Urgent advice required

This morning a warning light popped up and I got the message "CHECK ENGINE. DRIVE TO WORKSHOP". Reading through the manual, it mentions something about emissions, but has anyone else had this and could share some advice, i.e. should I even be driving it? (other than take it to Northway Porsche asap). I also let the car do the minute countdown to check the oil levels as well and it was on one bar flashing at the bottom. Gave it 5 minutes, checked the dipstick and it was just on the minimum mark. I am thinking topping up a litre is best but what type of Mobil 1 is it? Looking on Halfords website, it would appear the 0W40 is the one that is approved for Porsche, but checking with my guy at Northway yesterday, he recommended 10W40? Any and all help, mainly on the first issue would be greatly appreciated. Yours, a 2003 C4S owner, currently a little worried... :sad:

0w40 in general. 5w40 for older engines (but it depends on mileage/wear). 10w40 is too thick. Ref: warning light, I would err on the side of caution and assume the oil level is not the only issue. Therefore, get it down OPC ASAP (or at least get their diagnosis/advice over the phone).

You need to keep an eye on the oil - on average I find I use around 750ml every 1,000 miles. I know that some garages recommend 10W40 for the older air cooled cars but I've not heard it for the 996 - my garage tells me it's all nonsense and I should stick with 0W40 If the car says 'drive to workshop' then I would assume it would be safe to do so although it might be worth checking with your garage before you do so. Take a picture of the message and if the car goes 'bang', sue Porsche

Seems like a lot of oil Andrew. Is that the 996 or 993 and how many miles do you do a year? (are any tracked?)

Both although I should have said max of 750ml - usually between 500 and 750 - and none are tracked

Hi Phil(?). Try not to worry too much. I would take a guess and say that the warning light might have been caused by something as benign as one of you coil packs being faulty - this can raise an engine warning light. If this is the case then you might as well get all six of them replaced at the same time - doing one or two faulty ones is false economy. I've been using Castrol GTX Magnatec 10/40 oil in mine for over five years with no problems at all. I personally find the Mobil 1 far to thin and my engine was noticeably quieter when I changed from Mobil to the Castrol. I don't think that our climate warrants such a thin oil as Mobil but others will tell you differently. My indi who services my car has been using Castrol 10/40 in an old 3.4 996 that is regularly taken to the 'Ring for years and it's as sweet as a nut. Having said this it depends what oil you have in the engine now - it's probably Mobil 0/40 so I would try to top it up with the same if you can. I would only recommend the Castrol if you are planning a complete change of oil. A code reader will soon tell you what the engine fault is, I sure that Northway can help you here. Adrian.

For what its worth my highly respected indie uses Mobil1 15/50 sport in higher mileage cars........ Expensive but good.

I rung Ray at Northway today, told him it felt a bit lumpy, its like I can feel the vibrations of the engine through my bloody seat! Said it may well be the coil packs, this time tomorrow I guess I'll know. Stuck with 0w40 mobil 1 from halfords which has topped it right up. Don't you just hate the feeling of dread/terror when a warning light like that flashes up? I can almost feel my wallet wincing in anticipation... :nooo:

I rung Ray at Northway today, told him it felt a bit lumpy, its like I can feel the vibrations of the engine through my bloody seat! Said it may well be the coil packs, this time tomorrow I guess I'll know. Stuck with 0w40 mobil 1 from halfords which has topped it right up. Don't you just hate the feeling of dread/terror when a warning light like that flashes up? I can almost feel my wallet wincing in anticipation... :nooo:

I'd say it's almost certainly one or more of your coil packs, in which case you're going to need six of these at the worst: http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/P...ectrical-and-Lighting/Ignition/Ignition-Coils Your warning light is on because one or more of the spark plugs isn't firing due to the coil pack being faulty. You then get the same effect as you do when you remove one of the HT leads from a spark plugs when the engine is running. I would guess that you'll be looking at around £300 - £350 fitted by Northway. I think that there's a chance that one (or both) of your exhaust manifolds may have to come off to get at them so it makes the job a bit more tricky but you'll be good to go for a while once they're all replaced. The coil packs are very prone to cracking and corrosion due to them taking all the cr*p from the road on the underside of the car. My indi has told me that at least two of mine have bad cracks in them but I'm just waiting to get the warning light on before I replace them.

You know there are certain symptoms that 99% of the time accompany a migraine and 1% of the time accompany brain cancer. It's the 1% I worry about. Same with a car. If it says "CHECK ENGINE. DRIVE TO WORKSHOP" perhaps it's something simple, cheap and won't matter if you drive it to work and back a few times. But I'd err on the side of caution until you know you don't need a new engine.

You know there are certain kinds of scare mongers that will have you scared sh1tless at the first sign of a problem. Try some new ignition coils - hell, even fit them yourself and save £150 - they'll need replacing sooner or later anyway so you won't be diddling yourself. For one, you'll realise that these things aren't impossible to work on for the average DIY'er, and secondly, you'll start to get an understanding of what else could be causing your problem - MAF sensor or Lambda sensors most likely if not the coils. Honestly mate, best of luck, and don't waste your cash :thumb:

I am not trying to scaremonger, in fact i have written quite a few posts re my opinions on RMS and IMS and Porsche reliability in general. I'm also not advocating paying Porsche if an indy, or better still you can fix it. Bu I do believe the diagnosis should be made by an expert. Porsche put that warning lamp there for a reason, and one of them is to alert you to a possible issue that could be made worse by driving. So rather than tell an OP with that warning lamp, that 9 times out of 10 they'll be OK (which is true), I would advise until you know it isn't the 1 in 10 (and don't quote me on the ratio, it's a figure of speech) to be careful. If I was in a position not to use the car until I could show the car or speak to a qualified Technician, I would. However, if you are happy to accept a blind diagnosis based on generalisms from a complete, and completely unaccountable, stranger on a forum , fine. I know I would be asking the same questions two years ago, and may still ask the same questions tomorrow if something unexpected pops up on my car. But those two years of reading and repeating what I have read on a forum doesn't compare to years of OPC training, years of experience servicing and repairing thousands of Porsches and access to the little gadget called PST2.

Thanks guys, esp Adrian 996. Hopefully you know your stuff!

Perhaps I shouldn't be a doom-monger and play the averages. It would be so much easier, all those people who were scared their new toy was about to bite and yet an all-knowing forum member correctly assuaged their fears as it was only something trivial. Otherwise I look like an idiot when it's all OK. I too, probably would more carefree in my post if it wasn't for an almost identical thread last week: http://www.911uk.com/viewtopic.php?t=57444