Shudder......what happened?

So this morning I was just thinking....200 miles to go for break in! I am at 1800 miles now. I then went into an all day long seminar. At 4 pm I drove my car from its parking space for about 1/4 mile. Approaching an uphill stop sign, the CS began to shudder rather a lot. I thought I had the wrong gear and was in 3rd rather than first. This led me to believe that I was at too low RPMs for 3rd and just as I shifted to go into first (was in first...just didnt know it yet)..the car stalled. Since purchasing the CS, I have stalled it several times trying to learn it. It is FAR different from my BMW. I was already at the stop sign so I just started it again and proceeded.....only to have the same shudder occur in less than 20 feet. And another stall. Si this time I started it, and drive it just off the shoulder of the road and as I did the engine light came on with a warning that said "Check engine....(something I dont remember)" The engine oil pressure is at 100 (where it is normally 175) and the computer is trying to measure the oil level, telling me it will take 28 mins. So I immediately call 1-800-Porsche. They ask a few questions and tell me the car is safe to drive, and the Porsche dealership is 1.5 miles away. I immediately take the car to the dealer and along the way the engine oil pressure returns to 175. The drive to the dealership had no further problems but I might add that I drive it really carefully. The mechanic hears the story and tells me he thinks there is no damage to the car or the engine and he will look at the car tomorrow. He was very nice and seemed unconcerned. Whereas this is my first P car and with it less than 30 days old.....I am a little shook up. Here are other things you should know (that I also told the mechanic). 1. The car was parked on a steep incline, nose down all day during my seminar. 2. I added one quart of oil 3 days ago (upon being notified by the computer to do so). Because I was in a heavy downpour I did NOT check the engine oil level after adding. Today was the first day the car was driven since adding the oil. So here are my questions: 1. What do you think? Ever heard of this? This happened to you? 2. Did the car beign parked on an incline cause the oil to drain away from the engine. Is this a common problem. I have parked other cars in this same lot. I would not think this would cause a problem. 3. I realize adding a LOT of excess oil would not be good. But if the computer called for oil and I added one quart. Would this caused an issue? Comments? Anything?

My guess is that you just did not have enough revs even for first. Porsches like more revs than you may be used to giving and if you aren't thinking about it you could easily stall. I don't think it is oil related however having to add a quart is more than I'd expect but normal for some. Are you checking it on a flat and level surface (same place everytime is best)? I think your baby is safe.

A quart of oil at 1800 miles does not sound right.

I am pretty sure after the second start that I had the RPMs right just because I had traffic behind me and was embarrassed in thinking I had stalled the first time. The computer graphic for adding oil is kind of weird in that it has what appear to be a series of four or five "cells" stacked on top of one another. Solid cells indicated fill level. In my case, the top cell was shown empty. I have no idea if that means add one quart or one drop. I would rather have too much oil than not enough so in the pouring rain on the side of the road I added the whole quart. I did not measure the oil then and I have not as of yet. I asked the dealer to do this since he has it now. I do know I should always check when cold and on a level surface. It is entirely possible I needed to add some oil, just not an entire quart. But I can not imagine the computer giving me a red flag over less than one quart. On another note, the Owners Manual does say something about the rate of oil usage....that lead me to believe this was normal. Let me get the manual and come back and comment on where I found that. It is near the end of the manual.

Oddly enough my Cayman will show one bar down some days and none others so be careful. One bar doesn't equal one quart.

One bar equals 200ml or 1/5 or thereabouts. If all the bars are missing you then need to add 1 quart. It sounds like you overfilled the oil and in these cars that is not good (so I heard from my Pcar saleswoman).

I am curious about the comments re oil pressure. My Cayman has no oil pressure guage, but does have a water temperature guage which normally reads 175. You probably do not have an oil pressure problem.

I agree with Chicos, I think you over filled the oil pan. Overfilling the oil is not good since it can spill over onto your valves and create quite a mess. I have no idea if this would create the shudder you are talking about, but I would be sure to tell the mechanic and the dealership that you added a quart of oil instead of the 200ml that was indicated by the oil display. Good Luck and let us know the outcome.

Yup, one bar down is nothing, and adding a quart at that point will overfill it. Overfill it and you can belch oil through the crank case breather into the intake. If this happened, you would feel a loss of power and almost experience a stall. That fits what you are telling us. It would also result in a puff of smoke and likely cause a check engine light as the catalytic converters struggle with the incredible amount of unburnt fuel/oil. This could actually damage/destroy the catalytic converters. If this is the case, it will be pretty obvious to the mechanic because the PIWIS will delivery a cat converter failure code. No need to panic. I don't think you did any serious damage, or at least not anything they can't correct and probably would do so under warranty. Question for you, when you say the computer told you to add oil, what exactly do you mean? Did you just notice it was one bar down, or did it flash a little picture of an oil can and tell you that you are low?

I pretty much concur with GatorBite, although my service manager told me that the oil bar will flash when it is at the level that requires oil. They (the dealer) also overfilled my oil on a service. I brought that to their attention and they drained some out. It is still slightly high. I was told that you would need to over service by about 2 quarts before there would be any adverse effects.

Okay so I just got back from the dealership. Here are the results. 1. As it turns out, one quart did not hurt. They said they needed to aid just a bit to "top it off." 2. The computer did record the misfires. 3. They do not know what caused them, but are stating that they think that with the fuel being low (80 miles left on tank) that I might have had bad gas and some condensation or moisture made it into the engine. They are unable to get the car to perform incorrectly at all. All readings are correct at this time. They have said the car is safe and have asked me to drive it for about 50 miles and watch it closely. No harm no foul....but it sure does make me wonder. I certainly do not have the expertise to counter their comments. Just glad to have the beast back. BY the way....she was filthy when I took it in...they "washed" it...worst wash job EVER. I forgot to tell them NOT to wash it since I am going to start the zaino plan as soon as Spring begins here in the mountains. I should take a photo of the wheels...they are half filthy and half clean....with obvious towel marks where swipes occured. :crazy: Thank you all for your input.

Keep your eye on the oil level - and you should re-read the section in your owner's manual about measuring the oil, how to read the gauge, and when to add oil. Each segment on the oil gauge is about .4 liters which = 0.42267528 qt. As said, you don't want to over-fill it, but at the same time if the car needed slightly more than a quart in 1800 miles, I'd keep an eye on it. That is still within the expected usage range published by Porsche, but a little higher than most people are experiencing - I suspect it was not topped up all the way when delivered. To really get a true reading of where the oil level actually is, take the car for a nice 20 mile drive an a warm day - this evaporates most of the contaminates that can tend to collect in the oil, and if you take a lot of short trips, they can collect to a volume that will make it look like you've got more oil than you do. After the drive, put your car in a level spot and let it cool down for about 20 minutes - it will take this long for all the oil to drain back into the sump under the motor. After about 20 minutes, use the stalk to take a measurement. This should give you the most accurate reading. brad

Thanks Brad. I will do that tomorrow! Kevin

Kevin As a PS, in these cars, a bit more oil is worse than a bit less oil. That's especially true if you drive hard. I keep mine at 1 bar down on the guage (the top bar in the graph is empty). You'll be fine at that level. There is no benefit, and possible detriment, in filling it to the brim.

At this point, I would be more tempted to just do an oil change. Not sure about advertising an overfill. Depends on the dealer.

By the way, break in is finished at 1860 miles. By the book, the US operators manual says 2000 miles or 3000 km. Well, 3000 km is 1860 miles, so you don't need to wait for 2000 miles to be fully compliant with the US recommendations. Let them check it out, reduce the oil overfill, let the engine warm up well (15-20 minutes) then let er rip!