[Greg Ross]

Had a '72 124 Spyder that I bought new, When the Oil Pressure started to studder I traded it in. Would have been nice to know at the time.
RIchard,
The oil analysis is probably a very good idea, where you bought the car with some miles on it, no way of knowing what sort of oil change intervals it saw.

[wws944]

I had a '74 124 Spider and it did have an oil filter. However a friend had a Fiat 850 Spider which had the centrifuge system. A lot of Fiat owners ruined their engines because they never knew/cared about cleaning out the flywheel.

To the OP: It sounds like what you are doing with your Reatta is working well for you. Just make sure you are using current quality (e.g., SM grade) oil and change it at least once a year. (More often depending on mileage.)

[padgett]

Didn't say my 124 didn't have an oil filter (it did), just said it had a slinger (also).

[wws944]

Originally Posted by padgett

Didn't say my 124 didn't have an oil filter (it did), just said it had a slinger (also).

Interesting. Wonder if my '74 was the same way?

My friends 850 Spider, IIRC it was a '73, did not have a filter. He had it for a year or two, and traded it on a 454 'Vette. Talk about extremes...

[padgett]

Also briefly had an 850R coupe. "full of sound and fury..." OTOH friend had an Fiat Abarth 1000 Bialbero that had raced at Sebring. Wicked fast.

[Telco]

Originally Posted by Ronnie

Some of the Fiat cars (124 Spyder) used a similar system except the centrifuge was built into the harmonic balancer. It could be cleaned by removing a row of bolts that allowed an access cover to be removed.

And not one reference to a Riatta. Not that I would have said anything had it not been for this thread...

[NTX5467]

What cleans out engine sludge is not synthetic oil per se, but how much ester content is in the synthetic oil. This is a variable situation!

The seal sweller will affect EVERY seal in the motor, so if there are currently no problems, then you don't need it.

Keep on doing what you've been doing and don't look back. I understand that sometimes we want to prevent problems before they might start, getting a little paranoid in the process, but many times these concerns are unfounded . . . at that point in time. OR we want to do something that is better than what we've already been doing. Still, in so doing we can end up with marginally better results and more money spent for (basically) naught.

Keep up your current maintenance schedule and things will probably be fine.

Regards,
NTX5467