Discussion
How reliable are the gauges on the 993? The one on the far left of mine (oil can with a wavy line under it - presumably oil level, I don't have an Owner's Manual) reads in the red most of the time while I'm driving. If, however, I stop the car and leave it at tickover it seems to return to giving a satisfactory reading.
Having checked the dipstick, all appears to be fine and I would normally rely on this over the gauge. However, without the manual, I'd rather check with someone who knows both because there are no obvious max/min marks on the dipstick, just a flat section which I presume is max at the top, min at the bottom. I'm also less confident with the dipstick in this over any regular car as it seems to be about 6 feet long running all round the front of the engine!!!
Any offers of reassuring info much appreciated as usual.
Cheers
Jem
Having checked the dipstick, all appears to be fine and I would normally rely on this over the gauge. However, without the manual, I'd rather check with someone who knows both because there are no obvious max/min marks on the dipstick, just a flat section which I presume is max at the top, min at the bottom. I'm also less confident with the dipstick in this over any regular car as it seems to be about 6 feet long running all round the front of the engine!!!
Any offers of reassuring info much appreciated as usual.
Cheers
Jem
Don't bother with the dipstick it's untold hassle. Instead just get the engine up to normal running temp (at least 20 min drive) and then idle the car on a level surface for about 30 secs. You should see the gauge creeping up above the red mark.
If not then put some oil in quick!!
Ideal level is about in the middle of the gauge, although that can differ depending on the oil temp.
If not then put some oil in quick!!
Ideal level is about in the middle of the gauge, although that can differ depending on the oil temp.
the oil guage on a 993 is very accurate however it is very important to make sure the engine temperature is right and giving the car a run wont give you the right temperature as they are air cooled and so it will be too cold. you are best off keeping the car still and carefully revving the engine till the temperature guage is horizontal then allow the car to idle for a minute on a level road/driveway. if the oil level guage is now in the normal zone then you are fine. a common mistake on a 993 is overfilling with oil due to taking a reading at too low a temperature
I have probably already made this mistake as I noticed on the road that it was reading red (without having really paid the gauge much attention since buying the car, and immediately chose to trust the reading and hence threw in a load of oil, almost certainly overfilling.
What are the likely consequences of this, if any?
What are the likely consequences of this, if any?
If you only overfilled a bit then don't worry - when mine comes back from a service and i do the hot idle test the guage is usually pointing higher than horizontal, but as long as it doesn't hit the top i don't worry.
Unlike a conventional wet sump system, a little overfill isn't going to cause the pistons to hit the top surface of the oil when they reach BDC, it should just be using up some air space in the dry sump tank (rear o/s wheelarch).
VS
Unlike a conventional wet sump system, a little overfill isn't going to cause the pistons to hit the top surface of the oil when they reach BDC, it should just be using up some air space in the dry sump tank (rear o/s wheelarch).
VS
ocho said:
If you only overfilled a bit then don't worry
If I did overfill it by a lot (I've no idea really - just panicked when I saw it red and chucked a load in, quite a lot really...) would any consequences be apparent fairly soon, and what would they be?
The most common consequences of over-filling are:
- Blowing oil out of the resevior over-flow
- Burning oil through the piston rings
- Blowing out the cam cover gaskets
clapham993 said:
[quote=verysideways]If you only overfilled a bit then don't worry
- Blowing out the cam cover gaskets
Regarding the above...Dont wait to see if you get pools of oil under the car as it will collect in the underbody tray first, when thats full you will know, it just happened on mine!
david hype said:
ocho said:
[quote=verysideways]If you only overfilled a bit then don't worry
- Blowing out the cam cover gaskets
Regarding the above...Dont wait to see if you get pools of oil under the car as it will collect in the underbody tray first, when thats full you will know, it just happened on mine!
Sorry all - being as I am to Porsche mechanicals what Herod was to babysitting, are these three bad or do they just mean an overflow and inconveniently messy spillage of 5W40 on the drive???
ocho said:
clapham993 said:
ocho said:
[quote=verysideways]If you only overfilled a bit then don't worry
- Blowing out the cam cover gaskets
Regarding the above...Dont wait to see if you get pools of oil under the car as it will collect in the underbody tray first, when thats full you will know, it just happened on mine!
Sorry all - being as I am to Porsche mechanicals what Herod was to babysitting, are these three bad or do they just mean an overflow and inconveniently messy spillage of 5W40 on the drive???
Over flow = ok
Cam Cover gaskets = not a major problem - a few hundred quid
Oil up the bores = potentially engine rebuild
pesty said:
how much did you add? My owners manual says on teh 964 there is 1.7ltres between the marks on the dipstick.
if you put loads in. I imagine that it would be quite simple to undo the oil drain plug and let some out(use appropriate container).
It was actually about three or four thousand kilometres ago, and as these things seem to use a fair bit of oil as a matter of course it's probably at a resonable level now. I started the thread to find out if there was a chance of any long term damage that I won't already have found out about???
In my own experience overfilling is not SUCH a problem. My own car (an '89 964) was overfilled by some 3 litres by the supplying garage and there was no apparent ill effects other than the oil level gauge showing MAX when driving!!!
As others have said, as long as the gauge shows around the mid point when ticking over with the oil at running temperature it's OK. When the oil level is too high the most likely effect is blowback through the induction which often cause the ISV to be contaminated giving rise to unstable idle speed. Solution is to dismantle it and clean with brake cleaner.
If you are going to drain excess oil it's better to drain directly from the engine rather than the oil tank. The engine will have around 3 litres but the oil tank has a LOT more. You will have to remove the undertray though (if you've still got it fitted).
Regards
Dave
As others have said, as long as the gauge shows around the mid point when ticking over with the oil at running temperature it's OK. When the oil level is too high the most likely effect is blowback through the induction which often cause the ISV to be contaminated giving rise to unstable idle speed. Solution is to dismantle it and clean with brake cleaner.
If you are going to drain excess oil it's better to drain directly from the engine rather than the oil tank. The engine will have around 3 litres but the oil tank has a LOT more. You will have to remove the undertray though (if you've still got it fitted).
Regards
Dave
Cheers to all for the input. I've just been out for a good run and checked the dial at tickover on the level when I got back and it settles marginally above the mid-point, so I guess I've got away with it. The engine's running as well now as it ever has, so I think I'll take it that I've been lucky and learnt a lesson!
Jem
Jem
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