Oil capacity and oil change questions

Knocked out my first oil change this weekend. Got real dirty but I felt like a man. After 9 qts. (I thought that was the capacity on a 3.4l) I was at the bottom of the fill range. Added 1/2 quart more and I am now in the middle. Was going to put in the rest of the bottle (in increments checking frequently) and am guessing that will get me to the top of the rage. This will be a whole quart more than I thought. Have let the engine run and get up to operating temp a few times to check for any variability. Did the new washer, filter, etc. Am I doing it right? Also found a few metal filing fragments in the pan. Is that ok? 3.4l with 70,000 miles. Thanks for your input

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No, this can't be good. Did you send an oil analysis to a lab like Blackstone for $22??

dont OVER FILL - a little low is better than ANY over full metal might indicate wear somewhere that matter, or doesnt. I would recommend changing IMS to the retrofit and checking the tensioners. Those are high suspect of having issues. If you cept the oil filter, cut it open and look around inside... see what you find and report back.

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This may sound dumb but you have to check if they are really metal by grabbing a magnet and running it through the filter, (which you can cut open). Sometimes what looks like metal is carbon that has flaked off parts. Bearing material (which is not good) is steel and will stick to magnets. Thats why some people spend a few bucks and buy the magnetic oil drain bolt as a quick way to spot trouble. I'm not sure what you mean by 'pan'? Are you saying you removed the pan or did you mean the oil filter housing?

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Otherwise identical engines vary some in the amount of oil they require. IIRC the '99 model came with an in-dash oil level display and a dipstick. If so Porsche advises the dipstick is to be believed before the in-dash oil level display. Be sure you correctly insert the dipstick into the dipstick tube to take an accurate reading of the oil level. The car wants to be level and the engine should remain off for some time. How long depends upon how hot the engine and the oil got. At least a half an hour or so. You can use the in-dash display timer to see how much time you need to wait before you can use the dip-stick to check the oil level. It is better to be a few bars below maximum than to be at maximum. The oil will expand some when it gets hot and the engine can be a bit overfilled. Not horribly so but still, you want to avoid this if you can. Metal debris in the oil poured from the oil filter housing a bit troubling, but it depends upon the type of metal and the amount. The engine is of course made of cast aluminum and pieces of cast flashing or even swarf left over from when the engine was made can come loose and end up in the oil filter housing. The oil filter is doing its job to trap these and block them from making their way into the oil supplied to the rest of the engine. However, if the metal bits are magnetic (ferrous) this is particularly troubling. The crank, rods, cams, cam chains, valves, valve springs, zero-lash lifters, valve retainers, piston rings, piston pins, and the various scavenge and pressure oil pumps all consist of ferrous metal parts. But if any of these were shedding metal on an ongoing basis I think you'd know it by now without having to rely upon what you find in the oil. The engine's main and rod bearings are made of non-ferrous metals. There is another possible source of ferrous metal debris in the oil: The IMS bearing (a ball bearing) has of course ferrous metal ball bearings, and ferrous metal inner and outer races. The ball bearing cage is I believe made of a non-ferrous alloy. If the metal non-magnetic and shiny chances are it is aluminum. Unless there is heaps of it, not to worry, maybe. If the material is non-metal, dark almost black, or dark caramel colored, this is likely the composite plastic camshaft tensioner/guide rail material. Some -- not too much -- is probably nothing to worry about. Lots could be signs of one or more guides failing. If the material separates from the rail, then the chain runs against the metal (aluminum) guide/tensioner rail and this will quickly have the oil filter loaded with fine shiny/bright metal flakes. The engine could make some racket too. In fact, I would expect it to make some racket cause one or more cam drive chains running against metal vs. composite plastic. Without pics it is impossible for me to say how serious, or not, the presence of metal is. Even with pics my opinion is still only my opinion. One thing you can do, is get the oil level right, then provided the engine is not making any noises and not exhibiting any untowards symptoms start the engine and let it idle then if it continues to behave take it for a drive. No need to thrash the car or the engine. Bring the car back and remove the oil filter housing and pour the oil and filter out into a clean drain pan and examine the oil and look for any signs of anything, any particles in the oil or in the filter fibers. Very important: If at any time the engine begins to act up, make noises, as soon as safe to do so, shut off the engine and do not start it again until you have the engine examined by a qualified tech. Serious may be even fatal engine damage can result if you continue to run the engine, even start it again for a brief time. Almost never are engine noises ever made better by continuing to run the engine once the noise or noises appear. If the oil is clean, undiscolored, and free of any metal or other material bits, install a new filter element and top up the housing with clean oil then install and torque it down properly. If the oil has metal or other material bits in it... Well, post what you find first. If you removed the oil pan that you found some metal is not surprising and the pieces could be large. New engines shed alot of metal (and other material) from new and most of this stuff shed makes its way into the the sump the oil pan where it remains forever unless or until disturbed by someone removing the pan. A few of the smaller pieces might get inhaled or ingested by the oil pick up tube and of course after being run through the oil pump will end up as very tiny metal or non-metal bits in the oil filter housing oil. If the oil pan was the source of the metal bits and the oil in the filter was free of metal of metal bits or a second examination of the filter oil turns up no more metal bits then the metal you found almost certainly an artifact from when the engine was new. Sincerely, Macster.

