birdseye

Hi
Bit concerned about the oil level in my car, took it to a non-Porsche sports car specialist for an oil change and they said it 'took more oil than they thought it would' which didn't sound good and now the needle is reading right at the top of the scale- admittedly I haven't got it hot yet to take a proper reading but I don't really want to drive it before I know how full it is. Is there a way to check the level before the oil is hot?
Thanks
Rob

David A

Well, if the needle is at the top before it's hot, there is a good chance it's overfilled. I would remove a liter or two when the car is cold so it doesn't burn you then I would warm it up and check it. Did the shop tell you how many liters it took? How many bottles?

garrett1021

Oh lawd you better hope it's not over filled,

Look up my thread "who wants to see the results of an overfilled engine"

It's pretty gruesome

creaturecat

I would drop a couple of litres out, and then warm it up.
I have been forced to pay for oil changes, when getting valves adjusted. (normally i do the oil changes myself).
Each time (3X), it was overfilled approximately 1.5 litres. I could smell it on the way home.

I like mine nearer the bottom of the scale, when warm.

chicabum

Overfilling could be very unpleasant. Depending on how much, you could have an oil spill that could lead to a fire in the engine bay.
Use the oil stick to check the level. Unfortunately the engine must be hot, the car leveled an idling for at least 30 seconds. Nonetheless all instructions in the manual should be followed. The amount of oil on an oil change is not always equal to the oil capacity, unless you took special precautions to drain it. Be very carefully in over trusting the oil indicator, the stick is less confortable but more reliable. The appropriate readings on the dashboard could vary from model to model. If you know it is overfilled, I would take it out until right. On my car (Non 964) I like the needle to be half way when is reading time.

KaiB

Call the shop and find out precisely how much they put in (this out of curiosity so you can post here and let us know).

Drain two liters from the tank, start the car, and then go through the standard warm to temp, check level and add till your happy with it. You may find its perect without any addition at all.

Do your own work from now on.

sml

yes ... it should be at the bottom of the red at pretty much all times, unless the car is:
(a) idling for 20 minutes or
(b) at 6000rpm at the track on a hot day
in this circumstances, then the oil level might get to half-way.

jorijori

How do you drain 2 liters? Engine sump, oil tank, thermostat plug?
The least messy method. TIA.

barney55

Well my car is always serviced at an official dealer and when i get it back with

fresh oil, the oil guage is at the top mark with the temp at about

7 to 8 o clock.

And it was never over filled in 14 yrs of ownership.so who is right ?

PorscheDoc

Drain it ALL and start over. Don't expect a tech to be honest about admitting how many quarts of oil he put in when it is obvious he made a mistake (if he even remembers). Chalk it up to a learning experience on where not to take your car.

crg53

If the oil level is within the marks on the dipstick at operating temp, then you are not overfilled, or underfilled for that matter. The correct temp at which to check the oil level is 194 F.

crg53

Interesting statement, where did you get that information from. ????

birdseye

Thanks for the replies. I feared the worst but wasn't sure if the needle would drop when it warmed up (wishful thinking)
I had a funny feeling it wasn't going to work out well when I booked it in......

As you can probably tell I don't know much about working on these cars, how would be the best way to drain a couple of litres?

Thanks again

KaiB

Drain the oil tank completely and then close it up. You can do this with a cold system as all is nice and fresh. You'll need the standard stuff, jack, tools and a new crush washer.

Add back in the contents you drained out less 2 liters and go from there.

If you hesitate to do this, then ask a friend who can wrench to assist or guide you. Only issue I can think of would be overtightening the drain plug/crush washer.

creaturecat

oil tank. cold oil. big flat catch pan. a steady hand.
pretty easy. make sure you are in a comfortable position to finesse the drain plug.