I was having a conversation with a fellow Ferrari Mechanic, Eric Sanders, who works for GTO in Los Angeles. We were talking about Dinos and how I noticed some funny oil pressure readings when I was a only a quart low on oil as I was filling up the sump after an oil change. I was surprised how simply being a quart low caused the oil pump to pull up some air in the oil pan, and Eric said it was a good idea to drop the bottom of the oil pan to make sure the sump pick up and baffles were not interfering with the oil flow. In Eric’s experience, he’s seen oil pick ups on DInos and 308s bent out of position, and baffle doors stuck shut.

Always taking Eric’s sage advice, I dropped the oil pan to take a look and was happy I listened. Despite the low mileage (perhpas due to the low mileage) I found a lot of sludge at the bottom of the oil pan. This sludge was left behind even after recent oil changes, and because of the design of the baffling of the oil pan, it was trapped inside the oil pan. I found one sticking trap door, and the oil pickup slightly bent out of position. I don’t know if it made a lot of difference to the was the oil was sucked up by the pickup, but every little bit helped. It’s also good to know to make sure the oil levels on the Dino are spot on, to avoid cavitation.

After a trip to the parts washer, I removed all the old sludge out of the oil pan and reinstalled the pan with a new gasket.