Should I top up the oil, advice please?

[Chambers68]

Hi all, might be a daft question but I am not sure if I should or not. I have a 2011 Spyder bought it end of Feb and 2 year service carried out by OPC Leicester as part of the deal on 7,800 miles, the car has now done approx 9,300 miles including 2 track days (about 250 track miles). Anyway I regularly check the oil level via the stalk using the on board computer and the last couple of times when the engine is really hot and just after coming to a stand still the level has dropped one notch which the book says equates to 0.4 litre of oil, however if I leave the car standing for 10 mins and then start the car and recheck it is back up to full level. I have therefore not topped up but wanted a bit of reassurance this is correct.

Thanks for any forthcoming advice.

[BertBert]

what does the instruction book say?

[Moog72]

From memory I think the entire gauge represents something like 0.6l of oil, so one notch being 0.4l doesn't sound right too me. The fact it returns to a normal level after standing suggests that it doesn't need any to be added IMO

[Chambers68]

Says top up when it drops a level but the issue is it seems to drop when really hot and rises when just hot!

Can't take read from cold as the computer wont allow that.

[HokumPokum]

Chambers68 said:

Hi all, might be a daft question but I am not sure if I should or not. I have a 2011 Spyder bought it end of Feb and 2 year service carried out by OPC Leicester as part of the deal on 7,800 miles, the car has now done approx 9,300 miles including 2 track days (about 250 track miles). Anyway I regularly check the oil level via the stalk using the on board computer and the last couple of times when the engine is really hot and just after coming to a stand still the level has dropped one notch which the book says equates to 0.4 litre of oil, however if I leave the car standing for 10 mins and then start the car and recheck it is back up to full level. I have therefore not topped up but wanted a bit of reassurance this is correct.

Thanks for any forthcoming advice.

just make sure you are on a level surface before you check oil level. Then decide accordingly.

Your handbook has everything you need.

[steve singh]

Sensors aren't the most reliable thing, I'd take a 2 notch shift as a top up indicator as opposed to one.

One thing you may want to consider is changing your oil after every track day or two...

[tonygt3]

steve singh said:

One thing you may want to consider is changing your oil after every track day or two...

You jest surely.

Edited by tonygt3 on Sunday 30th June 21:47

[steve singh]

tonygt3 said:

steve singh said:

Sensors aren't the most reliable thing, I'd take a 2 notch shift as a top up indicator as opposed to one.

One thing you may want to consider is changing your oil after every track day or two...

You jest surely.

Which part?

My 996 used to be up and down like a yo-yo.

Re oil change, if my car was a keeper i'd do it...

[Zyp]

My Spyder also has a somewhat unreliable oil indicator.

It often goes from one bar under full, to full.
Mine is always checked in exactly the same spot in my garage.

In two years and 9k miles I've only ever topped it up once.

The bars actually represent 0.25L

[ChrisW.]

If you choose to add any oil, I'd add only a very small amount.

150ml and see what happens ?

Yes the oil level will be higher when the engine is very hot ---

But overfilling is as damaging as underfilling, and you still have three bars to it being underfilled ...

[Chambers68]

Thanks for opinions.

Think I will leave it alone until it drops another level. Was planning on doing oil change on years anniversary can't see myself doing it before then, probably do one or two more track days this year.

[paul chocks]

Pretty sure that oil level is only accurate/should only be read when cold. When hot a portion of the oil is yet to drain down to the sump. Oh, and car should be level. Happy to be disproved.

[mrdemon]

Oil has to be hot to check on later cars :-).
1 bar is nothing also, don't worry about it.

My M3 only let's you know when it need 1 full litre.


So take that as being disproved ;-p

Edited by mrdemon on Sunday 30th June 23:49

[Rockster]

Chambers68 said:

Hi all, might be a daft question but I am not sure if I should or not. I have a 2011 Spyder bought it end of Feb and 2 year service carried out by OPC Leicester as part of the deal on 7,800 miles, the car has now done approx 9,300 miles including 2 track days (about 250 track miles). Anyway I regularly check the oil level via the stalk using the on board computer and the last couple of times when the engine is really hot and just after coming to a stand still the level has dropped one notch which the book says equates to 0.4 litre of oil, however if I leave the car standing for 10 mins and then start the car and recheck it is back up to full level. I have therefore not topped up but wanted a bit of reassurance this is correct.

Thanks for any forthcoming advice.

Seems reasonable. Checking the oil after a few minutes wait after shutting off a hot engine will have the oil temperature raised some as the heat in the engine no longer being carried away by circulating coolant (and oil) just heats up the oil and this increases the oil's volume.

If I were you I would try to be consistent in when I checked the oil and the levelness of the car.

As for when to add oil a general rule of thumb is when the oil level drops half way down add just enough oil to bring the level up to near the max without going over.

It is better to run the oil level as high as you can without the level being too high and this means when the engine is up to full temperature.

Keeping the oil level up helps to keep the oil pump pickup as deep as it can be and in oil that is as free of air as it can be. This is very important to a street car and vital to a tracked car. Let the oil pump pickup ingest even a bit of air or just oil that is not fully de-foamed can be disastrous.

[cheshire911]

The message is simple - read the instruction book.
On a 996 Turbo the oil level is with the on-board computer with the engine hot, running on level ground. Each notch is 250ml in the 996 Turbo. I'd add 150ml first and re-check. Then add 100ml and re-check.
Its all in the instruction book.

[Zyp]

cheshire911 said:

The message is simple - read the instruction book.
On a 996 Turbo the oil level is with the on-board computer with the engine hot, running on level ground. Each notch is 250ml in the 996 Turbo. I'd add 150ml first and re-check. Then add 100ml and re-check.
Its all in the instruction book.

You haven't read the OP properly - he was asking about the irregular reading - unfortunately that isn't in the manual.