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993 oil burn - what is normal?

vinceg

New member
Burning oil "" they all do"¦

Still early days for me with my new 993 i.e. only 6 weeks so I'm still building familiarity with its many quirks. And on this, I have an impression ( not exactly science yet) that I am burning a lot more oil that I would expect. I am told they burn oil and this can vary a great deal depending on car, age, miles, driving style, oil being used, how it is parked?, etc. Hard to tell for sure as have only done 600 miles to date ( I am now well versed in the correct stick reading regime so this is not the variable). I have just done 2 200+ miles runs in past week ( note the sun arrived at last). First nearly all motorway and easy driving "" checked oil before and after and used no oil. Did a spirited 200 mile A road journey yesterday and seems to me that oil has dropped 1" on the stick which I guess would be ¼ of a litre. Is this normal or should I start worrying. Car has only 48k miles, full OPC record, drives very well, no smoke at start up and no oil on garage floor when left, running Mobile 1. Do get a slight oily smell when run hard as yesterday once I stopped and went to do my dipstick thing.

I have read forum comments which seem to indicate large variations is oil use and even figures of 1ltr per 1k miles as being not unusual and nothing to worry about.

Any informed experience/feedback welcome "" good or bad.
 
Vince,

As you say it varies, I burn very little oil between services, so not much help for you.
 
First nearly all motorway and easy driving "" checked oil before and after and used no oil. Did a spirited 200 mile A road journey yesterday and seems to me that oil has dropped 1" on the stick which I guess would be ¼ of a litre

Hi Vince

Given the marked difference in measured level from a motorway to a spirited drive - is it possible you did actually use some oil on the motorway run but it only seemed like you used it all on the spirited drive?

My 993 does use more the harder I drive it but not 1/4 litre over 200 miles.
 


First nearly all motorway and easy driving "" checked oil before and after and used no oil. Did a spirited 200 mile A road journey yesterday and seems to me that oil has dropped 1" on the stick which I guess would be ¼ of a litre

The handbook says that the twisted section corresponds to about 1.7 litres of oil although I've never measured the twisted section[:)]

When the oil thermostat opens is not a good time to check the oil level; we need to wait until the oil is at normal operating temp before carrying out a check (including the standard checks). On my 993 you can, if your looking for it, see a distinct drop on the oil temp gauge when the thermostat opens and then there is a gradual increase to the earlier temp. When the oil temp has stabilised is, IMHO, the earliest time to do an oil level check - either on the dipstick or on the gauge.

Regards

Bob
 
and oil types make a difference....

from the experience of my '96 90-110k mile car

Mobil 1 was a drinker.....

other garage 5W/40 blends were of average consumption

while the current Silkone Pro S after a return 2000 mile trip from the west of england to the ring + spa.... needle moved from 1pm to 1.30pm !
 
ORIGINAL: ian_uk

ORIGINAL: Sundeep
.... needle moved from 1pm to 1.30pm !

Overfilling your oil Sundeep?

honestly ian my watch must be fast !

..."went back to check on the clock positions"

rather from 1.30pm, which is near max... dipstick confirms level is not overfilled

and it's now at 2pm.... if that makes sense [&:]


compared to the same trip last year when I got through another 3/4 of a litre of oil.......
 
Do you go on track at max level? I never fill more than 1/2 to 3/4 up dipstick if taking a car on track as this is what was recommended to me.

Ian.
 
ORIGINAL: ian_uk

Do you go on track at max level? I never fill more than 1/2 to 3/4 up dipstick if taking a car on track as this is what was recommended to me.

Ian.

I go with that oil expansion theory as well.... however from my recent oil change that's what the level was at....

however my trick is that I have a high speed oil cooler overide switch on the dash, so for any such runs I turn on the override switch to ensure the oil staying at the optimal temp.... (prob' only job Amd managed to get right 1st time! even if I did change both the switch placement and then the switch type [:D])

but on the same level from such hot runs, after the recent oil change the levels has never risen above max.... otherwise I always enusre the level marker is at about the 2pm position and no higher.....
 
One issue with oil level which seems very often overlooked is the ACTUAL temperature of the oil when you check it. I noticed recently that with the oil level temperature at a pretty normal 8 o'clock my (964) oil level was showing a little under half but when stuck in some traffic a little later, the oil temperature was heading towards the 10 o'clock mark and the oil level was showing full!! The oil expands quite considerably with temperature and the difference between high and low on the gauge is quite small (only 1 litre or so). The recommendation to only fill to the half way mark on the dipstick when doing track days is exactly because of the thermal expansion - much higher would cause the hot oil to exceed the full level.

Regards

Dave
 
ORIGINAL: MoC2S

ORIGINAL: Bob Armstrong

When the oil thermostat opens is not a good time to check the oil level;

Regards

Bob

Correct, but the thermostat MUST be open to get a correct reading. No, not necessarily. I know of a 911T where the thermostat was stuck closed and was later removed from the car. It did take a while to warm up.

cheers, Maurice

Maurice you're priceless; snipping my post to make it meaningless. If it wasn't for the fact that you haven't copied out all the info regarding 'checking oil level in the reservoir' I would be certain that you are a pedant.

Regards

Bob
 
OK, growing sense of paranoia here. I got my 993 Targa in April and I've been pretty fastidious in checking the oil level (on the stick and the guage). However, the worrying thing, and I don't know if this is normal, is that occasionally on a run the level indicator dips right down towards red, but can recover when I back off. I really don't rtrsut that indicator much as it seems to be all over the place - sometimes very low, other times looking healthy (3 oclock), yet others on the high side. What's going on? She runs beautifully otherwise. PS. Have enjoyed the forum so far - signed up yesterday.
 
Don't get paranoid about the dial - they're about as reliable as the Taliban! My dial operates in exactly the same way, although temperature of oil and grade seem to have an effect. The only true reliable way check the oil is to get the car warm and dip it. I generally warm the car up until the needle is at the first mark and then dip. It is actually very rare, even on track, for the needle to go above the first mark on my car, so that's the reference point I use as a constant.

Useage wise, with Mobil 1 I was going through about a litre every 500 miles. I've changed brand and am now going through roughly half as much, although I have got a couple of leaks here and there.

Regards
 
ORIGINAL: craig2105

OK, growing sense of paranoia here. I got my 993 Targa in April and I've been pretty fastidious in checking the oil level (on the stick and the guage). However, the worrying thing, and I don't know if this is normal, is that occasionally on a run the level indicator dips right down towards red, but can recover when I back off. I really don't rtrsut that indicator much as it seems to be all over the place - sometimes very low, other times looking healthy (3 oclock), yet others on the high side. What's going on? She runs beautifully otherwise. PS. Have enjoyed the forum so far - signed up yesterday.

The guage only shows the oil level when the car is stationary, level, has been idling for at least 30 seconds and the oil system is fully warmed up.

At ANY other time the oil guage is not meant to be used and shows random oil levels.

Ian.
 
Mine uses very little oil (157,000mls) about a litre every 2k or so. Replaced my oil level sender unit in the oil tank recently and my gauge seems pretty accurate now. Part only £40 via OPC which I thought was ok as it looks a very impressive piece of engineering.
 

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