slicky rick

hey guys, new kid on the block here.. hoping to be active in our group. Just got a 2010 Carrera S with PDK. Carrara white on sea blue interior. Great Toy. i fulfilled one of my dreams.. to have at least one Porsche as a big boys toy before i get too old to drive one. Anyways, has anybody experienced having too much oil on the factory fill. My car has 700kms on it. whenever i check the oil the computer tells me there is too much. This is the factory fill. Should i remove some of the oil. I heard that during the early stages of running a new engine the DFI engines consume quite an amount of oil. I am now assuming that the factory fill is really a bit over to compensate for new owners not knowing how to check oil levels before it becomes a problem. Anybody care to comment.

Bob Rouleau

Rick, my dealer seems to have a habit of overfilling the oil. Two oil changes and both times (most recent last week) the put in too much. Result? Check oil and it shows all the bars full AND I get "check oil" warnings! Happened he first time at th 10K Km change and just recently at the 20K Km. Arrgh. My 997.2 PDK 4S does not use oil between changes so I have to go back and have them remove some - again!

kosmo

i would'nt know why P would followings its own warning, "DONT OVERFILL."

jplanaux

I would remove some of the oil if I were you. I am always nervous about this because unless you drain all of the oil out, how do you know if the instrumentation is correct? Damn them for removing the dipstick!

I am somewhat involved in the engineering field. Instrumentation fails just as toasters and whatever else fails!

Know what is always dead on accurate? Dipsticks!

LlBr

Because I'm stupid and bored, I just thought of this: When Porsche designs the dies for the crankcase how damn hard it is to allow for a hole to be machined into it? Then how hard is it to give up the 39 cents of profit it would take to machine the hole and fabricate a dipstick?

HECK! Make a dipstick OPTIONAL if profits are a problem! Just plug the machined hole with a plastic cap!

Macster

The problem is the dipstick and the oil level gage fight for the same location.

The two ideally should be located so the car's levelness has the least amount of effect on the oil's depth, on the oll level reading.

To my mind then this requires the dipstick and the oil level sender be in the same location which is the center of the oil reservior.

They can't both be located in the same spot so one has to be moved. Thus they would disagree in their readings and that would come in for criticism.

Sincerely,

Macster.

Macster

While it is possible the engine was overfilled with oil at the factory or even topped up and overfilled at the dealer, I doubt it.

What I suspect has happened is the oil has accumulated a good load of water and unburned fuel. These fluids show up in oil no matter the engine's newness, but are generally more likely to show in higher amounts -- all other things being equal -- in a new engine.

New engines allow more blow-by as the rings seat in. New engines don't get run as hard and get as hot. And new engines in the winter can run even cooler.

It is hotter running that helps boil away the water and unburned gas.

What has happened -- I believe -- is the oil level started out ok, probably at the high end, but ok. As you have used the car the oil has accumulated water and unburned gas and this accounts for the rise in the oil level.

My advice would be to schedule the car in for an oil/filter service and if you feel the need mention the oil level is high and you hope the dealer's service will not overfill the oil.

Then before you accept the car check the oil level and verify the oil level is ok. If it is high, complain to the service manager and have the level brought back down to where the engine is not overfilled.

Once you accept the car, carefully note the oil level and this will the baseline going forward.

The oil change does several things. 1) It removes the excess oil. 2) It removes oil that is likely loaded (relatively speaking) with unburned gas and water both of which work to lower the oil's viscosity and its ability to protect your new car's new engine. 3) It removes oil that has probably accumulated a good load of fine particulate matter (the filter too!) new engines shed. 4) It gives the tech a chance to verify the oil level sender is working properly. He will dump in say 8 quarts of oil and then add more oil until the level is correct.

If he dumps in 8 quarts of oil (or whatever the number is) and finds the oil level reading too low, or too high, he should bring this to the service manager's attention and the service manager to your attention.

In either case, the indication is the oil level sensor/sender is not able to accurately report the amount of oil, the level of the oil in the engine and the sensor/sender should be replaced.

Thus after the oil change you leave with the car filled with fresh clean oil, at the proper level, knowing the oil level sensor/sender is working properly.

