ginch

Soi just got my new to me 93 C2. Love the car but have an alarming concern. I have had an inspection done through Porsce and all is good. I noticed last night however that the engine oil indicator in the instrument cluster doesn't move and is stuck at the bottom. There are no oil low buzzers or warning lights coming on. The oil pressure guage reads correctly and the car seems to run well (no weird noises etc). I checked the dipstick with the car at operating temp and on level ground and the dipstick is dry. Kind of scaring the **** out of me. My question is, should I start with just adding one litre of oil and checking it then or what? I'm afraid of letting the car idle and run with insufficent oil levels. Someone please help!!!

Thanks in advance!

Derek

Indycam

The thing holds 12 quarts .
You do not need all 12 .
Don't worry .

Your motor needs oil added so that its full .
No big deal .

The dip stick only reads the top one quart ,
same with the gauge on the dash .
So if you have "only" 10 quarts of oil in the car ,
the dip stick and gauge see nothing .

Indycam

What brand / type of oil are you going to put in ?

ginch

Whew!! Thanks for the quick response.
Scared myself for a second!
Derek

ginch

There was a litre of castrol 20/50 in the trunk so I put that in. Dipstick reads fine now!
Derek

Indycam

Have you read up on the oil threads here ?
Good oil is hard to find in normal auto parts stores .
The ratings on the bottles need to be read with a magnifying glass .

And another thing ,
please don't overfill the oil ,
bad things happen with to much oil .
I run mine so that when the motor is real good and hot , stopped on level ground ,
the needle just gets into the bottom of the OK range .
If you ever see the needle go to the top of the gauge , that means you have a bit to much oil .

ginch

Great advice! Thanks again for the help! Muchly appreciated!
Derek

Indycam

So Ginch , where are you ?
Did you ever tell us / show us your car ?

ginch

I'm in calgary alberta. I'll post some pics once it stops freaking raining outside!!!
Derek

Andy Roe

I agree with the other replies. You have to check the oil level when the car is on level ground, but more importantly when the oil thermostat is open (so letting the oil flow through the oil cooler which is located in the from passenger fender. You can normally tell when this is the case as it'll be warm to the touch. It's normal for the oil level indicator to read zero when the car is on the move, and if it always reads zero then you may need a new oil level sender, but you should always go by the dipstick.

So, car warm - 8 o'clock on the thermostat guage, on level ground. Usually only fill so the oil is half full on the dipstick/guage.

Andy

Indycam

I'd be more than happy to take some of that rain off your hands .
Is your car the correct GP White or is it some other color ?

Marc Shaw

Any plans to track the car?

The BMW Club and PCA arrange days at RaceCity.

Welcome!

Marc

ginch

Not sure on tracking the car yet.
Sounds like fun though.

I'll start a new thread with a few pics of the car!

Derek