2.7 Cayman- Oil capacity Pre start read outs

[paranha]

How reliable are they? What consumption can one expect per 1K miles?.

[turboteeth]

The electric oil level read out is seriously rubbish - you need a perfectly flat surface for it to register properly. I've had mine reading below the bottom level on a slope - then almost full when parked in the garage!

I've used 1L in 5000 miles in my 3.4 Cayman but my dad has a leggy 997 than uses that much in a fortnight!

[evojam]

I change the oil and filter myself on my 2.7 987 Boxster every 5000 miles and must admit to being slightly disappointed by the lack of a proper dipstick,the electronic gauge seems to be quite hit and miss in it's readings depending on where your parked and the time left after the engine is switched off..

According to the manual the capacity is 7.75 litres with an oil & filter change but when I fill mine to this level,take the car for a run,then leave it overnight on a level surface and check the electronic gauge again before starting it's registering only half way up the gauge,I have to add another 0.5 litres to get the max reading on the gauge taking the total fill too 8.25 litres which is over the stated capacity which worries me.

Between 5000 mile oil changes mine appears to use no oil whatsoever running Fuch Titan Pro-Race S 5w40,runs sweet as a nut too!

[edc]

On a 986 at least I believe you should only fill to 1 or 2 bars below the electronic reading not to the max level.

[Trev450]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

This ^. I keep mine to the top bar all the time and actually slightly overfill it when going on track.

[paranha]

Many thanks.Now have a --Failure Oil level indicator showing, so time to visit service.

[Rockster]

evojam said:

I change the oil and filter myself on my 2.7 987 Boxster every 5000 miles and must admit to being slightly disappointed by the lack of a proper dipstick,the electronic gauge seems to be quite hit and miss in it's readings depending on where your parked and the time left after the engine is switched off..

According to the manual the capacity is 7.75 litres with an oil & filter change but when I fill mine to this level,take the car for a run,then leave it overnight on a level surface and check the electronic gauge again before starting it's registering only half way up the gauge,I have to add another 0.5 litres to get the max reading on the gauge taking the total fill too 8.25 litres which is over the stated capacity which worries me.

Between 5000 mile oil changes mine appears to use no oil whatsoever running Fuch Titan Pro-Race S 5w40,runs sweet as a nut too!

The manual is not the final authority on the amount of oil the engine takes. This is specified in some document from the factory that the service techs have access to.

I can tell you that based on the factory manual for my Turbo, the engine oil should be at least 70C, and the oil drain time 20 minutes. (The DFI engines have a 1 hour drain interval. There is also an overnight drain interval and believe it or not the amount of oil to add to the engine is a bit more than it is for the 1 hour drain interval.)

Then afterwards 7.8l of oil should be added to the engine. The oil dispensing nozzle reads out in 0.01l so the tech knows pretty accurately how much oil he has put in the engine.

Then the engine is started and warmed up enough to check the level and the level should be at the max. line. (The Turbo engine having a true dry sump system requires the engine be idling, warmed up, and the car pretty level. On this level business the system will not make a reading if the car is not level. In my Boxster the car could be upside down and the reading would proceed.)

However, the oil level in your engine I think is fine. When you check the oil level after the car has sat overnight you are checking the level cold. It will read low by some amount. By my observation from checking the oil in my 2.7l Boxster cold and then hot parked in the same location the difference is two bars. That is cold the oil level will show two bars below the max line. If I check it hot the level is right at the max line.

You should never overfill the engine with oil. I've been told this can shorten the life of the AOS. Why this is so I have no idea. But I do know Porsche cautions against over filling the engine with oil.

There is the issue too of the system is not capable of measuring how much oil over max there is in the engine. Thus you do not know if it is just a fraction of a quart or much more than that.

There is another risk and that is if the engine is overfilled with oil this oil can overtop the oil baffles in the oil sump. The oil outside of the sump baffles and the oil towards the top of the oil outside of the baffles can still have some air in it. If this aerated oil overtops the baffles this can feed the oil pump pickup aerated oil which is not good for the engine.

[Richard Hamilton]

Rockster said:

.....(The DFI engines have a 1 hour drain interval. There is also an overnight drain interval and believe it or not the amount of oil to add to the engine is a bit more than it is for the 1 hour drain interval.).....

That's interesting. I have the Porsche workshop manual for my 2.9 Gen 2 Cayman, and unlike those shown for 986/996 models, the instructions don't specify a drain time at all.

[Rockster]

The techs told me the DFI engines have a longer (1 hour) drain interval and there is a 12 hour (overnight) drain interval too, to allow the tech to start the drain going even at quitting time and then let the engine drain overnight, this is so the dealer can avoid paying overtime to have the tech stay and finish the service.

I do not have access to the newer model factory manuals but if the info is not in the factory manual it is in a TSB, or a update of some kind. Porsche is sort of (make that very) lousy at divulging any details about its cars to the general public.

I had serious interest in getting ahold of some info about Porsches for an automotive test tool I was working on and what I found is Porsche just doesn't publish the info I wanted except to the company that produces its diagnostic computers. I even attended a conference a few months ago in Sonoma CA at which Porsche was a participant and buttonholed one of the Porsche attendees (who participated in some presentations) to ask for this a contact for this info but never heard a word. And I have owned 3 Porsches and currently own 2.

[Richard Hamilton]

I subscribe to PIWIS TSI, and I can't seem to find any Technical Bulletins on this for the 9x7-2 or 9x1. That's not to say that they don't exist, but this is the first I have heard of it. Being that the sump is integral to the bottom of the crankcase, I wonder why the oil would take so much longer to drain. I'm just curious really.

I have had 6 Porsches, and still have 2, but I don't see what that has got to do with it......

[paranha]

My update---after being concerned about the correct levels and good advice from regular poster CMoose,after the readouts on levels ceased to readout.Local indi said do a 12 mile run to get the oil really upto temp as its not a daily use car.
I had time today to do a 20 mile run and waiting for the 2 minute countdown to finish, the readout showed all levels correct.So perhaps the pre engine start check is pointless, if the Oil is Not upto temperature.