Wow, thanks for that complete explanation. To clarify, the bits (about three of them) were in the pan that I drained the oil into--not the oil pan. I'm not sure if they came from the oil or the filter as I didn't see them until I had already dumped both and slid the drain pan from under the car. I did not cut into the filter but there was no debris evident. I did not save any of this but will the next time. The car runs great with no noises or issues of any kind but I will be on the lookout and will do a better job of examining the evidence next time around.

Macster.... holy smokes! Thats a hell of a post!

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You're welcome. Well, now you know: Next time check the pan and clean it before you drain the oil to avoid scaring the H*ll out of yourself. Now to contradict myself: I don't bother looking the oil drained from the oil sump (Boxster) or even the engine and oil tank (Turbo). This oil drains into an enclosed container that has who knows what in it. I do look at the oil stream as it pours down into the drain pan and I like to see the oil is not completely black/opaque. I treat the car (all my cars) to 5K mile oil changes so sometimes the oil is still a bit translucent and in fact once or twice when the 5K miles all covered at highway speeds over the span or a week or so (road trip!) still has a hint of amber color to it. I have nearly 230K miles on the Boxster's original engine and I'm not about to fret over some oil that might have a few hundred or even a thousand miles of useful life "left" in it. Anyhow, what I do for the Boxster is when I remove the oil filter housing, I carefully pour the contents of the housing into a smaller and very clean drain pan then look at the oil and look at the filter too. So far nothing disturbing has appeared. With the Turbo, its oil filter is upside down -- on top of engine -- and all I can do is look at the filter element, when I change its oil. So far I've broken down and had the dealer change the Turbo's oil/filter about as many times as I have. The Turbo's oil change a bit messy -- more so than the Boxster's -- and I have no real good place to work on the cars so in the case of the Turbo I let local Porche dealer's service department change the oil/filter. Sincerely, Macster.

Here's an update on capacity. I checked the dipstick tonight and it looks perfect. The electronic guage says we're two bars short of completely full so we're good to go there. Surprised it took a dozen miles and 24 hours for the oil level to "come up". Obviously the oil didn't come up but the measurement devices did. Thanks for the input and I will check the oil from the filter and filter next time.

there is no way I am reading all that MACSTER !! DAYAM !!

Tomorrow I'm going to change the oil on my 2001 Porsche 996. Is there anything that I should know about changing the oil filter. I know that it's a cartridge filter, and today I bought the filter. Do I need a special tool to remove the housing on the filter. I assume the rest is pretty straightforward, just removing the drain plug and let the oil drain out. This is the first time that I am changing the oil. Appreciate your input.

