lower arm bushes and oil burning!

[Guest]

Hi everyone! I am the proud owner of a 996 C4S, its not that new, only an 02 plate, but I am really excited as this is my first Porsche.

However, there are a couple of things that are troubling me, firstly is that I have driven 160 miles and its already gone down 3 bars on the oil level check at startup. The garage who sold it to me have said they replaced the RMS so it shouldn't be that, there's also no oil on the floor so I don't know what the issue might be, or whether this level of burn is normal? Any ideas?

The other issue is that the 111 point check showed up "lower arms showing signs of wear" which when I phoned the dealer who inspected to expand on, said that all lower bushes were showing signs of wear and would need replacing before the next service (next Jan approx). The cost of replacement is £1600, do you think this is something the garage who sold it to me should be putting right or contributing towards? and is this wear normal on a car of that age with approx 50000 on the clock?

Many thanks in advance for your advice

 

[Richard_Hamilton]

I would be very worried by the oil consumption. Each bar is 0.25 litres, so that's 3/4 litre in 160 mils, or just over 200 miles to the litre. To give a comparison, my car doesn't drop a bar in 6000 miles between oil changes! Take it to an independent Porsche specialist and get them to do a cylinder leakage test. This will tell you if there is excessive piston ring leakage, or valve seat wear. I'm assuming it isn't leaking all over the garage floor, by the way. Do you get a lot of smoke from the exhaust?

An independent should also be able to check if the lower wishbones do need changing, and the cost should be closer to half that at an OPC. The wishbones are about £150 each, and about 1/2 hour each to change.

 

[Guest]

many thanks for your response. I've not noticed any oil on the floor and I can't see any smoking from the engine...

if its a problem with one of the things you suggested, how much would it cost to fix roughly?

 

[Richard_Hamilton]

It could be in the thousands, I would imagine. If there is a serious problem then you should take it up with the seller and, if necessary, Trading Standards. Maybe I'm painting a black picture, but I would definitely get it looked at sooner rather than later.

Some 996's do tend to use a bit more oil than others, but the official figure for maximum consumption is, IIRC, 1000km/litre. Most 996 engines tend to use less after a few thousand miles, so yours should be nicely run in. I doubt that many higher users get anywhere near as bad a comsumption as you are getting.

 

[Guest]

crikey....

is this something my porsche warranty would cover?

 

[Rodney Naghar]

Before you get too concerned are you on a level surface (like a petrol station forecourt) when the reading is taken?
It is very sensitive to cambers.
Then if that doesn't show a decent reading try using the dipstck in accordance with your manual.
The oil gauge on my Boxster was faulty, don't rely on it.
It's rare to find a 996 that consumes so much oil.

As for the control arms, don't replace them until they need replacing. They are around £180 each, buy them from eurocarparts and get an independent Porsche garage to advise you/fit them for you.

 

[Guest]

many thanks.

the car is level and i haven't used the dipstick as yet, but will check. The level went down 1 bar after each time i drove it, approx 50 miles each time.

does the process of replacing the arms also replace the lower bushes?

 

[Richard_Hamilton]

Hopefully you are right Rod.

Yes, the bushes are in the lower arms.

 

[Guest]

hmm, some good news maybe, I checked the oil(from cold) with the dipstick this morning and it was showing to be full, and even fractionaly higher than the max dot. The oil indicator on start up shows only two bars down instead of three.... I think I will just keep an eye on it.

However, I did notice though that the coolant is well below the min level, so that's a job to sort out now..!

thank you for all of your help guys. I will report back and let you know if I see any more movement over the next few days....

 

[Richard_Hamilton]

Sounds like good news indeed. My gauge always reads exactly the same as the dipstick so I tend to rely on it. I shouldn't have assumed that they all do that. Sorry if I jumped the gun and got you worried.

 

[toals]

If you do an oil level check just after switching off the engine there is a high probability that you will get a false reading especially if the oil is not hot. Wait for a while and then do a check when all the oil has drained down.

