Oil level

good morning all, let me start off by saying sorry if this is a stupid question, but I�m a 911 newbie. I�m getting a lot of conflicting results when I search this topic. 1. I know to check the engine oil after the engine has been brought up to operating temperature, but do I do it while the vehicle is running or while it is off? 2. my dipstick shows about an eighth an inch or maybe a little more below the second line, and when I turn the key on the digital gauge shows two blocks missing on the gauge, do I add oil or not? thank you in advance for your help. 2001 996 85,000 miles

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Ask all the questions you can. Good to have a new 996 enthusiast. Congrats on the car. Its an awesome machine. Its best to check the oil level when the engine is off, cold and on a flat surface so all the oil has drained into the sump. Just turn the key to the point right before starting it and the gauge will calculate the level. Takes about 5 min or so. If you have a factory AOS, you may want to run it one bar below full. If you are running the UAOS, you can run it at full. If you are running the UAOS with the track drain, you can run it up to 2 qts over full if you dont have any blow by. See @Porschetech3 thread on blow-by. Also take a look at the UAOS threads. You can also use the oil stick. Here is a picture to show you levels.

Here are some pictures from this morning about an hour and a half after I shut the engine off, after getting to normal operating temperature. pretty much looks just like this when the engine is cold, except sometimes the electronic gauge will show three bars missing instead of two.

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I would let the car sit overnight and measure it in the am so the oil has fully accumulated in the pan to get a true read. In the meantime, I would enjoy driving it all day at current oil levels and measure it tomorrow morning when truly cold after a night of sitting.

OP - You can run oil level at the indent just above the line drawn in your post. That’s somewhere about a quarter liter from “full” measured cold. Interesting the dipstick has the Boxster .01 handle shape stamped with the .54 996 p/n.

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I get off work at 11 tonight and it will have been sitting since 7 o’clock this morning so I should get a good read then. I’ll let you know when I find out

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thanks for the reply. Yeah you got me on the dipstick. I have read on other posts that each block on the digital gauge equals a quarter of a quart, are you familiar with that?

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After measuring when cold, add a little bit at a time to get it up to one bar under full and you should be fine. In my first post I discussed oil levels depending on what AOS you run. In reality, the M96 likes lots of oil (solves for oil pressure stability and starvation) and doesnt have a problem with overfilling it. HOWEVER, the factory AOS is a weak part and has a difficult time processing the oil at the "full" level. Which is why the factory recomends running the oil about a half a quart or so low. If you dont want to worry about smoking from overfilling the oil, parking on a hill, having fun canyon carving, then budget for the UAOS w/track drain and you wont have to worry again. To put oil levels into persective for the M96, the engine has approximately 8.5 qts of oil By upgrading your factory AOS to the UAOS w/track drain you can run anywhere from 8.5 to 10.5 qts of oil safely assuming you dont have a blow-by problem. 10.5 quarts does wonders for oil pressure stability. In addition, you can also run the UAOS w/track drain plus I run a 2qt deep sump, which allows you to easily and safely run 12.5 qts of oil in the M96. Check @Porschetech3 thread on "blow-by" first. This is what I do because I use my 996 for both street and track. For sure I am not suggesting that you run the same thing unless you plan on tracking the car. This is just an example of what the M96 can handle if you upgrade your AOS to the UAOS w/track drain. Bottom line is you eliminate sleepless nights. More info than you want. But it will give you a couple of trails to go down.

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this is great information, thank you. I�ll take everything I can get from all of you guys on this forum right now. I do not plan on tracking this this 911. But the extra information is great. And you explained to me exactly what I was looking for about topping it off. I read all these different articles and forum posts and I�m half scared to do anything lol. Just to clarify, when adding oil a little bit at a time and watching the digital gauge, I fill it till the bar lights up that the line is touching the triangle pointing up, leaving one blank bar above?

Also in regards to the sump, I saw a kit from LN that expands the sump by a half a quart for $400. Is this something you would recommend that would basically allow me to run the full 8 1/2 quarts correct? And how does increasing sump volume affect the dipstick and digital gauge?

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I would keep the oil level at exactly where it is in your picture. My guess is it will go up a little after sitting cold for awhile. If its higher, I wouldnt sweat it. As I mentioned before, the issue isnt the oil level being high in the M96. The issue is the factory AOS being a sub-optimal part which is unable to process the oil mist and you then get smoking out the tail pipes. Hence upgrading it to a better AOS which is the UAOS. I have had the same 3.6 996 for 23 years. The engine is tough as hell. AOS upgrade, IMSB upgrade, and change yiur water pump every 5-7 years and you pretty much eliminated the weak parts that cause catastrophic failure. The only other thing I woukd suggest is to run the best damn high moly/high viscosity oil you can afford and change it a couple of times a year to keep it fresh. Your bores will thank you.