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I've never changed the oil in a 996 (other than my Turbo) so I can't really advise you except in a general way. There should be a DIY in one of the tech forums here. Suggest you find it and download it and read it and memorize it. You need a proper sized wrench for the filter housing. The filter element should come with a new housing o-ring and you need a new drain plug washer. That's an oil drain plug seal, actually, and should not be re-used nor should you try to substitute something else. The oil comes gushing out. 8+ quarts of oil. It will probably be warm, if not hot. Be sure the oil drain pan is big enough to hold the oil. I use an enclosed pan that has a funnel like top surface with a hole in it to let the oil run into the container proper. The problem is if one drops the drain plug it will almost certainly block this hole and the oil will back up and overflow and make a mess. (But I like the enclosed pan cause I just put the plug back in the hole, close the air vent, wipe the funnel surface down with paper towels than I can carry the pan by its plastic handle and dispose of the oil with no muss no fuss.) Install the drain plug with its new washer. Tighten it down to its proper torque setting. 39 ft lbs IIRC, but the DIY instructions will have the right torque setting. Remove the oil filter housing and carefully tip it into the drain pan. If you want, tip this oil filter housing and its oil into a clean pan and examine the oil for stuff. Remove the filter element. Clean the housing. Remove the old o-ring and install the new one. Be sure the ring is in the ring groove and not partially in the housing thread groove. Put the new filter element in the housing. Press down a bit so the element seats on the spigot at the bottom of the housing. I like to fill the housing up with clean oil and take a clean finger -- I use mechanics rubber gloves and change them several times during the process -- and smear some clean oil on the housing threads and on the o-ring. Be sure the aluminum bore the housing and its ring fit into is clean and hand start the housing to make sure it doesn't cross thread. You should be able to screw the housing all the way in until the o-ring reaches the aluminum. Be sure the o-ring is not caught and tearing as you tighten the housing and torque it down. The oil on the o-ring helps prevent this. 19 ft lbs IIRC, but double check the DIY instructions. Add fresh oil of the proper type and amount and before you start the engine check underneath for any leaks. (I've never done it, but a friend of mine left the drain plug out of his motorcycle engine and ended up with a nice puddle of fresh oil under the engine...) If you're sure everything's cool then check everything again. If you're sure everything's cool then turn the key to on and check to be sure the oil light comes on before you start the engine. Start the engine and check the oil light goes right out. If it doesn't... shut off engine and check the oil level. Also, as a habit, I like to give a listen just to make sure the engine sounds ok. If you forget the oil though anything you hear will be expensive to repair. Drive the car off the ramps onto level ground then shut off the engine and put away tools and clean up. Check the oil level with the dipstick and add more oil until the dip stick shows the oil level at the sweet spot. Take car for a nice drive. Sincerely, Macster.

When replenishing the oil it helps to have some oil in the filter already. Then on your first start do not go out and just drive. You have to make sure the new oil replaces and air spots created by the pumps initial pumping of air and oil when doing the first start. Something like that Oh 3 minutes of letting the car idle is the normally advised period for a first start with new oil.

Put the filter element onto engine case spigot, then install the housing. Do not place in the oil filter housing and then install it.

My question is, since i bought my car about 4 years ago at 45km i have been chaging my Oil every 5-8KM but the Oil comes out Clean (also noted by my Indy)... -Is it really worth changing the Oil so Early? -Am i blowing my money away? -Should i change my oil every 24km as per Porsche? -Maybe Half Way @ 12Km is fair? I do no more than 5 Track Days a Year, mostly Street Driving and use Factory Mobil 1 0W40

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Congrats on the oil change. Just a personal question though, are you not a man?

It's up to you. There are different additives to oils for many things. One of the additives is to make it resist turning dark which high heats do to oil. Dark oil can be from just heat. The amount of heat and how many times before tuning dark depends on the dosing of additives. So there is a chance your oil has plenty of the additives to reduce discoloring. Guys that change oil frequintly do so to get the best protection they can from engine wear.

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Oil usually gets dark from contamination from blow-by and this includes soot. (Diesel engines generate a lot of soot. When I changed the oil in my diesel VW the oil would be black in just a few hundred miles and after 5K miles would drain out looking like liquid coal.) Actually the oil being dark is a good sign in that the detergents in the oil have managed to keep the soot and other solids in suspension instead of lettng them turn to sludge. Perhaps your engine doesn't produce as much blow-by? Also, you may use the car in such a way the oil receives less contamination. As for oil change intervals: There's lots of opinions and not all in agreement of course but mine is I'd rather have a stack of receipts for oil following a 5K oil change schedule than one receipt for a replacement engine. Besides, there are other scenarios that while are not as dramatic as an engine failure and not quite as expensive can still make the time one spends with the car a real horror. One is the engine develops noises from wear. I had to live with a motorcycle engine that due to my not changing the oil frequently enough developed a worn cam lobe and the damn ticking/clicking nose while the engine was running -- and it was my only transportation at the time -- nearly drove me crazy until I could afford to have it fixed. The engine teardown, rebuild cost nearly half of what the motorcycle was worth. Anyhow, my cars get driven in such a way the oil probably has a pretty easy time of it. When I change the oil it is most of the time still translucent and once or twice still had a touch of amber to its color. I don't care, that is I don't care if the oil had a bit more life left. My thinking is I'd rather change the oil before its reached the end of its life not after. The idea is to prolong the life of the engine, not to scrimp and squeeze a few dollars' savings on oil at the cost of increased engine wear/tear. The oil had accumulated 5K miles and by my time line was ready to be replaced. If you want to run the oil longer that's up to you. 5K may be a bit too early for some. I follow it cause it is easy to look at the odometer and know it is time to change the oil. When I tried other mileages between oil changes I never could remember what the mileage was when the next oil change due. You can follow a 6K, 7K, 7.5K or even 10K mile oil change. Frankly I think anything over 7K to 7.5K pushing it, but that's just my opinion. But the way most of these cars get used -- short trips; never getting up to temperature; lots of idling; lots of stop/go driving; 5K mile changes may be too long between oil changes but just try telling these owners that. I would also suggest you change the oil before a track day. Some track fans change the oil before every one. Others report they stick to the regular oil change interval, a few even report to follow the 15K oil change interval and have racked up many track days and over 100K miles and report no engine problems. Me I'd err on the side of caution. When I participated in auto-x years ago a mechanic who also participated in auto-x told me that an oil/filter service before an event was just good engine insurance. Mobil 1 0w-40 is not the best oil -- my opinion based on info from various sources I trust -- and needs help if one continues to use it. One thing you can do to help it is not to ask it to protect the engine after too many miles, after the oil accumulates too many miles. How many is too many? Well, I've used Mobil 1 0w-40 oil for way over 100K miles in my 02 Boxster and always changed the oil after 5K miles and the engine -- the original engine the car came with -- now has just over 240K miles on it and runs as good today as it did new, so I'd say 5K miles is a good number. Even when I used Mobil 1 15w-50 and more recently Mobil 1 10w-40 oil I still follow and will continue to follow 5K mile oil/filter services. As I mentioned above, I've since switched to using Mobil 1 10w-40 high mileage oil on the Boxster but I believe Mobil 1 just not as good as oil as it used to be and so have decided the next oil change I'll probably switch to using Castrol Syntec 10w-40 though I might try Castrol Syntec 5w-50 (that's 5w not 15w) oil, which is the oil I've used in the Turbo now for several oil changes, the last one just done just last Thursday. The nice thing about using the same oil in both cars is I need only "stock" one oil instead of two different oils. Sincerely, Macster.

