Oil quantity / Measuring a real pain

My first post: Just a simple question I just did oil and oil filter change on my 2.9 Cayman . Quite enjoyable experience I must say. What I did not like is the fact that I had to let it idle to warm-up the engine to activate the electronic dipstick. Is it better to rather drive it under 2000rpm or is an idle warm-up with an oil change recommended?

I am not a big fan of the electronic stick myself. Having said that, I put in what I know to be a minimum amount of oil to register on said stick. Porsche all the way back to my 944 stated that they prefer the car be driven gently to temperature. Frankly in this situation I don’t think it’s going to hurt the car to idle it to the temperature or drive it the way they specified until you reach the oil level you are satisfied with. After all, if you ever lose your smog data, you will be doing just that as part of the recovery method anyway.

+1 for driving as I did recently. After seeing 30 mins on the electronic dipstick,I drove around the block and 30 became 5 or 10

"I love electronic dipsticks" said nobody ever! Especially given the different warmup times for different P-car models, I find that it gets really confusing. Usually, I try to remember to check the oil level when I'm out driving. Generally speaking, I personally try to carefully warm the car up as usual via light driving (aka wait until coolant temp is 175ºF to rev the car) and then check as that may not be enough of a warm-up time. If I'm checking my oil level immediately post-oil change, I absolutely don't push the car at all until I know if I've over/under-filled. Lately, with a totally thorough drain, I've been careful with my measurements and adding the correct amount hasn't required any topping off, etc. Again, what I do: Pre-oil change = check after driving around whenever​ Post-oil change = I let it carefully warm up with very light neighborhood driving, and then pull over to check​ YMMV. Hope that helps.

I use a scan tool to get the direct reading from the oil level sensor on my 981 before starting the engine. I assume you can do the same on a 987. No matter how confident I am that I’ve put enough oil in, I still like to see some confirmation. I’ve done it enough times now that I know what level to shoot for.

Don't complain as the oil meassuring procedure on the 987's is way easier and user friendly than the one on the 981 's :-(

Do tell. I was under the assumption that the annoying oil measurement method on the 987 was the worst ever. And as I am pondering selling my 987 and replacing it with a 981 I was not aware of the method used on that model.

Never assume when it comes to Porsche and oil level sensors. The 987.1 and 987.2 do it differently. On the 987.2 it is possible with a tool like a Foxwell with Porsche software to directly read the level from the level/temperature sensor. I don't believe that's possible on the 987.1 on the 987.2 the oil level displayed on the dash is measured with the engine running. On the 987.1 - the engine is off. I wouldn't be too sure about that. What is the procedure on the 981? I've never checked one.. EDIT - I'll also comment. I find it amusing to obsess about oil levels. The water-cooled flat-6 engines take between 8 and 9 liters of oil (depending on the engine). Starting in 2009 the engine went to an integral dry sump design.. a sump that is isolated from the spinning pumping bits of the engine, such as pistons, connecting rods, and the crankshaft. The sump probably has the majority of that oil, only a small quantity circulates in the engine and filter. The primary oil pump pickup (the 2009 engines have 5 oil pumps) is low in the sump. The range of the dash display is roughly 0.75 liters from low to high. 1/4 of that is 250cc - do you really think the engine runs any differently with 8.0 liters of oil vs 7.750 liters? The engines that had issues with oil pressure loss were the 2008 and earlier water-cooled H6 engine, where under extreme conditions, two things happened... under high long cornering forces oil is trapped in the outboard cylinder head (the one on the outside of the curve). That can be enough oil trapped that the non-dry sump exposes the oil pump pickup and airated oil is pumped through the engine. That's a bad thing. These issues were addressed in the 2009 engine design, by adding a scavenger oil pump at each bottom corner of the cylinder heads, and by baffling the sump from the engine so air isn't introduced into the oil, and having a oil pump pickup at the bottom of the sump that won't be exposed to air. Point is - if the OIL warning message appears, you need oil. If there is anything showing on the oil level display the car is just fine to drive. Don't obsess - enjoy the car!

Thanksalot

Very interesting thanks for sharing👌

FWIW, my 981 and 987.2 oil changes are virtually the same (although I'm running a 991.1S engine in my 981 Outlaw, but it's the same dash). Down to the same filters. One key thing though, is that I do guard against overfilling. Many crappy shops will overfill and that's when you let a little out. When I bought mine, it was very overfilled and may have caused a major and very costly oil leak that was difficult to repair. By doing a proper and flat drain of the car, one can fill it up to the proper amount and get it right at the midline of those oil fill level bars (I think 400ml per square). It's easier to top off than to remove, IMHO.

Dear Porsche ; My wife just timed in on this and says, "There was a reason for a dip stick" Lord, do any manufactures list to their customers? My wife drives a BMW x5, and as you can read she is no fan of this, industry wide idiocy. Art

No manufacturer wants you to do your own service. I think this is a way to get more folks into a dealer to do the easy jobs that traditionally were done by shade tree mechanics.