I will look into the UAOS. Not 100% sure I’m going to keep this vehicle. I bought this at a really good price and was hoping to flip it for something nicer at some point after doing the necessary work. I plan on changing the oil next weekend, but haven’t made up my mind on which oil, it’s either going to be DT40 or liqui moly, was also going to drop the sump cover and look at the piston bores, driver side exhaust tip is sooty but I haven’t noticed any extreme oil loss. There is no smoke on startup except for the occasional puff that I believe is normal for these vehicles. There’s no crazy ticking or rattling noise on a cold start, it does tick when it gets up to temperature, but from my experience and vehicles that sounds an awful lot like a lifter tick. It definitely does not sound like the videos LN engineering has.

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I wouldn't spend any money on a sump upgrade, no matter how good it is, until you upgraded your factory AOS to the UAOS w/track drain. The reason is simple. You need an AOS that can handle processing the oil mist so it doesnt get into the intake which causes all of the smoking and can lead to hydrolock which will shatter your cylinders from pressure. Easy to upgrade and prevent with the UAOS w/track drain.

In my experience the digital gauge on these cars is very accurate.... .... provided the car is cold, sitting on flat ground, and hasn't run in at least several hours. I always waited 24 hours to measure it digitally and got very clear readings. FWIW early cars have a 1:00 timer when you shut off the car, i.e. it needs to have been off for a full minute before it gives you a reading. IIRC, on the M97s, this timer was increased to 45 minutes.

Ok cool, thank you. I will consider the upgrade, im sure the one in the car now is original, thanks again for all you help

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good morning, I have the read the same about the digital gauge. thank you for the reply.

my 2�,,, Oil level on m96 is a compromise at best. Use the original higher oil level dipstick for a full sump and protect engine bearings better in high G turns vs Use the updated low oil level dipstick and maybe help prevent the AOS from getting overwhelmed at the expense of engine bearings. And even with the half qt lower 'updated'oil level dipstick, (implemented to fix the defective AOS), it does very very little to fix the defective air oil separation system on the m96 cars. The AOS still gets very very easily overwhelmed even with a qt low on oil. So pick your poison, spun bearings or engine hydrolock. Nice job bean counters. They did succeed in making the m96 cheaper. All past and present 911 use/had more costly dry sumps that completely negated the m96 oil pressure instability and AOS problems... Our current high tech m96 partial fix, UAOS,, it fixes at least 3/4 of this m96 problem for most of us, maybe more if you're able to run 2 qts over full. Now for the gauge oil level on dash, if dip stick was updated to low oil level dipstick like the TSB recommended, the dash gauge was probably not synced with new dipstick any longer. Unless the shop took the time and had the know how and piwis to re-calibrate the gauge cluster, unlikely for most. My dealerships just popped in the new dipstick and called it a day when doing other warranty or service work. JMHO

Thanks for the information. So many decisions to make lol

FWIW- The AOS can fail on a "simple" hard right freeway offramp. The Porsche factory "upgrade" competition AOS is no better. The only reliable solution is the UAOS from PorscheTech3 (Skip) and adding the "Track Drain" is not adding much expense to the UAOS. Other RL-folks have been less than enthusiastic about deep sumps, so do some research. I like ground clearance, JMO. The UAOS with Track Drain makes the system near bulletproof, or at the very least, removes the "hydro-lock" worry. While you are not on a "track", the 996 can generate enough lateral g-force load to overwhelm the stock AOS system. Do a blow-by test to see what your engine health is like. Also, get a 2-band dipstick instead of a single band one if that is what you have. Pretty easy "fixes" but installing a UAOS may be beyond your mechanical ability. Just be realistic about it and decide what to do. YMMV

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i�m ordering everything I need to do the IMS replacement and rear main seal which I feel confident in doing. From what I�ve seen on the AOS I should be able to manage that as well. This is not meant to be my forever 911. I wanted to make the necessary repairs and upgrades so that I can sell it and buy something different at some point. I didn�t realize the AOS was a vital replacement until recent research. Thanks for your reply and the information, it�s very much appreciated.

My 99 996 C4 is running a 2 quart extended sump from LN Engineering and their skid plate . I am at euro M30 suspension height . I have UAOS with track drain . She's just a street driver with some aggressive mountain drives . I have been running 12 quarts of oil with no issues for 2 years . I also have the IMS Solution and running a larger oil filter . So far have never had the skid plate make contact with anything . Just putting this out there as one data point .