 

[Rodney Naghar]

Don't just top up the coolant, you have to try and get to the root of the cause. It's usually either a faulty cap on the header tank (a few pounds), or a cracked header tank (~£50 from Eurocarparts + 1-2 hours fitting + coolant). Look at the tank, see if you can see white residue down the side (cracked tank), or just beside the cap (faulty cap), that will give you a clue.

 

[Terry]

My coolant level always settles to just below the minimum. It does not fall any further but if I top it up it always drops back to the same level. Both 996s I have had have been the same. It might be worth watching it for a while to see what happens before you worry too much.

Terry

 

[Guest]

thank you for all of your help guys, I really appreciate this; I'm unfortunately not very technically minded with these sorts of things!

Re: oil level. I made a point of driver another 150 miles or so today to see whether it went down further. The bars don't appear to have gone down further, on start up it still shows between 2 or 3 bars down. When I check the oil when its warm the level is down, but not too far, its right at the top end of the neck of the dipstick, just before the bulbous part where the second dot it. I guess this is due to the fact the oil hasn't gone down back in to the sump (as toals suggested). I think I am just going to have to keep an eye on this...

Re: coolant, I can't see any evidence of either a problem at the cap or with the tank itself. I think I'll take it to my local specialist and get them to have a look. On that point, is the coolant for the car a special porsche version? it looks very water like, not pink or blue as I would have expected....

 

[Rodney Naghar]

On that point, is the coolant for the car a special porsche version? it looks very water like, not pink or blue as I would have expected....

You're right it should be pink or blue, not colourless.
If it's just been running on water then it will be a lot harder to see the telltale signs of where the leak is occurring. I agree you should see a specialist about it, if only to replace the water with the proper coolant solution (not an easy task)

 

[Guest]

Thanks Rod. I can't get the car to my local specialist until next saturday. In the meantime, is the coolant something my local quick fit could change today or should I just top her up in the meantime with some neat blue coolant; the reason I ask is that I've heard there's snow on the way this week and I'm worried what might happen if it is only water- might it freeze?

 

[NXI20]

AIUI, it's quite difficult to refill the coolant without causing an airlock unless you know what you're doing. Personally, I'd give Quick Fit & their ilk an exremely wide berth. []

Chucking some neat additive in will hardly make a difference with a 20 litre cooling system.

 

[Rodney Naghar]

Nick is absolutely right, it's not just a matter of empty out the old, pour in the new.
I've heard the whole car is tilted at an angle and revved lots of times to remove air pockets.

If your car isn't being kept in a warm garage I'd get it to a specialist ASAP

 

[Guest]

regrettably the car is kept outside and I can't get it to the specialist til next weekend, I guess I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed on the weather this week!

Thank you for all of your help guys

 

[robbosliding]

I have a C4S now on 20000 miles on a '02 plate. I have previously posted on this site with some of the concerns you have. On the oil front it will give an impression of being low fron the bars when cold-it should be up to working temperature for the computer to measure it correctly (have you sussed how to do this?). The fail safe is the dip stick. All other checks aside, visible leaks, oil in water etc your engine may be using an amount of oil. As Richard has said experiences vary-Porsche state that a litre can be consumed every 1000 miles, each bar is 250ml- some drivers have reported as much as 1.5lt per k. I am currently still in the litre per thouand mile. It is down to the rings and bore being extremely. I would play safe on the dip stick at temperature-putting in to much oil can cause severe damage also. On the coolant front my car sits permantly when warm at just under minimum. Who did you buy the car from? It sounds as if a good service prior to sale would have been prudent on their part. I did have a header tank on a boxster that had a pinhole leak, very hard to detect prior to bursting but as previously advised buy from europart, the coolant change is not straight forward and the dealers/indies will heve the nak which will save you a lot of heart ache........Stay well away from anything quick that doesn't fit-with best intent they can do more damage and cause you more worry and they won't stand for any comeback-find a good indie or negotiate with a dealer due to the age of your car and get it sorted so you can enjoy it! I'd definately speak to the seller if you've paid book price......