Oil Consumption for 996?

Hey folks, I have a new to me 03 996.2 C4S with 63k miles. The car has what appears to be solid maintenance history and PPI showed no issues, at least not the big uh ohs like bore scoring. No leaks, runs well shifts well. Upon receiving the car I promptly did an oil change. All looked good although I did not send it off for analysis. IMS has been done, RMS has been done. Here is my question drove it about 500 miles over about 6ish weeks. The digital oil gauge showed between 2 to 4 empty bars. Then one day suddenly if shows only 3 full bars. In my opinion a large sudden change. Took it in to my Porsche Indy they topped off the oil but saw no leaks or reason for the consumption, the shop claimed it's with in spec to consume oil at that rate (top off with almost full quart). Dip stick did show low but with little change. Today I washed the car this morning digital oil showed two empty bars after the wash which I did and did not use the pressure washer, the digital oil gauge showed only 3 full bars. This leads me to think there is short or failure of the digital gauge anyone have this issue? Is there a fix? Someone once told me the worst thing for a 996 is to starve it of oil so I am particularly sensitive to the oil level.

Are you running the engine and then immediately checking the oil? If so don't! Check after sitting overnight on a level surface. The oil takes a long time to drain back to the "pan". The owners manual has a statement on acceptable oil usage. I can't quote verbatim but is is either 1 quart in 600 miles or 1 quart in 1,000 mile...If my memory serves.

My Advice ; upgrade the AOS to the UAOS and keep the oil level full and don't worry if you overfill it a little and don't worry about how much oil it consumes...( as long as no other symptoms) .. Oil is a Consumable ......

Yes, I also recommend to add the UAOS, which allows you to overfill the engine oil. My car burns a quart of oil between 300-400 miles. The UAOS is helpful because I don�t have to anxiously worry about keeping the engine oil level high enough to prevent damage, while also being low enough to avoid overwhelming the stock AOS. If you decide to install the UAOS, I would also recommend you add the track-drain kit. The dash gauge for engine oil level has 6 bars between the minimum and maximum fill levels. It�s been my experience that a half-quart of oil fills up two bars, so the difference between the minimum and maximum is actually 1.5 quarts. My engine burns oil much slower if I drive gently.

Thank you I was thinking that this was a symptom of the UAOS going. I think I will go the route of replacing it with the track drain kit. I have had the car for almost 2 months and I have fallen in love. I have never had a car that brings a smile to my face every time I drive it. Thanks again

Anything that is digital and 20+years old, I would question. Just use the dipstick, track your consumption week to week depending on mileage and do some research on oil consumption. Very common for these to use some. And try to drive once started. One thing that is bad is to back it out of garage for a wash, or just move it and only run for a minute or less. I, and many others have had to do this and upon next start up, HUGE plume of blue smoke! Scary at first, but once you understand it you try to avoid those conditions.

The oil level sensor can go bad. Here is the replacement. Porsche Sensor Genuine Porsche 996 606 150 02 996-606-150-02 996.606.150.02 99660615002 | Pelican Parts My sensor hasn't crapped out yet, but it did show no oil once when the dipstick said it was full. I went the UAOS with the track drain and just leave it overfilled all the time.

You should only check the oil in the morning, before starting the car, stone cold. Any other methodology may product inconsistent results.

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Idk, I�ve gotten in the habit of checking my oil level via the dash at cold vs super-hot (after fully reaching temp). The car has been always parked in the same spots. I�ve been doing this almost daily for the last 5 years, and I�ve noticed that the oil level - when super-hot - is consistently 1 bar lower than when cold. Sometimes it�ll be 2 bars, which I suppose is a rounding error, but it�s never more than that. My assumption is that the hot oil becomes less viscous, it returns back to the sump quite quickly. So as long as you have a baseline measurement of where the level ought to be when cold, you can use the hot level to roughly determine whether you have enough oil (or in my case, how much oil has been burned after a drive). I�ve also used this method to determine whether I have enough oil for a long drive. When visiting a friend, I parked on a hill, which made accurate measurements impossible. So I drove around until the oil was hot, and I parked on a flat parking space for 10 minutes. I found my engine oil was less than I�d like, so I dumped a full-quart (thanks to the UAOS) and drove the 200 miles home. But this all assumes your oil level sensor is working properly.

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True, you can get a good measurement as long as you are doing it the same consistent way every time.

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FYI, Oil level sensor replacement requires dropping the engine. UAOS install only requires lowering the engine.