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I�m surprised no one has mentioned PT3�s UIDS� It acts as both a �deep sump� and also insures that the oil pickup is always sucking oil and not air (unlike other deep sumps). While not inexpensive (over $3k), the cost of a spun crank bearing or worse is WAY higher� Food for thought

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No question the UIDS is the best sump. Given the OPs comments, he/she isnt a long term owner nor looking for the oil starvation solutions.

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You Might be right, sorry if the truth hurts.

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This is most likely a flip, but i also want to make it appealing to the next potential buyer, I dont mind adding the LN UAOS. I got this 996 relatively cheap, so I can afford a few thousand in upgrades, my ultimate goal is mid to late 80�s sc or if I�m really fortunate an early 964, but next purchase will likely be a more collectible 996 or move up to a 997.2. Then I can kinda keep buying and selling my way up to what I want. I really do appreciate everybody�s input. This forum is great. I�m learning a lot about these vehicles.

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Dont know what 996 you have, nor its condition, but if you got it for a good enough price and have the DIY skills, you can build out an incredible car. Sure helps when you can get in as the demand cycle is beginning versus after. But if you have been around the Porsche community long enough, you get to drive all the models, hear about every models strengths, weaknesses, issues, aftermarket solutions, and experience the changing attitude and cycles as they occur. I have driven every model from the 964 to 992 on the track, as well as all of the Cayman and Boxsters and still havent found one that I want to replace my 996.2 for street and track driving. If properly sorted, the 996 has the right combination of analog driving feel coupled with modern day capabilities that puts it in a sweet spot. Sure helps that we have a robust 996 aftermarket of parts and upgraded solutions. Best of luck on your journey. But don't discount the gem you have in your 996.

Update, did oil change today, by accidentally poured in 9.5 qts instead of 9.3 qts, should i suck some back out? Thanks

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My first oil change at the locally recommended shop had 9qt put in it. It maxed the digital gauge and shows topped off with the measuring stick. Mine has yet to evidence oil use over the 2k I've put on it since I purchased it to my surprise so I'm leaning towards dropping it down a little bit. It makes me a bit nervous being topped off. Now I have the equipment to DIY, it won't happen again.

I had a rod bearing slip and grenade my engine. Personally, I would add deep sump to the list of must-do items.

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Yeah, because of a weak factory AOS, too many folks ran too low a quantity of oil per Porsche TSB recomendation which certainly didnt help. Add in running low quality oil and following factory recomended 15k oil changes didnt help either. First steps is a better AOS (UAOST) so you can run more oil. then run higher quality oil with higher moly/viscosity and change it more often and street folks will be in much better shape. For sure, aggressive street guys and track folks need a better sump to make sure there is always oil under the pick-up. The M96 really is pretty damn easy to keep running strong and long.

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GC, do you think I should purchase UAOS and maybe sump before ims/rms kit thats on my To do list?

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I would save some money and worry about upgrading your sump at a later time. First thing i would do is listen to @Porschetech3 and figure out where the oil leak is coming from. He is someone you want to listen too. He is a retired Porsche Gold technician that has seen it all with Porsche. Not to mention the inventor of the UAOS and UIDs which are two of the most important solutions in the M96 world. Remember, there are three parts that really should be replaced/upgraded to mitigate 3 easy to solve for catastrophic failures. 1. IMSB w/ either the LN Retro or Solution. I use the Retro which will save you some money, but you will need to eventually replace it in the future because it does time out. 2. Water Pump w/ a new factory water pump to eliminate the risk of cracked heads. 3. AOS w/ UAOS w/track drain to eliminate smoking and potential for hydrolock which can shatter the cylinders. Imho, I would do everything you can to replace/upgrade all three as soon as possible. You seem to be a DIY guy, so you will save quite a bit of money. But keep in the back of your mind that there are plenty of "while I am in there" parts that you can piggyback. As an example, replacing the RMS and taking a look at your Clutch, flywheel, oil cooler and trans mount when you have lowered the trans to do the IMSB.

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Yes sir, I�m very thankful for his advice, as well as yours and everyone else thats posted. I believe I�ve found the source of the leak. I posted it in a different thread. I will post here to so you don't have to look for it. Looks like I�ll stick with my original plan which was to do IMS/RMS first, but I was gonna go with the TuneRs DOF kit. Then the UAOS, and as you mentioned replace parts along the way. There�s already been a new water pump/T stat installed just before purchase, but unfortunately I dont know if it�s OEM.