New to me 1988.5 Countach

I am as of August this year a proud owner of my ultimate childhood dream car ...I have always loved this forum and all things Countach in it. My car is a 1988.5 with 4700 miles and is in pristine condition... To this forum I have some questions.. What if any is any is a acceptable amount of oil drips found under the car as well as coolant. Also the car has currently not been driven for 1.5 months due to it dying on me at a stop light.( Luckily I was able to get it started again within 10 minutes..but wow did I feel like a idiot). I live in the Chicago area and have had a hard time getting my mechanic to come check it which is why it has not been driven..So any mechanic suggestions is appreciated as well. Second question is I recently brought to a different mechanic who has experience with Lambos... he found the problem to be a Bad ignition box/system and the new system should be here in the next couple days so hopefully back on road next week. Does anyone have experience with this happening? He mentioned that new system would not have a automatic fuel pump cut off in case of a accident? Not sure how i feel about that even though most similar cars of that era and prior pry did not have that feature either..Thanks for hearing me out and any and all feed back is immensely appreciated.

Jim

Welcome. 88.5, great choice

 

FI or DD? For FI, 1.5 months sitting shouldn’t be a problem. 3 months either. My FI starts every time even after a winter rain hiatus. I don’t use battery tenders as they tend to burn up redtops, I use a simple disconnect. Driving about 2K miles/yr, during the annual oil change I find I’ve lost about a quart of oil which I attribute to burn and the occasional few drips in the pan. Zero coolant drips. Contrary to perceptions I can say the FI cars are very reliable. Keep up on the preventative maintenance and you’ll be fine. My initial advice is pretty basic. Check all hoses (including fuel), and flush all fluids: oil, coolant, brakes & clutch. While doing the brake fluid flush you can easily replace the brake lines too. There are braided lines available that look like OEM to keep the stock look.

 

Congratulations!

 

Welcome. 88.5, great choice

 

FI or DD? For FI, 1.5 months sitting shouldn’t be a problem. 3 months either. My FI starts every time even after a winter rain hiatus. I don’t use battery tenders as they tend to burn up redtops, I use a simple disconnect. Driving about 2K miles/yr, during the annual oil change I find I’ve lost about a quart of oil which I attribute to burn and the occasional few drips in the pan. Zero coolant drips. Contrary to perceptions I can say the FI cars are very reliable. Keep up on the preventative maintenance and you’ll be fine. My initial advice is pretty basic. Check all hoses (including fuel), and flush all fluids: oil, coolant, brakes & clutch. While doing the brake fluid flush you can easily replace the brake lines too. There are braided lines available that look like OEM to keep the stock look.

 

Congratulations!

Island Guy,

Thank you for your feedback! The car is currently being gone over and I hope to have some answers as to the coolant after I drive with the new ignition system. also any thoughts in regards to the new ignition not being able to have a auto fuel pump shut off in case of accident?

Thanks!

Jim

Need to post a better pic but this is only one on PC

Very nice! Congrats!

Hi Jim,

 

My ignition was updated before I bought the car so I can’t help you there. I'll look into the pump cutoff regardless. Others on the board have a magnitude more knowledge than I, maybe they’ll chime it. It’s been pretty quiet around here lately.

 

Let us know how it goes,

 

Larry

After you fix any issues, keep driving it. The more you drive, the better it will run.

That color combo and sans wing = perfection. Congrats from your neighbor south of you.

The Lambo ignition is very prone to failing. I have the MSD unit in mine..

Congrats and enjoy!!

 

More pics!!!

Congrats and what a color combo! Love those wheels. A lot of the guys like Evans when it comes to maintenance on their Lambos...especially the Countach. At least 2 members here have sent their cars there for an overhaul. Columbus isn't exactly local but it is not half way across the country.

The Lambo ignition is very prone to failing. I have the MSD unit in mine..

msd is a cheaper better option than the original

I have the msd system. The only problem that I have had with it was a coil went bad. The car was running fine, but when I was checking the oil I noticed a spot of oil on the inner fender, below the coil. Mine was installed vertically, and started to leak. Never mount a oil filled coil vertically. A new coil for about $45, mounted in the correct position - horizontal, fixed it.

Get rid of that old weak ignition.. I have Electromotive which i love and has phenomenal customer service .... A coolant drip can lead to catastrophic failure.. Check the weep hole under the water pump..if it comes from there then dont drive it

 

Thank you all for your great feedback!

Thank you!!!

Jim

New MSD ignition works perfectly...Enjoy the pics.

oh yes

perfect color combo

Postercarific!

Incredible! Countach beats them all. Congrats to you!

Looks great!

Love it. Looks hot! Enjoy :-)

Best upgrade ever.

Outstanding !

Sinister.....Looks great. Congrats and enjoy

The gold wheels have really grown on me. Did anyone ever find the paint code for them?