Fram is replacing the PB50 with P2808. However, the Fram website still lists the PB50 as correct for 250 models.
The PH2815 crosses to Baldwin B253.
The PH2804-1 crosses to Baldwin B216.

So even though the PH2804-1 isn't the exact match, it is safe to use until the time for the next oil change.

Musicman · Post by **Musicman** » Tue Nov 07, 2006 5:50 am

tyang wrote:Hi Graham,

Please let us know what Maranello Classic Parts says about these filters, and I will try to get some information for you as well. Perhaps I should put a Oil filter parts cross reference together for this site. See if you can get Baldwin filters.

Tom

I spoke with Maranello today who have confirmed that the filters on the car are the correct ones - Maranello Part number 95240001 (FRAM P2808) and Part Number 100325/OE (FRAM PH 28041).

Jimmyr · Post by **Jimmyr** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 10:01 am

Another question would be what type and weight oil are you using and the milage on the engine? Jim