I know there are a thousand oil related questions however I'd like to ask anyways. I recently had my oil changed on my 93 C2. I've noticed that the oil level guage seems to read quite high at normal operating temp. It used to be kind of in the middle but now almost spikes to the top. I read a few posts on here about overfill and people had mentioned that if the idle hasn't been affected due to a oily ISV that it should be fine. Also, there is none of the white smoke issues that maney people have mentioned on overfills. I've run the car about 600 miles in past month in hopes that the level would drop however it hasn't. Since this oil change, I have noticed oil drips on my garage floor. I looked under the car and what used to be completely dry, now isn't. I noticed a lot of caked on and somewhat wet oil on my passenger side muffler(heat exchanger?). Could this be caused by the overfill? I just don't know what my recourse with the shop that did the oil change is. I phoned them and mentioned to them my concern and they told me to bring the car by for them to look at it.
Thanks in advance!

Derek

 

Well I would bring it in see what they say. The guage from what I have learned is just a tool to look at oil level but you need the dipstick

 

It may be an overfill. Oil expands as it gets hotter and the suggested procedure in our cars is after draining the old oil and changing the filter to put 6 quarts with the engine off. Then start the car and while idling pour additional quarts until both the dipstick and gauge show that the tank is full.

You don't mention using the dipstick in the engine compartment, have you checked it?

You can also always use the old turkey baster method and take some oil out of the oil filler neck. Then see if that changes anything.

 

Also on a side not what is that located right in front of the oil fill neck. Clear cylinder says min max on it.

 

Power steering hydraulic fluid reservoir.

 

I haven't used the actual dipstick as I find it very difficult to read. As far as potential damage, could an overfill cause leaks? It just seems very coincidental that I now have drips on the floor.

 

What oil did you use and what are you using now? When was the last time you had the oil changed?

 

I had the oil changed about 1 month ago. I believe they used a 20w50 non synthetic.

 

Right on!
Same, here, Ginch!

[Rant on]

I may say the odd, snarky remark about those (rear oil tank) SC's and 3.2's -- but man, when it comes to checking oil levels, I LOVE their little 1-ft long, 1/4"-wide, flat dipsticks.
Easiest oil level read there is -- bar none!

OTOH...
The 964's spaghetti-diameter, yard-long 'wire' sucks -- plain and simple!

I wish I could meet the factory person(s) who signed off on two things of the 964 (so I could deliver a swift kick to the nuts):

1. The crappy red plastic of the tail lights
2. The crappy spaghetti wire oil dipstick design

[Rant off]

 

I dunno guys, I've never had an issue reading the dipstick. Sure, it sometimes leaves a long narrow streak along the edge but it shows the oil level, at least in the 2 964's that I've owned, pretty clearly.

 

If it's caked on....that must be old oil that's been weeping out but not dropping to the floor. Or do you think it's been caked on in the 1 month since the oil change? Is it a lot of oil dripping onto the floor? Can you locate where the leak is coming from? If it's coming from the engine (seals, gaskets etc), I don't think the shop would be cracking open the engine and then closing it back up for an oil change. Might be the new oil is getting through a leak that's always been there. If it's coming from a place where the tech had to open up...oil filter...oil cooler etc...then they may not have tightened it up or something.

 

+1...it's not the easiest but it's also not rocket science. Usually takes a few takes but I eventually get it.

 

Hey man,

Thanks for the reply. The oil seems to be dripping from the passenger side in front of the muffler (heat exchanger). Its pretty minimal (2 dime size drops every few days). I just think that if it truly was overfilled, wouldn't the oil pressure guage be pegged really high all the time?

 

Another reason I loathe it. That lack of certainty -- about the one fluid level that's *critical* to engine well-being -- always leaves me try, try, trying again to make out if that's the oil level... or just the oil smear.

Put another way, would Porsche's famed tachometer placement/legibility be as renowned if it, too, took "a few takes" to read correctly?

I think the design could have been made 'human factors'-friendly by merely squishing the wire slightly flat for the last half foot of its length, is all.
Round wire I find difficult to read.
It's just penny-squeezing cheap, or user needs-indifference that I think explains the wire dipstick.

Yeah... I know... I should consider myself lucky. I could have a flat-bladed dipstick in the driveway, in my 1993... Corvette.

 

Could it be when they emptied the oil there was some splash onto the frame or belly pan, now it is dripping the old oil that they did not wipe off?

I ask this because where you describe the leak is near where the drain is for the tank. Maybe check the plug too.