Oil usage

[Gatekeeper]

After the recent excitement with Poon's new "friend" on Rennlist and holding out our hand of friendship to the Scooby lot...I thought I'd bring everyone back down to earth with a nice interesting subject.....OIL !

You know that little needle next to the fuel gauge. The one some people might think is broken becuase it only ever moves when your just about to turn the engine off.

Anyway, we all know that our cars like to drink a little, but how much is a little. I searched the Rennlist site and some people talk about a quart of oil....what the hell is one of those? the only quart I know is quarter past

So in Uk money (Litres), how much oil per miles should I be adding. I know that every engine and owner is different, just wanted to gat a few opinons.

I use Mobil 1 by the way, if that makes a difference

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Migration info. Legacy thread was 9403

 

[manek]

A quart is two pints, or a quarter of a gallon. so a quart is just over a litre.

You can tell I went to school before the 1970s...


Migration info. Legacy thread was 9418

 

[poon]

the manual on my old 964 suggested about a litre per 1000 miles. I haven't read the manual on my 993 yet. Mine seems to need about a litre per thousand five hundred miles.

There it feels good to respond to a normal post!


Migration info. Legacy thread was 9420

 

[bones]

Oil consumption varies with useage. If you're constantly buzzing the engine in fast road or track use then oil consumption will increase accordingly. Srangely slow town driving can have a similar effect if you 'labour' the engine a lot, select lower gears to cure this. I would say a litre for 1500 miles is a good figure but if you only get 1000 (or a little less) miles per litre it doesn't mean you have a problem.

Migration info. Legacy thread was 9440

 

[Mazz]

Absolutley concur.

My 993 Targa gets through about 8-10 litres between services i.e 1 litre every 1200-1500 miles. I only ever fill it up on the gauge anyway-wouldn't want to get my hands dirtry on the dipstick! Basically after a long run i.e more than 20 mins I leave the engine running and top up the oil by looking at the gauge through the rear window - careful for exhaust burns though! Apparently, I was told that you should not regularly top up the oil but do it only when it is just about to hit the red on the gauge. Also, filling to more than half way on the gauge is OK as long as you don't overdo it. If you get near the top of the gauge, apparently you cause damage but I don't understand why!

Running in town increase oil usage because, I think, the engine runs hotter and some of the oil vapourises.


Migration info. Legacy thread was 9459

 

[bones]

Mazz I don't know who gave you that information about oil but it goes against all the knowledge of everyone who's owned Porsche for years. The dipstick you can trust the gauge you can't, the gauge is a visible reminder of what the oil level is and shouldn't be trusted 100%, what happens if it goes really faulty and you don't know that? If you can't stand to touch the oily dipstick bring it over here and I'll do it!

Migration info. Legacy thread was 9462

 

[Mazz]

It's a deal! Do you do car washing as well? :wink:

Seriously though, I consider myself truly chastened and shall get the oily rag out once I have found the dipstick!


Migration info. Legacy thread was 9464

 

[bones]

God I hate washing the car! The finished effect can be worth it though. Glad you are going to check the dipstick, it's an necessary part of 911 ownership. you could try one of these
dipstick wiper

Migration info. Legacy thread was 9474

 

[Mazz]

Great idea - do you think they have one to match my suits?

Migration info. Legacy thread was 9486

 

[Gatekeeper]

Mazz and Bones, thanks for the info, at least I have a benchmark to work too.

BUT, my usage is a little more than this and I've found out why. Luckily I have the benefit of having a ramp in my garage for parking two cars (i.e. one on top of the other) and after removing the engine cover, there is an oil leak coming from the rear left hand (as your looking at the back of the car) engine cover where the HT leads connect into the spark plugs. Don't know what the technical name is, would call it the cam shaft cover on your box standard engines, but don't know if its the same term on the 911. It looks like a gasket has gone.

So for the mechanically competent amongst you. It looks like it's a simple job, just need to remove the heat exchanger, remove 6 bolts from the cover and replace the gasket. Then reverse the process and be back inside for a cup of tea within 2-3 hours. I regard myself as fairly competent around engines, but am I grossly under estimating this ?

Any advice my appreciated
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Migration info. Legacy thread was 9488

 

[bones]

Is it losing oil badly or just weeping, I have a weeping oil pressure sender and it's not imperative to fix right away. I'm off out to buy some Thai soup, so briefly from your description I would say the cam cover is not tightened down properly or the gasket is no longer doing it's job, (you will need the correct torque settings if you are attempting this sort of thing). On a 993 there is a great deal of plumbing in the way. Hope you have a manual or previous knowledge of taking it apart.
If you are a super-hero spanner weilder like I used to be then you are shortly to have a new friend!..lol....Back later

Migration info. Legacy thread was 9492

 

[Mazz]

Dear Cerberus

I had the same issue i.e. leak around the cam cover. According to Lindbrook, this is v.v. common on 993s. They fixed it in an hour for £70 whilst I test drove a Boxter S! So if the plumbing looks ugly, this is always an option.


Migration info. Legacy thread was 9494

 

[bones]

Just getting back to your original post why are you thinking about removing the heat exchanger?

Migration info. Legacy thread was 9550

 

[Gatekeeper]

Bones,

I thought about removing the heat exchanger, since it would give you more room. Probably going to have a go at tightening the bolts up first, but if I need to replace the gasket, do you know if you need to drain the oil ?

Mazz,

Had to have a think about your post and the Cerberus comment. Your obviously a more eductated person than me since I had to do a search on Google :wink:
and I think I know what you mean....Gatekeeper right ? Well the only reason I picked that was because its the street I live in and Paul is such a common name
.

Washed your car yet ? :wink:
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Migration info. Legacy thread was 9563

 

[bones]

In the pic could you draw on where the oil leak is?
http://www.911uk.com/UploadedForumImages/f.jpg
....after editing..... I thought the upload tool worked for Macs now?
try instead
engine

Migration info. Legacy thread was 9577