enzotcat

So....

991.2 Carrera S, GTS turbos, APR stage 3 tune

Seems like my oil consumption has gone through the roof. I had a truly bizarre situation yesterday where I checked the oil, it showed at the minimum safe level - i.e., no warning light or anything like that - and then after a few minutes it returned to a level that was mid-way between minimum and maximum. Went to the place that did my turbos, chatted to them, filled it up to the max level. On the 10 minute drive home, the level dropped a little. Drove it some 50 miles today, level dropped a little more. There’s no oil leak I can see on the floor under the car in the garage, there’s no oil seepage I can see on the underside of the car, and all I see at the back of the car is soot from burning gasoline. I don’t see any purplish smoke clouds or anything like that.

It’s going back to the shop tomorrow for them to look it over closely, but I’m both really concerned by this and completely mystified. For those of you who have some combination of TiAL turbos, upgraded GTS turbos, or a standard GTS with stage 3 tune, what is your oil consumption like? Is this normal? (I suspect not). Any thoughts on what could be happening here would be greatly appreciated. @Arin@APR or @Tyler@APR - in your copious spare time (which I’m sure is not very much :-) ), do you have any thoughts on this - what could the installers have missed/done wrong/etc. that could lead to this? Am I being totally paranoid?

BSO

I'm no expert, but you didn't mention when the you tuned the car and added the larger turbos. This oil issue apparently started post mods.

Also, to keep everything equal, I would check the oil level over several days at the same time, and similar conditions, after driving and warm and siting for a while and maybe overnight when cold.

Also has your driving changed, are you pushing the car harder, different environment?

Good luck in finding the cause.

BTW, 15k on my 911.2 C4S and no oil consumption noted between 3 changes.

enzotcat

March 8 was when it was tuned and had the larger turbos installed. Yes, the oil issue started post modification.

That’s what I’ve been doing w.r.t. the oil for a couple of days, because previously I had noticed that it seemed to be going down.

Yeah, I’m probably pushing the car harder because, well, 554HP does that to you 🤣. That said, I would not have expected to see the strange fluctuation (which occurred without hard driving), and would not have expected to see the level decrease the way it has done over the last 2 days.

enzotcat

So.........

I think I’m (a) paranoid, (b) over-anxious. I *thought* I had checked the oil at the same temp as other times, but I think it was colder. Obviously oil expands a little when it’s hot. Also, previously I had not been as obsessive as checking the oil level. Prior to changing the turbos, if I’d checked it 10 times in 2 years it was a lot; well, since then I’ve checked it something like 500 bajillion times. So naturally you notice things you wouldn’t have otherwise.

This morning, prior to taking it back to the shop, I let the car run for about 30 minutes, let it get properly up to temperature, and lo and behold suddenly the oil level was back to where it was before my onset of panic and fear. Then I went and drove it for 40+ minutes, and wailed on it as much as I could. The oil level didn’t budge from that nice high level. So, went and chatted to the service folk, ended up saying I’ll keep an eye on it for a while, but there’s zero real evidence outside of my panic-addled brain that suggests that there is anything really wrong. It seems like the vagaries of the Porsche oil level display are many and subtle.

DaveGee

I have no idea if your tune is causing oil consumption. However, I do know that the proper way to check your oil level, as defined in the owners manual, is to drive the car, get up to operating temps, park the car on a level surface, and then wait 90 seconds before checking your oil. Any checking of the oil level while you are driving the car, or while the car is cold should be considered suspect.

And, I wouldn’t worry about trying to get your oil level to “max”. Anything between “min” and “max” is considered normal. In fact, midway between the two is perfect.

DaveGee

asellus

Damn buddy, you worry a lot!

Don't worry about it. Anything within the green bar is good, and as mentioned above, you don't want to actually put it up to max. I'm sure there's an actual procedure involved to get a proper reading. Don't have my owner's manual handy at the moment, but it'll be in there. At the very least it'll be "be at operating temperature and on level ground" -- I know on older 911s there's a song and dance you have to do before getting out your carpenter's level to make sure the earth truly is flat (don't tell the round earthers about this).

For what it's worth, nearly every time I've looked at my oil level it's been different. It varies based on angle, temperature, and whatever probably overcomplicated measuring algorithm the germans programmed into the car. For me, that's as much as 1/3rd of the bar -- but again, I just kinda check it *****-nilly to make sure it's still in the green. Even if it wasn't in the green, the MFD will yell at you for having low oil (and again for having dangerously low oil).

All that said, the car WILL use oil. May not be enough to notice on the MFD, but it happens. It's a flat-6 and turbocharged.

enzotcat

Hah, yes, I do tend towards worrying and being over-concerned about the smallest variation in things, especially after I've done something like an upgrade to the car. It's funny how the mind works - you spend years habitually doing things one way (in this case it's only occasionally glancing at the oil level over a period of 2+ years), and then the moment something changes (i.e., you install bigger turbos), you change your behavior. Witness my obsessive checking of the oil level. I'm pretty sure I've never checked it after a track day and only occasionally before a track day. Rightly or wrongly, I've simply relied upon the very frequent dealer visits that I do after or before track days - oil changes, brake bleeds, etc. - to ensure that the oil level is fine. So essentially I have zero reference for "the before times" - that 2 or so year period before I upgraded the turbos. Bad me, I know. Thanks for the anecdotal info - it's good to know that other people's oil levels fluctuate somewhat as well.

polobai

Completely normal-stop stressing and enjoy the car and the new found power!

BSO

This whole episode could have been prevented if we had a simple, non-technical method to check oil level.

How could we accomplish this?

Maybe a flexible metal rod, with one end etched with calibration marks, the other end equipped with a cap and loop.

Have this travel down a slender tube in into the oil pan and oil level could be seen on the rod when pulled back out.

We can call it an oil level measuring rod.

Too long, how about dipstick? Could catch on. 🤔

enzotcat

Best. Reply. Ever.

bmchan

New 996 owner here. I hate this oil level measuring rod thing you refer to - at least on these cars. Getting a reading on the plastic orange end is a PITA.