Oil consumption - cayman GTS

[straightsixmik]

Hey all

Just passed 3000 miles and had the surprise today 'oil level at minimum - refill oil'. I've had s2000's in the past and they used less oil than this . I know the car is new but seems like high oil consumption - anyone else experience similar?

[TDT]

Yeah, seems to be characteristic of this power unit - it uses oil.
I noticed it early and started checking it regularly and particularly before any long journeys. I had an unopened bottle of the good stuff left over from the last 911 service to just used that to top it off.

1 litre will take you from the min mark to the max mark - but just to be sure I added at a rate of 250-300ml at a time over the course of about a week to ensure I didn't overfill.

Now at 4500miles and it has dropped of a bit - so consumption should hopefully improve with more miles

Edited by TDT on Sunday 5th April 21:18

[Trotmant]

All I can say is I nursed my car for the first 1k miles and then have pushed on hard every time I'm in it using sports plus (once the temps are up to normal). After a weekend going round the Welsh valleys finest roads I've finally ticker over to 5k in 7months, I've only used 1 or 2 bars oil since collection. But I'm definitely getting close to a top up I reckon.

My last cayman used a litre every 2-3k which the mnaual and your OPC will of course tell you is well within tolerance.

How hard have you been driving it?

[BGHughes]

OPC in Cardiff told me up to 1 ltr per 1000 miles is not unusual

[RBT0]

I've been told the same. How can I check mine? Oli check on cluster before starting the engine?

[Milnsey]

Trotmant said:

All I can say is I nursed my car for the first 1k miles and then have pushed on hard every time I'm in it using sports plus (once the temps are up to normal). After a weekend going round the Welsh valleys finest roads I've finally ticker over to 5k in 7months, I've only used 1 or 2 bars oil since collection. But I'm definitely getting close to a top up I reckon.

My last cayman used a litre every 2-3k which the mnaual and your OPC will of course tell you is well within tolerance.

How hard have you been driving it?

Does this mean
a) No sport plus until run in?
b) No sport plus until temps up
Is your car PDK which means sports plus keeps revs high and kind of answers my question anyway?

[gsewell]

For the first 6,000 miles, I used about 0.5l per 1,000 miles. Now, three years later it is almost no usage. So it seems to be a bedding in issue somewhere.

[bcr5784]

straightsixmik said:

Hey all

Just passed 3000 miles and had the surprise today 'oil level at minimum - refill oil'. I've had s2000's in the past and they used less oil than this . I know the car is new but seems like high oil consumption - anyone else experience similar?

Mine has just done 3000 too, and I'm 3 blobs down. Since I ran in for 1800 miles and much of my driving is limited by traffic (I'm averaging 30mpg overall) - I suspect your oil consumption is pretty normal.

[Tonto]

bcr5784 said:

straightsixmik said:

Hey all

Just passed 3000 miles and had the surprise today 'oil level at minimum - refill oil'. I've had s2000's in the past and they used less oil than this . I know the car is new but seems like high oil consumption - anyone else experience similar?

Mine has just done 3000 too, and I'm 3 blobs down. Since I ran in for 1800 miles and much of my driving is limited by traffic (I'm averaging 30mpg overall) - I suspect your oil consumption is pretty normal.

Pretty much the same here. 3300 miles, oil at minimum.

[Trotmant]

Milnsey said:

Trotmant said:

All I can say is I nursed my car for the first 1k miles and then have pushed on hard every time I'm in it using sports plus (once the temps are up to normal). After a weekend going round the Welsh valleys finest roads I've finally ticker over to 5k in 7months, I've only used 1 or 2 bars oil since collection. But I'm definitely getting close to a top up I reckon.

My last cayman used a litre every 2-3k which the mnaual and your OPC will of course tell you is well within tolerance.

How hard have you been driving it?

Does this mean
a) No sport plus until run in?
b) No sport plus until temps up
Is your car PDK which means sports plus keeps revs high and kind of answers my question anyway?

A) I used sport + from around 800 miles, using PDK manual (ONLY) to ensure the revs stayed initially below 4k and then build up to 6k as I got closer to 1k miles.

b) Not always, (might be just me) I tend to keep in auto for the first 5-8 min until I have some temp (esp if very cool). When its been warmer I've put in sports + from the off but again kept it below 4k revs or hard acceleration until the temps are up.

c) I only use automatic mode for traffic crawling and if on the rare occasion I do a long motorway drive. As you can easily maintain 35mpg going 70mpg in 7th gear. Apart from that its always manual PDK enjoying the exhaust.

