Picked up the '08 about 12 days ago. Drove 300 miles home, no problem. Used little or no oil. Now, 300 miles later, its used 16 .oz. Mostly the last 100 miles or so. No drips and no smoke. I am thinking its filling up the AOS. What do the pros here think ? If I figure out how to remove the carpet part, I'll remove the engine cover tomorrow and have a look.
The AOS is the Air Oil Separator ... And it won't even hold 16oz of oil. Measure your oil level on a flat (really flat) slab ... Same place each time, before you start comparing oil levels.
The sensor is forward, in the left half of the engine ... Depending on the slope it's parked on, I've seen it move 1 bar up or down, before reading level at home.
“filling the AOS“ would entail driving at high-Gs and high revs, the AOS backs up and dumps the raw oil into the air intake, resulting in much smoke. You'd notice.
You can pull the AOS via the top hatch, but the bottom-most hose clamp is a bugger. Not the nicest introduction to servicing your mid-engined Porsche.
You can also test the AOS function by idling the car and removing the oil fill cap -- if the AOS is broken it will be with a cracked diaphragm, causing there to be a lot of vacuum at the fill cap. Working AOS ---> Only a moderate vacuum.
Since the car is new to you, you'll have trouble with "a lot" vs "moderate". If the cap is hard to remove with the car running, you may need a new AOS.
but I digress. I don't think the AOS is disappearing your oil.
OK thanks. The car was parked in a different location this morning. I will try the oil cap test and check the oil with the car parked parked in my normal spot. So maybe its a non problem, problem. What is considered normal oil consumption after 700 miles or so for a 3.4 ?? Car has around 62k on it now.
Normal oil consumption ... Sorry, still chuckling as Porsche allows a porscine [big, fat, slippery tub-of-lard] 1qt / 300 miles or something like that -- before an engine can be drinking oil excessively.
The rest of us see considerably better. Engine #1 drank very little oil until it died at the track, #2 ended up an oilaholic and now sits on my garage floor. #3 out of a crashed boxster is drinking *none* and won't be seeing the track.
My 0.02 && mmmv,
-PM.
PS this is the second time I've snuck "porcine" into a post. The first one was better.
OK, call me chicken little. The sky is not falling and the AOS is fine. I just checked the oil, parked in my normal spot. The 12 oz I added this morning took it form the middle of the bottom bar to the middle of the top bar. Glad I did not add more. Actual consumption has been pretty small.
I typically note a one to two bar difference between a cold and hot engine. For some reason it always shows higher when then engine is warm which seems counterintuitive. My Porsche mechanic said to check it on a level surface with a hot engine for the most accurate reading.
Heat expands the oil and I can understand the higher reading. I just was not aware of how sensitive it is to the position of the car. I will try to keep it in the same spot when I check it. Is there a preferred reading ? I would think the middle, but I am a true rookie here.
I always check mine from cold, on the same spot and keep it one increment below max.
For the record, a couple hundred miles later, oil is still near the high end. Glad I didnt over fill it. Having fun driving it also. One thing that I hate, and I hate it on all newer cars is automatic door locks. I know when I want the doors locked. Why cant they let me do it ?? In fact I would not mind cranking the windows down by hand, if they woul let me.
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