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oil consumption confusion

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Just wondering... is it possible to overfill the oil on a 996?
the reason why i ask, is that i am trying to work out if it needs topping up or not. I park on a slightly chambered road. I park it one way round and the electronic level says 1 or 2 bars but the dip says full. Park the other way round the dip stick is very low but the electronic say full.

Had the car 5 weeks and it was 3/4 full then. Dont appear to have any oil appearing on the floor either (touch wood)

(perharps go and find a level car park or something)
 
Chris,

make sure the oil is fully hot but sufficient time to have all drained back into the crank case AND the car properly level, then measure carefully using the dip stick.

Do NOT overfill as you may damage one of the sensors
 
Checking after a fuel-up is probably the best time to get an accurate reading as generally a good fore-court is perfectly flat and the time during fueling and payment is usually enough for the oil to have settled back.
 
From checking my oil on a regular basis i think it is very important as mentioned above that the car is on a very flat level, petrol forcourts are very good for this, and it does seam to work the best when you have stopped the engine and left it for 5-10 min. The hand book does state that the engine must be at full operating tempreture. Never over fill this can cause serious problems.

Nothing that they have not said above but i thought i would just add my comments.

Phil
 
Having re-fuelled, the car automatically shows the oil level on the electronic gauge when you get back in and start up so you can check it every time after a re-fuel. I don't know how the car knows you have re-fuelled, but it does.
 
ORIGINAL: David Vickers

Having re-fuelled, the car automatically shows the oil level on the electronic gauge when you get back in and start up so you can check it every time after a re-fuel. I don't know how the car knows you have re-fuelled, but it does.
Click to expand...

I assume it knows when the filler cap has been opened.
 
This subject has popped up many times on rennlist and renntech. The consensus IIRC is as follows. This information is gathered from various postings and IMHO is accurate but don't blame me if it's wrong:

1: The oil level should be checked with the electronic guage only. The dipstick is a vague reference and can give false readings since the oil is dispersed in various chambers within the engine where electronic sensors for the guage are housed to measure it. The electronic guage also compensates for engine temperatures. Indeed some models like the 996 TT and GT2 don't even have a dipstick. However you may want to use the dipstick to roughly check the oil level during an oil-change fill-up.

2: The oil level should only be checked on an engine that is fully warmed to normal operating temperature.

3: It should be measured only on a level surface and when the car has been left for at least 20 minutes to let the oil settle. However, the electronic guage indicates the correct time required for the level to be correctly measured. You should follow what the guage suggests.

4: The electronic oil guage should indicate maximum level or one bar below it for correct fill.

5: Each bar represents approx 1 ltr of oil.

6. You should never overfill the engine oil but if you accidentally do so, unless it is grossly overfilled, it should burn off with little damage. If it is grossly overfilled you should drain some off from the drain plug.

7. You should use Mobile1 0W-40 oil only. In some early 996's the user manual states to use 10W-40 but all OPC's are instructed by PAG to only use 0W-40.

8: If you change the oil you must always change the oil filter too. However, you can change the oil filter without changing the oil but it is not recommended.

9: How often you change your oil is debatable. Many (including myself) change it every 5000 miles. Others say this is not necessary and should only need to be changed at service intervals.

10: Never over tighten your oil drain plug. It is aluminium and you can easily strip the threads.
 
Good post Berny,

Just a point tho, over-reliance on the electronic guage is a mistake. The guage may not be working. (Mine wasn't)
 
ORIGINAL: Scouser

5: Each bar represents approx 1 ltr of oil.
Click to expand...

I don't think this is quite right. My Service Information manual shows the difference between the maximum and minimum levels on the display as 1.5 litres. There are 6 segments between max and min, so there can't be 6 litres difference, as there is only 8.25 litres in the system.
 
thanks Scouser,

i had topped it up with 1lt of 10W-40 as in the manual! doh!

if i do need to put more in, what would u suggest using oil wise based on the fact i have already put 10W-40 in?
 
OPC's tend to use 0W-40, but most independents seem to favour 5W-40 or even 10W-40. This is probably because they see more older and higher milage cars, and probably feel that there is a benefit. Personally, I use 5W-40 fully synthetic and change it (and the filter) at 6000 mile intervals. I'm a bit old-fashioned like that.

I wouldn't worry about the 10W-40 you used as a top-up, it won't make a significant difference.
 
thanks for you replys

incidently on a similar subject, i did a leeds to london run at the w/e. the oil pressure gauge tends to hang around the 4 - 4.2 (ish) mark and when accelerating goes to 5...... does everybody else see on their cars? i read in the manual that a car doing 5000rpm should be 3.5
 
On the turbo the engine must be running, but on C2/4(S) you need to have the engine off, if I remember correctly, in order to use the electronic measurement.
It is about 0.25l per segment on both though.
The TT also uses more oil, the total volume in the other cars is less.

The oil pressure gauge moves around dependin g on revs and load.
The figure in the book is conservative - i.e. most cars seem to read higher. This is to stop everyone thinking there is a problem.
At high revs then 5 is not uncommon.
2 bar at tickover, 3.5 at 3000 rpm is fine.
In general you are only worried if it is too low, not if it is too high.
 
Looked in my manual and 1/4ltr per gauge bar is correct. Sorry for the bad lead.....just telling it like I read it.

10W-40 is fine. Just that the OPC's use 0W-40. It is interesting that my independent said that I should switch
to 10W-40 and see if my RMS problem goes away. He reckons the 0W-40 oil is too thin. I dunno.
 

ORIGINAL: cthorne

thanks for you replys

incidently on a similar subject, i did a leeds to london run at the w/e. the oil pressure gauge tends to hang around the 4 - 4.2 (ish) mark and when accelerating goes to 5...... does everybody else see on their cars? i read in the manual that a car doing 5000rpm should be 3.5
Click to expand...

ditto
 
Mine too.

I thought I had a dickey sender because the pointer wavers about in this band even though the revs are constant.[&:]
 
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