Here is an old article made on oil tests for bike and car. It's a two page read with lots of info. Bike specific and car oils were tested to see what the differences are. Bike specific oils need to perform better so if you also ride bikes you'll like this article even more. http://www.sportrider.com/tech/146_0308_oil/index.html

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I didn't read the link -- will later -- but wanted to add that in an article covering motorcycle couriers in the UK, these couriers ride motorcycles and cover thousands of miles per week -- highlighted one rider who has been riding courier now for most of his life -- at the time of the article the rider was in his 50s -- and has covered hundreds of thousands of miles all on motorcycles. This article in a UK published motorcycle magazine (Bike) focused on "tricks" the courier used to get the most miles out of his motorcycles. At the top of the list was oil/filter servicing. This rider changed the oil every week -- after on average 3K miles of riding -- but instead of using the more expensive motorcycle oil used the less expensive but still high quality car oil, of the proper viscosity grade. With this weekly change of oil some of his motorcycles racked up scores of thousands of miles, some over 100K miles, with no engine problems or signs of wear or tear. Of course, other areas needed attention. Chains for chain driven motorcycles, tires of course, and other things that with high miles become service items. But the main point is that regular and well-timed oil/filter services help contribute ot engine longevity. Sincerely, Macster.

Was getting confused there for a minute! 9 quarts in England amounts to 18 pts ,which is about 12 litres ! then i realised this is American quarts which is approx .0 litres /quart ,from my experience,working on porsches, and obviously being English ,we work in litres which an oil change is approx 8.5 litres for 996

I appreciate all the good suggestions that I read on the post. Apparently an oil change is a little more complicated than I thought. I also plan on researching the DIY on the tech forum once again I thank you wish me luck

Changing the engine oil itself is about the simplest DIY task out there. Only changing the 6sp trans oil is easier, since their is no filter. That said, the only complicated part is your choice of oil. The default choice if you go to the Porsche dealer will be 0W-40 Mobile 1. It won't hurt your car and no one could ever accuse you of making a bad choice. If you deviate from 0W-40 Mobil 1, you have some homework to do, but that's icing on the cake as far as I am concerned. My next change I am going to go with Redline 5W40.

Disreguard the have oil in the filter before installing if you have a cartridge arrangement. The spin on single unit type you can put oil in before attaching. Not sure if I mentioned earlier but aluminum engine metal does not stick to drain plug magnets That's a good excuse for fingering the oil....with disposeable rubber gloves which are good to wear when dealing with oils and grease.

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Cabin air filter simplest (well actually tire pressure change). Then oil! Did my first oil/filter change a couple of weeks ago - so simple (didn't do it earlier since the bolt was stripped and had my indie do it along with other things for the first time).

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Why would one disregard filling a cartridge type filter before installation? If really concerned, cut the paper filter open with a razor and check for particles and send an oil sample for inspection.