Once you have the car back, carefully monitor the oil level. If it begins to rise as you add more trips to the car you are seeing the accumulation of water and unburned gas again and you need to try to drive the car longer, get the engine hotter and for longer periods of time to give the water and gas time to boil away. Or if you are unable to do this or don't want to need to consider more frequent oil/filter services to help protect the engine against this rather excessive accumulation of water and gasoline in the oil.

Sincerely,

Macster.

helispud

Congratulations on your first Porsche! It's very possible that someone at the dealer didn't have the patience to check the oil correctly and dumped some xtra in.

By the way, How old is too old to drive a 911 Carrera?

LlBr

Thanks for the knowledgeable explanation Mac.

The fact that a disagreement between both means of measurement could be a PITA for Porsche is telling of how back-asswards our world has become.

It's kind of depressing actually. How totally dependent these cars are on perfectly functioning electronics and software is damn scary for a guy like me. I'm the type who doesn't want monthly PITA problems he has no hope of fixing himself as these cars get more miles and years.

Maybe I'll dump the overly complex, DIY adverse, fly-by-wire Porsches and find a new automotive hobby in the future? How about British sports cars of the 60s and 70s?

Hella-Buggin'

This just happened to me yesterday. I took my new to me 06's in for my first oil change.
After getting the car back and running some errands I stopped to fill up the tank. Out of habit I always check the oil while filling up if the car s at operating temp. It registered at over the highest preferred bar.
I've gotten mixed reading from these things before so I drove home and re-checked. Still that same. I called the dealership and spoke to the service manager that assured me that it was ok. He said they use a measured dose of oil and that if anything it's just some residual old oil that didn't drain compiled with a sensitive gauge.

I didn't get any error messages mind you... am I ok or should I garage it until I can get it back there and is it ok to drive thee or what. I don't mind draining a little out myself but don't know where to get the crush washer from.

sharmat

You can get a crush washer from the parts dept at your dealer. Another way to get rid of extra oil is to remove the oil filter canister. There is a small amount of oil in there too. It's just a little easier to do the remove the drain plug and get a gush of oil coming out.

boolala

I think the dealers are in a rush to finish these oil changes. After all if they can charge you $150 an hour "book time" and finish the job in 10 minutes then it's more profit for them. That's why so many of these cars are coming back from the dealer with overfilled oil (including mine): not enough time is spent draining the old oil.

Doesn't explain the OPs problem, however.

Alfaguy2

My experience with all cars I had serviced at dealers is that;

(a) They don't warm up the oil sufficiently to allow proper drainage (if the car has been waiting its turn for service for a long time.

(b) They don't allow enough time for proper drainage.

(c) They nearly always overfill.

(d) They charge much more than the job is worth.

So I did my own oil change in my 2005 C2S just like I do on all my other 7 cars. I at least then know it has been done right.

I would ignore that garage guy saying not to worry - its the default reply to deflect attention when they have messed up. The guage is probably right and it IS overfilled and this is dangerous on such a high powered car.

RollingArt

I really don't believe that this is what's going on Macster. While it may be a possible far out scenario, I think you are really reading into this way too far. That would be a HUGE amount of gas and or water to be making it's way into this new motor. If your scenario was in fact what happened, I'd be demanding a new engine, because this one is bad.

It's a simple case of a tech in a hurry, overfilling the crankcase.

Take it back to dealer and have them rectify the over-fill.



Phil

RollingArt

+997

My 986 Boxster has both the electronic gauge and the almighty vintage dipstick. The electronic dipstick agrees with manual dipstick on checking oil level. If they ever start to argue about the oil level, guess which one Ill believe.

It really pisses me off also that the manual dipstick is being fazed out. I disagree with Macster's reasoning that it's a space issue. (see 986 comments) I think manufacturers just want to keep customers from popping open the engine cover lids. Trying to dis-sway customers from even thinking about touching something back there. No more DIY anything. Just bring it back to your trusty dealer for an oil change and overfill!

I'll never buy another new car. I hate the direction they are going with all the electronics. Still love my 356 though! (and it's dipstick. it's always been accurate.)



Phil