[Milnsey]

Did the dealer advise no sport plus until 800 miles?
Only asking as I can’t see how using sport plus can be detrimental during running in as long as revs kept down
Thanks

[bcr5784]

TDT said:

1 litre will take you from the min mark to the max mark - but just to be sure I added at a rate of 250-300ml at a time over the course of about a week to ensure I didn't overfill.

Edited by TDT on Sunday 5th April 21:18

Handbook says 1.7 litres min to max (S not GTS, but I'm surprised if they are different) It does seem quite a lot and probably unwise, as you say, to put it all in in one go.

[Trotmant]

Milnsey said:

Did the dealer advise no sport plus until 800 miles?
Only asking as I can’t see how using sport plus can be detrimental during running in as long as revs kept down
Thanks

No if anything the OPC on collection was encouraging I thrash it from day dot, just said no launch controls for 1.2k miles. I decided my own run in based on experience, the manual reading online etc and kept low revs but "treated" myself to the occasional sports + but under 5k rpm always. I did this as I intend to keep the car long term

[Milnsey]

Trotmant said:

No if anything the OPC on collection was encouraging I thrash it from day dot, just said no launch controls for 1.2k miles. I decided my own run in based on experience, the manual reading online etc and kept low revs but "treated" myself to the occasional sports + but under 5k rpm always. I did this as I intend to keep the car long term

Yes, mine will also be long term keeper hence the interrogation!
One more question, are you getting oil changed after run in period?

[Olivera]

Trotmant said:

No if anything the OPC on collection was encouraging I thrash it from day dot, just said no launch controls for 1.2k miles. I decided my own run in based on experience, the manual reading online etc and kept low revs but "treated" myself to the occasional sports + but under 5k rpm always.

Despite what Porsche recommend, there is lots of evidence that babying the car for the first 1k miles is the *worst* possible thing to do with regards to oil consumption. Using the car regularly to the redline within the critical first few hundred miles may actually bed the piston-rings in better and result in lower oil consumption throughout the cars whole life.

[TDT]

bcr5784 said:

Handbook says 1.7 litres min to max (S not GTS, but I'm surprised if they are different) It does seem quite a lot and probably unwise, as you say, to put it all in in one go.

Yeah, I didn't trust the manual, so just filled it up a little bit at a time.

[Trotmant]

Milnsey said:

Trotmant said:

No if anything the OPC on collection was encouraging I thrash it from day dot, just said no launch controls for 1.2k miles. I decided my own run in based on experience, the manual reading online etc and kept low revs but "treated" myself to the occasional sports + but under 5k rpm always. I did this as I intend to keep the car long term

Yes, mine will also be long term keeper hence the interrogation!
One more question, are you getting oil changed after run in period?

I got the standard doesn't need an oil change for 2yrs from the OPC. I have always planned to take it back for an oil change regardless later this summer after its been 1yr. Even from new there is bound to be "some" wear within the engine and even it the smallest of particles are in the oil, I would rather flush them out, rather than "top up". I always like to change my oil once a year. I prob going to do a track day and then change it straight afterwards around June time. Will only top up the oil if I have to before then.

[Trotmant]

Olivera said:

Trotmant said:

No if anything the OPC on collection was encouraging I thrash it from day dot.

Despite what Porsche recommend, there is lots of evidence that babying the car for the first 1k miles is the *worst* possible thing to do with regards to oil consumption. Using the car regularly to the redline within the critical first few hundred miles may actually bed the piston-rings in better and result in lower oil consumption throughout the cars whole life.

Who knows, all I know is given the manual even states you should avoid high engine revs during the run in period, I would rather air on the side of caution. I speak coming from a Gen 1 cayman with not 1 but 2 engine fails from bore scoring.

So I will stick to nursing cars in the first 500-1,000 miles. I not sure I believe ~1,800 miles or whatever the manual recommends, for me the key is to progressively build up the power over each 100 miles and part of that is indeed making sure you hit the redline (for me in auto mode pdk so not to F it up).

Lets review this thread in 5years and see if I got it right!