'76 ferrari 308 dino battery question

itsmeek said:

Ok, this may be really petty and I apologize in advance.

I have a 308 dino. is the battery supposed to be a standard 12 volt battery? the reason I ask is because when I hook one up, the horn works, but when I turn the key, I see the speedometer dials jump all the way to the end and back. i'm sure the engine of the car may be blown, but want to make sure before I ebay it..

thanks in advance!

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If memory serves, your car has been sitting outside since 1991? If this is the case, I am sure that there are connectors that have corroded and would need to be cleaned ... I'm amazed that the horn works! The early GT/4 is not known for having the world's best electrics, and corrosion of connectors can be a problem even in well maintained vehicles.

I agree that if you wish to try the engine that you could try it directly through the starter; however, there is some question as to what this will do to the engine of a car that has been sitting without oil circulation for over a decade.

If the engine is free, there likely be very little or no oil residue left on some very expensive parts and spinning the engine over will likely gall something that will cause the engine to need to be pulled to repair!

Have you changed the oil and filter? The old oil is probably not in the best of condition and over some 13 years of sitting outside will probably be something on the order of tar.

If it were mine, I would not try to turn the engine whether I planned on keeping the car or not. In my opinion, if the engine is not "bad" now, it will be if you spin it over.

Best wishes

As senna21 says, need to sort out the electrics first.

If you need to try the engine, before doing so I suggest the following:
1. drain existing oil & refill, change filter (I believe there's a Ford one which fits?)
2. remove all the spark plugs
3. put some squirts of engine oil into each cylinder via the plug hole (will need a flexy nozzle on an oil can)
4. squirt oil around the top-end (under cam covers) wherever possible
5. leave overnight
6. KEEPING PLUGS OUT, put car in 4th or 5th gear and push forward a few feet (gently). If the car can roll then this will turn the engine over a few times. Put in neutral, push back & repeat a few times to get the parts rotating.
7. If OK so far, KEEPING PLUGS OUT, hook-up starter & turn over. Turn for say 5 secs at a time, repeating after a few secs until you get a positive pressure reading on the oil-pressure gauge. If you can't get pressure on the starter then don't proceed further as it could seize.
8. If OK, check have fuel, put spark plugs in. This is the moment of truth! Have car in well-ventilated place as it will SMOKE something awful if it fires. Try starter. Keep rpm well under 2000. Run for say 20-30 secs max and then examine all over for problems (leaking gaskets, etc).
Good luck.