Changing oil while on ramps

With the rear of my car on ramps to more easily get under the engine to change the oil and filter, will I be able to drain all of the oil out at that angle? Thanks, Bob

No, many of us just jack one side up (right side for me) to get access to the drain plug then let it down to drain. Back up for plug insert and filter change. My drain pan is low enough to clear the oil pan by about 1.5". Make sure that your pan will hold at least 12 qts.

Wait so even on rhino ramps all of the oil will not drain out?

I am able to do an oil change w/o ramps. I back the car out of the garage right up to the start of the downward slope of my driveway.....car is still level while I now have more room to crawl under.

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Is the drain pan different than the oil pan? I'm not sure I quite understand??? 996's require 12 litres of oil? I thought it was 10.

this oil change aint gonna turn out well...interesting but not well at all

Oil pan is a part of the car. The drain pan is on the ground to catch the oil.

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Johnny, when you change your oil, the old oil leaves the oil pan and goes into a drain pan. The drain pan can be bought at Autozone, O'Reillys or any other car parts place. The 911 holds about 10 quarts or 9.43 liters. When draining the oil it is best to have a large drain pan that can handle 12 qts. And you need to know when you drain the oil it comes out quick. I look forward to hearing of your experience.

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Ok, got it now, sorry, still a little hazy from last night

I use plastic ramps that they sell in auto parts store (rhyno ramps?). It works great on my driveway slope. With that, I managed to put 24 quarts oil drain pan underneath the car. Enough capacity to do 2 oil changes You can even do the 996 on flat floor as oil pan is all the way at the back. Boxster needs to be on a slope because engine in the middle but doable with same method. I do not recommend using 10qt drain pan as it would be very close to the amout coming out of your car. Getting the pan out from under the car with full oil level without spilling is a bit hard. I recommend using 12 qt or larger oil drain pan.

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+1 on this method. Don't forget a new crush washer for your drain plug, and make sure to carefully seat your O-ring on the filter canister.

Thanks all, very much. I will drain the car with the wheels on the ground and find a 12 quart oil receptacle that is flat enough to slide under the oil pan. When I bought the car, the PO had Motul oil in it. On the dipstick, it is exactly 1/2 between the two bars. The dash oil indicator reads exactly 1/2 as well with the engine warm and allowed to settle after being switched off for 15 minutes. Sound about right? Or should the oil level be a little higher?

You don't really need to warm up the car to drain oil. It just takes longer if the fluid is cold. When it's hot, it can burn your hand so wear a glove. Ramp works great. It will drain all the oil.

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Sigh. The factory specifically states the engine should be warm. There is a call out for drain time. Then the correct amount of is added back in the engine and the engine started and run to temperature -- it doesn't take long -- then shut off for a while then the level checked and the tech confirms the electronic oil level read out level agrees with the amount of oil that was put into the engine.

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I drained the oil the way with my Bxoster. One time, maybe the first time, I actually jacked up the front of the car -- used two scissor jacks the one that came with the car and 2nd oneI bought to carry in the car -- to be level with the rear wheels/tires which were on Rhino Ramps and no more oil came out of the oil drain hole as the front came up and remained level for a while. These engines won't retain oil given the very gentle incline the ramps represent. Heck if they did you couldn't accelerate up a steep grade or brake going down a steep grade or the oil would collect and the oil pump would suck air.