As many of the guys suggested, it's best for accuracy to test the oil level using the dipstick, when the car is cold, sitting in the same spot every time. I don't pay attention to the dash measuring tool. A bad AOS will cause significant oil consumption. Not to mention will ruin your cats. The UAOS w/ Track drain is really the best all around option for many, many reasons. If you are wondering what the dipstick measurements look like, here is a picture with some very rough measurements from my 3.6 using a 996.1 dipstick. If you run the UAOS w/Track drain, you can over-fill the oil and it can handle it. Best to see Skips UAOS thread for more details.

Just for reference, I've got a 996.1 & a 996.2 both with under 40,000 miles. Both go 2500 miles between oil changes and use no oil. Filled to full on dip stick at oil change and still exactly on full at time of oil drain. With no oil top offs between changes.... With 5-40 or 15-50 grade oils. 15-50 runs about 1/2 to 1 bar higher oil pressure at all times, its my only oil now.... They 1998 developed dash electronic oil level is a nice gizmo and first of its kind on Porsche wc engines, but not one I'd ever rely on for precision, ever. Dipstick never lies. Use it always imo. First off, is car needs to be PERFECTLY level to get an accurate reading on dipstick or dash level gauge. Second, to get a accurate reading car needs to sit for hours letting oil drain back into sump for a precise reading. Thirdly, always depend on the dipstick for topping off/filling crankcase with oil.... Be thankfull we still have a dipstick unlike many other engines... Oh ya, someone on this thread stated they burn 1 quart of oil in 300 miles . Fill it up with 93 octane and add a quart of oil every fill up please. Porsche says that they consider 1 quart per 600 miles to be normal and acceptable. But probably on the cusp of needing a rebuild.... 300per quart oil consumption is excessive and out of spec. At this rate of oil consumption I'd guess maybe failed AOS but would see smoke, bad bore score at worst, or at best very excessive cylinder out of round way out of spec. This amount of oil consumption probably suffers also from excess blowby, a significant hp decrease, piston slap, fouled plugs & excess fuel consumption. Unfortunately, way past time for a rebuild imho.... jmo

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That�s me. Are you asking me to pour a quart of oil into my fuel tank? I have the UAOS and it tests fine when I occasionally hook the manometer up. There isn�t visible smoke, but soot is evident from Bank 2�s tail-pipe. I scoped cylinders 4, 5, and 6 from the spark plug holes and they were shockingly clean with no hint of bore score. The plug on #5 was fouled with oil, though, so I suspect that it�s out of round. I haven�t checked blowby yet, but I also suspect that it�s not ideal. Horsepower does seem to be slightly less, but not significantly enough to complain about, and there absolutely is no hint of piston slap - the engine is smooth like a sewing machine. Fuel consumption is probably as bad as it has always been.

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Ha, no, not at all, you seem to have plenty of upper cylinder lubrication already. Just pretending I'm in drivers seat at a full service gas station like in NJ and telling attendant what to do... Bad joke, sorry, as this could be an expensive problem needing oil every fill up.... But the most important thing is, you know whats going on and seem to have it under control, and its working for you. And you're familiar with the m96 and your car to know whats right for you...And thats all thats important now.

Haha I see. I forgot some states have full-service attendants at gas stations. I�m happy that you gave me a guide to reflect on, because sometimes I wonder whether I missed something. By the way, I forgot to mention why I suspected cylinder 5 being out of round: I saw a small pool of oil at the bottom of the cylinder. I was initially really concerned when my car�s oil consumption rate dipped below the 600mile/qt threshold, but it�s been holding steady like this for over 10k miles. And I�ve begun to develop a nonchalant attitude towards this behavior due to its consistency. So I hope this anecdote helps soothe the anxieties of other M96 owners when it comes to oil consumption. And I�ll continue driving on this engine until it really can�t go any further, so we can find out how long it�ll hold out.

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Thank you for the correction.

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This is very helpful. I was never able to accurately quantify the overfill levels with a dipstick, until now.

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Its a big thanks to Skip who drew the lines on the picture. They match up pretty nicely with every quart I have added over full. Everybody should keep in the back of their mind that the lines do not reflect if you are running a deep sump or UIDS. As an example, if you are running the UAOS Track and a 2qt deep sump, and you are at the full line, you are really running 2 qts more oil because the deep sump sits below the oil stick. If you are at 1qts over full on the oil stick using the 2qt deep sump and UAOS track, you are actually 3qts over full. 2qts below the stick from the deep sump and 1qt above the stick from the UAOS track. And if you are at 2qts over full on the oil stick, you are actually 4qts over full. 2qts from the deep sump below the stick and 2qts above the stick from the UAOS track. Hope I did not confuse anyone.