DaveM993

David,

Thanks is about the best description I have heard of how to check oil consumption...and create a brilliant excuse to take a drive...

Bull

As David and others said, you can get to know the individual oil level gauge on your car and know what it is telling you. I have found over several cars that the gauges are consistent for each car, but different amongst cars. Consistency is the important issue, once you get to know the individual car/gauge.

As others have said, the dip stick trumps all else.

Garth S

My limited experience is that the gauge indicates little of value: The dipstick range is ~1.5l, and I operate in the middle of that spiral section ( and forget your 928 ritual - does not apply here ... ). The electonic tank level indicator apparently spans a signifigantly smaller range - and can be made to indicate correctly by the addition of 0.25l of oil beyond the mid dipstick level; however, the slightest blip of the throttle sends the needle back into the red .... where it is apparently most comfortable.
If there is any oil showing on the dipstick, one will not run out between reasonable checks.

95 C4 993

What I have come to notice is when the needle on the guage rises off the red when at an idle, Im ok. Anywhere between 7 and 9 (as in the clock world) , my oil is fine which translates to about 1/2 to 3/4 up the dipstick. My car has never burned much oil and if I were to guess, maybe 1/2 quart ever 1500 miles.

JasonAndreas

If you look inside the oil tank at the range of motion for the oil level sender it corresponds exactly with the level markings on the dipstick. The gauge and the dipstick are both "calibrated" to the same oil temperature so if you are unsure of the accuracy of either method try to find the oil temperature where both the gauge and the dipstick read the same level. Usually it is 194F/90C
.

The problem reading the dipstick using that method is that you will be 3 quarts below the ideal level which is normally not too much of problem unless you are driving hard, like on a track. If the oil is upto temperature the gauge should trump the dipstick because the gauge is not open to interpretation like reading the stick is.

dhicks

Jason,,,always like to see posts from you, there are so full of info and usually very understandable.....I might just be slowing down and befuddled this afternoon (been reading patents and FDA docs all day....yuk) but dont understand this bit

The gauge and the dipstick are both "calibrated" to the same oil temperature so if you are unsure of the accuracy of either method try to find the oil temperature where both the gauge and the dipstick read the same level.

What do you mean and what is the relevance......this is not a dig but genuine trying to understand...thanks in advance

epj993

Since the dip stick range is 1.5L, I measured and then scribed two marks on the twist. Each mark is ~.5L (or ~1/2qt). For my gauge/dip stick combo, I fill until oil is midway between the top of the twist and my 1st scribe mark, this will read about 2:00-ish on the gauge. When the gauge starts consistently reading at the top of the red zone, oil on the dip stick will be at the 2nd scribe mark - which is approx 1L/qt low. I still verify oil level with the dip stick, but to date the gauge has been quite accurate as to my oil level.

TMc993

Following advice found here, I watched my oil level for several months and determined what "normal" is for my car. I wear trifocals and reading that damned twisted dipstick was a royal PITA.

So, after much counting of twists, repeated measures and tracking how much oil I added when the level was "here" as opposed to "there," I took a file and notched the dipstick on both edges, once at the upper end of the range of "normal" and another at the lower end of the range of "normal." The notches are not large at all but they make reading the oil level much simpler (Not foolproof, but simpler) and provide a "standard" range of normal for my car.

Manufacturers, including Porsche, used to mark their dipsticks with crosshatching or horizontal grooves that were very easy to read. I suppose the "newer" dipsticks are cheaper to produce.

I check my oil weekly and pay very little attention to the oil level gauge.

tj90

DRY SUMP LUBRICATION! Scavenges oil from the engine to the cooler.

Garth S

That is good to know the intent of synchronization: my readings are taken on the dipstick by the specified method after anything from a 15 to 150Km run. The oil temp has remained steady at a 'needle width' below the first mark( ~90C?) - and level remains constant at halfway on the spiral zone, quoted to be a 1.5l range: My particular levelgauge remains in the red at all times until the mentioned +.25l was added to the allowable .75 l indicated unfilled.
If the ranges of gauge and stick are identical, then one of the two is offset. As my car runs reasonably constant oil temp, it is difficult to know which is absolute: regardless, it is off a half liter out of 11+ at most.

[/quote] The problem reading the dipstick using that method is that you will be 3 quarts below the ideal level which is normally not too much of problem unless you are driving hard, like on a track. If the oil is up to temperature the gauge should trump the dipstick because the gauge is not open to interpretation like reading the stick is.[/QUOTE]

I was referring to readings between the marks - which is a 1.5l range: sorry if I misled to indicate that the uncalibrated tip of the stick was accountable.

JasonAndreas

If you look inside your oil tank you'll see that the dipstick is located directly next to the oil level sensor. The stick enters the tank at an angle and the sensor is also mounted at an angle.



As the temperature of oil increases so does the volume. At ~194F/90C the difference between the empty and full marks on the dipstick and your dashboard gauge should match the level difference listed on the engine compartment sticker (someone (Adrian?) mentioned the sticker was wrong in the 964, not sure if that also applies to the 993). So if the oil is at ambient 60F the level would read lower than expected and if the temperature was at 250F it would read higher.





If you look at the sensor itself there is not much to it, basically a potentiometer with a resistor track?

omilu

nice expose of the inner workings of the sender unit. With my car, I find that the guage tracks the dipstick really well, provided the engine is warm and the car is level. I still dont trust it completly, it seems to have a life of it's own, maybe ghosts of Porsches past?

Monty

What cars we have - 2 pages of posts to check the oil !!

I agree it is a tricky procedure and one that I always have doubts about and check it again. My level sensor failed recently and I replaced it - part not expensive- and the new one seems very accurate once warmed up and level.

Thaddeus

Thanks so much to everyone for the information. I now have an understandiing of what I need to do.

These cars are cool.

dhicks

Jason
Thanks for the details.....I now understand....thanks mate!