greengobln

Hey guys what are your tricks to actually get a oil level reading on dash.
It’s available only when it feels like it.
I even went to the dealership today for an oil change and it took them like 2 hours to actually get a reading.
The mechanic was telling me a lot of GT cars take a really long time to get a reading.
if any of you guys have any trucks please share.

TXshaggy

The conditions for an oil reading are in the OM. Level ground, not too hot or cold, etc..

However, even when abiding by those it’s finicky…but I’d start there.

subwoofer

I am only able to get an oil reading after I've had a couple of scotches. If you open the trunk, hatch, small fan cover (911), the car won't give you an oil reading.

After driving for sometime (30-40 miles), I can get an oil reading if I have used the trunk. Sometimes not. Regardless, after a drive and car is in the garage and cooling down, I can get an oil reading pretty consistently. If the trunk hasn't been opened, I always get an oil reading when starting the car or during my drive. Boxster 25.

Trick is to never open the trunk of the Boxster or the hatch on the Cayman. Better duct tape it until you need to add oil. But then when it needs oil and you open the trunk to add oil, you can't check the sensor to see how much oil you have added.

Ksdaoski

What car?

RoadrunnerGTS

When it refuses to give a reading, the best method I have found is that after a up to temp drive, park car on level ground and let idle for 1 min. Switch off and leave for 10 mins. Restart the car and let it idle for a minute and it should give you an oil reading. It is very annoying in these cars.

Ksdaoski

I have found the GT4rs oil reading is a lot quicker and has a "path" vs my 991.2 3.0 which seems random.... Pretty much, close the hatch, start the car and let it warm up to 170 or 175 degrees, on level ground, then check the oil level. It will then run through a 2 minute countdown on the gauge, and then show you the oil level once the 2mins is up. Have to be at a standstill for the reading, can't be driving. I don't remember the actual temp, but it will tell you if it's not warm enough. And I believe it's in the 175 range. It's prob 80 degrees Celsius which is 176...

Odin

I get my reading whenever I want as long as the cold engine light has gone. Sometimes it just need to do a 2 min countdown

348SStb

Two hours? The dealer has the computer and with that tool they can obtain the exact oil reading in percentage value as long as the oil has warmed up to 190 degrees, which doesn’t take two hours. I hope you didn’t have to pay them for their two hours.

So basically, after fill, and assuming the engine was fully hot at the start of the oil change (usually not the case at dealers since dealers bring the car in for oil change whenever they feel like it after it’s been transferred into dealer custody), the car should be fully warm with the new oil within about 15 minutes.

If doing at home, a cycle off of about 10-15 minutes is good for helping the oil level display to populate.

Opening the rear decklid (on 981/982) or rear hatch (991+) where the engine oil fill exists is okay — but if you are religious about closing it within 30 seconds, you won’t knock out the engine oil display. In my 981 Spyder, I am able to perform roof closure or opening within 30 seconds so my oil level display doesn’t get knocked out.

greengobln

Thanks for the replies.

no I didn’t have to pay them but even there computer wasn’t reacting I find it very weird

348SStb

@greengobln

What GT car are we talking about?

greengobln

all of them gt3 gt3rs etc.. they said the same thing last year about the gt cars and the ****ty readings

348SStb

All of them? I was asking which car you had brought into service, but I realize maybe you don’t wish to say. In any event, I’m trying to help as follows.

Anyone at the dealer who said such a thing is just plain wrong. Sorry to put it such stark terms, but it doesn’t take hours to achieve a reading, and the full level reading is nothing more than a small bit annoying. Need to learn how to maneuver around the limitations it imposes.
(1) The computer is able to read the oil fill level reading the moment the oil reaches operating temperature. If the dealer started the oil change after the car sat overnight when it was stone cold, then obviously the process takes much longer after the oil has been drained and filled. Engine oil in a stone cold car running at idle can take 30-35 minutes to reach operating temperature.
(2) If the engine oil change is done on a car shortly after it was brought into the shop at full operating temperature, about 10-12 minutes of run time at idle after oil fill would bring the new oil to operating temperature; assuming the plug-in computer is malfunctioning and the car’s fill level does not display, an ignition switch-off and a timeout of about 10-15 minutes before switching on again should bring the oil level reading back to life.

Naturally your situation could have unique variables involved which resulted in a difficulty of obtaining a fill level reading, but it is absolutely not the case that it takes an excessive amount of time to obtain a fill level reading on the GT cars. As @Ksdaoski said, the fill level reading on the GT cars with the dry sump 4.0L engine is achieved more quickly than on the other cars. A 718 GT4 (GT “lite,” so to speak), for example, behaves differently but the same principles above apply. I changed the oil myself on my 991.2 three days ago, and I obtained the fill level reading without use of the computer by waiting with the car off about 15 minutes after running the car for 20 minutes to bring the new oil to operating temperature. If I had the computer to plug in, the reading would have been achieved the moment oil temperature reached 190 (or I think it may be 192) degrees Fahrenheit, and no ignition switch-off would have been necessary.

Reedy

If you open the rear trunk regularly then you're gonna have a bad time.

The only way that always works is to use an OBD Scan tool, that reports the live oil level readout.