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Nice looking car. The general procedure for oil changing is to warm up the engine to a min temperature. 80C maybe? I forget. Then drain the oil for 20 minutes. (The DFI engines have a one hour drain time.) Then as per the factory add a specific amount of oil. This may or may not be what amount of oil is given in the owners manual. Then the engine is started and run until up to temperature. Because it was hot to begin with this doesn't take very much time. Then the engine is shut off and allowed to remain off a specific amount of time. I think based on watching the techs it is just enough time the countdown timer starts at 5 seconds. The tech confirms the electronic oil level readout displays the correct level. In the case of my Turbo the factory says after adding 7.8l of oil the level reading should be at the max line. Not below and certainly not above. The tech knows how much oil he has put in the engine, The dispensing gun has a volume readout in the gun. Because the tech knows how much oil is in the engine he then uses this to confirm the electronic readout level agrees with this. My Boxster has a dipstick but I do not recall where the oil level is when the electronic oil level readout displays full. I really don't rely on the dipstick when I change the oil in the Bxoster. The Turbo has no dipstick. After the oil change the oil level should be at the max line checked when the engine and oil is hot. If you check the oil level cold the reading can be down a bar or two or maybe 3 if the ambient temperature is really cold. Do not let this low reading when cold are you into adding oil for the level then will be too high when the engine and oil are up to operating temperature. Couple of warnings. The oil will come out in a rush and be hot. Wear heavy duty mechanics rubber/latex gloves to protect yourself. Be sure the drain pan can hold the oil and then some. There is a lot of oil. Ideally the drain pan should only be half full after the oil has drained from the engine. When the oil first comes out and the stream hits the drain pan bottom it will splash. Watch your eyes. Use a new o-ring on the filter housing. Be sure it is in the groove. Smear a bit of clean oil on the o-ring an the housing threads. Use a new sealing washer (not a crush waster!). This ring makes a very important seal between the drain plug and the oil sump. Do not be tempted to reuse an old one. If you are concerned you can buy a few spares and store them in the center console. When you buy spare sealing rings buy a spare drain plug (or two) also. Just in case. When I buy the filer at the dealer parts department the parts counter manager shoves over a new filter and a new o-ring (usually it is in the box with the filter element) and a new sealing washer. I have spare filter housing on hand and use one then the other alternating between them every oil change. While you might be able to change the 911 without backing it up on ramps like ramps because I can get under the car and give it a check out while the oil is draining. Remember, when you give the engine an oil/filter service this should include a thorough check of the car underneath of the car looking for any issues like cracked CV boots, or fluid leaks or loose or missing bolts/fasteners, damaged plastic under body panels, etc.

Changed my oil today with dt40. Had the car on the 2 post hoist in my garrage. Sure makes it easy, also easy for the oil from the first surge of hot oil to splash a long way. Clean mag drain plug and filter element, makes me a happy man to know my old girl with 135K is not grinding herself up.

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It might be just semantics but the sealing washer does in fact crush. That's how it seals. It deforms to the exact shape of the pan and plug. If you look at a used one carefully you can see the deformed area where the plug crushed it. This is why I referred to it as a crush washer. There are other types of crush washers that look and work differently.

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Agree it is probably more semantics than not. But Porsche does refer to it as a sealing ring. The ring only deforms (slightly) on the drain plug side. It is purposely hard to avoid much deformation, though. The ring is surprisingly flat and has an impressively smooth finish to effect a good seal without the deformation a crush washer requires. Regardless of what one calls it, the important point is to always use a new one.

Nearly crapped myself Saturday - the oil change was flawless (on rhino ramps, for OP's sake) - and the oil came out looking perfect. No indication of ANY water in the oil. Nothing unusual stuck to the magnetic drain plug. I spun the old Napa filter off, cut it open with my handy filter cutter, and the filter looked terrific. It wasn't until I was nearly finished draining the drain pan into my used oil container when I saw - because I was standing in the late afternoon sun - some tiny sparkles of silver and gold in the oil. Not tons - just enough to be noticeable. I rechecked the filter again, even more thoroughly...nuthin'. So I sat down on the floor to think for a minute, and then I went got back up and walked over to the workbench to examine the leftovers from projects past (yeah, I don't clean the workbench as religiously as I should. That's when I noticed the angle grinder and the Dremel, both with nearly worn-down wheels, which reminded me of recently grinding some o2 bungs out of a cat delete pipe, grinding through some aluminum stock for a RAM mount, and also welding up and wire-wheeling some mild steel for my nephew. Of course, all of this took place just above and in front of where I keep my drain pan. The pan still had the filter from my wife's Murano sitting the the bottom, ensuring that anything that wound up in the pan stuck there. I'll be sure to check the oil next change for anything unusual - but for future reference: Make sure your drain pan is not full of metallic grinding debris before starting your next oil change, else you'll need new drawers.

I use rhino ramps as well. Once the rear wheels are up on the ramps, I jacked up the front of the car until level (construction level on the door-sill) to let the oil drain down. It's much more comfortable under there while up on the ramps and it gives you plenty of room to get a good look at everything and note or fix any potential future problems.

+1 Rhino Ramps

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It must be so nice to have a 2 post lift in your garage. My last two oil changes were also clean of any metal debris in my filter or magnetic drain plug after driving 4k miles since my last oil and filter change( once a year). I only have 70k miles on the odometer. I bought my 996 in 9/2006 with just 35k miles driven, by 2 previous owners.