944 S2 oil use?

[zcacogp]

Chaps,

A quickie.

I bought my S2 just over 2 weeks ago. And done around 450 miles in it. That's 450 brisk miles ...

And today (after a spirited drive), I started the car and it had the "Oil Level" warning light on, and the big red "!" in the top of the instrument cluster stayed on. "Eh Up" thinks I, "Bad news." Check the dipstick, and it's about 3/4 (or more) of the way down to the "Min" mark. To put a context to this, shortly after I bought it, the oil was about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way down between the "Max" and "Min" marks.

So, that's well over 1/2 a sump full in this distance.

So I shrog off to a motor factors to buy something to top it up with.

Once I have the necessary, I tipped less than a pint of the stuff into the oil fill (very tight cap, BTW), and had a quick look at the dipstick to see how it was going. And, to my surprise, it had filled it from nearly "Min" to Max. (Bit lucky, as had I put any more in, I would have overfilled it, which is equally bad news.)

So, two questions.

1. How much oil can an S2 be expected to use in 450 (brisk) miles?

and ... 2. Is it correct that the distance between "Min" and "Max" on the dipstick is very small in terms of oil capacity?


Oli.

P.S. Apologies for the cross-posting; this is on porsche-1 as well.

[diver944]

According to the owners manual the difference in oil level between the max and min mark on the dipstick is about 1.5 lires. Are you sure you checked yours on level ground both times?

An S2 in perfect condition should not really use any oil. My own S2 at 170k miles uses a small amount of oil but I never have to top it up in between its yearly 12k mile service

[zcacogp]

diver944 said:

According to the owners manual the difference in oil level between the max and min mark on the dipstick is about 1.5 lires. Are you sure you checked yours on level ground both times? An S2 in perfect condition should not really use any oil. My own S2 at 170k miles uses a small amount of oil but I never have to top it up in between its yearly 12k mile service

Hmm. Interesting on both counts.

Yes, level flat (garage) each time. Not moved between each reading.

No oil use? That sounds almost too good to be true. But it's useful to know.

I'll monitor use from this point on.

Thanks for your input.


Oli.

[HAB]

My S2 with 100k has not used any oil in the last 5000 miles so I would be definately be getting the oil consumption checked out.

You do have to leave the car for at least 15 minutes, to let the oil drain back into the sump before checking the dipstick. A certain amount of oil consumption is fine, I think it mentions the amount in the handbook (my old Lux used about a 1/2 litre every 6k service). Have you noticed excessive smoke under load or when accelerating/decelerating?

Good Luck!

[zcacogp]

HAB said:

My S2 with 100k has not used any oil in the last 5000 miles so I would be definately be getting the oil consumption checked out. You do have to leave the car for at least 15 minutes, to let the oil drain back into the sump before checking the dipstick. A certain amount of oil consumption is fine, I think it mentions the amount in the handbook (my old Lux used about a 1/2 litre every 6k service). Have you noticed excessive smoke under load or when accelerating/decelerating? Good Luck!

Umm, this all sounds a little bit odd. I am about 95% confident that it has used some oil. Not sure how much though (first time I measured it, it wasn't on a flat surface.) The most convincing thing is that it has never shown the "Oil Low" warning light, until this afternoon.

I am also confused about the fact that I only put a very small amount in, and it appeared to be enough to fill from "Min" to "Max". Certainly nothing like the 1.5 litres quoted.

Is it possible that there was some kind of airlock, and adding some more oil caused the airlock to be broken, and therefore a quantity that was trapped in the cylinder head drained to the sump? Bit far-fetched, really, isn't it.

In which case, I am confused. I think I'll just have to watch it carefully. No, no sign of burning blue at any time. And no trace of oil drips on the floor either.

Maybe I'm just losing my marbles. But I don't think so.


Oli.

[interloper]

If you took the reading straight after switching off the engine, you won't get a true reading, some of the oil will be up in the head and generaly floating around the engine instead of in the sump.

[tr7v8]

On the S1 2.5 it's 1 litre between min & max & Porsche state that anything up to 414 miles per litre is acceptable. Mine does around 450 miles to the litre which according to Northways is valve guides & seals.
On Titanic their was a fair mix of people with S2's some use oil some don't like mine a lot seems to depend on how hard they're driven. Driven like Miss Daisy mine uses none!

[iguana]

Mine lived at high revs & did like a little tipple every few k, but all my 944s have done so too.

[doctorpepper]

Have you noticed it smoking on "spirted exiting of roundabouts" or similar sort of driving?...

Mine used to smoke when I gave it the big beans... diagnosis.. Fecked cylinders and a rebuild!

[UK952]

When you fill the oil it goes straight to the sump, but it will take a while for the oil to drain down from the head. As stated the handbook says consumption can be up to 1 litre in 450ish miles and that was on new cars.
The light often comes on a bit early, it will only come on at start up and you should be able to get over 400 miles to a tank, so I think the early warning is nice.
If you are worried compression and leak down test should give you more info. Other common leak points are the balance and crankshaft seals (this could be bad as contaminated belts wont last as long) and increasingly as they age sump gaskets.
Tony

[cheburator]

Given that the 944 engine is 1/2 of the 928 engine I would expect a 944 to use the same amount of oil. Porsche specify that up to 1.5ltr/1000 miles is perfectly OK. My older 928S2 5spd uses about a 1ltr every 1500 miles, but then it spends most of its time at 4000+ rpm in 5th. MY 928 GT, which is on a brand new engine uses about 1ltr of oil every 6000 miles, but then I use it at the Ring... You should not forget that the oil brand and viscosity also make a huge difference to consumption. I only use Mobil 1 Motorsport 15W50 and Motul Le Mans 15W50 in my cars...

[zcacogp]

Chaps,

Thanks all for your inputs. All helpful.

I can't explain it. The story is that it seems to use oil sometimes, and not at other times. Perhaps the times it uses oil co-incides with slightly brisker driving, but not massively much brisker. The maximum use seemed to be 1/2 a sump in around 65 miles. And this is a HUGE amount to get through. No, it doesn't seem to be leaking - the underneath of the engine (and the whole of the car) is dry and dusty, not black and wet as you would expect from a heavy oil leak. The exhaust doesn't burn blue at all - not under heavy acceleration, or blipping the throttle after a period of idling, or on starting. (The exhaust pipe is a bit more black and sooty than it perhaps may be, indicating it is running a little rich, but not oily as you would expect from an engine that is burning oil.)

Now, I have just driven it back from Worcestershire to London, and then to East Grinstead and back to London, and it doesn't seem to have used a drop.

So, what to make of it? I think a good service, using a flushing oil, and then new oil and filter, and see how we get on from there.

Thanks all for your input. I'll keep you posted.


Oli.