Aircooled Dave

I really don’t see why Porsche actually bothered installing this gauge. A simple ‘idiot’ light would seem adequate. The oil level gauge is basically useless since its only accurate under a certain set of conditions and the only thing it does reliably is confuse people. Why install a gauge prominently in the dash that is only accurate on level ground at idle and with the oil at a certain temperature, which some cars never get to depending on length of drive/climate? The dipstick works just fine for that purpose and there is no confusion when reading it. Unless you’re a car freak and know how a dry sump oil system flows and why an oil tank is even necessary, it’s just plain hard to understand its purpose.

Edward

I dunno, I actually like the guage. Maybe it's because mine pretty well reflects the dipstick; I'd likely have a diff opinion if it were screwy as is many folks' here, but it seems the "bend the arm" remedy is the easy solution here. The simplest reason for my liking the gauge is that if offers me a "snapshot" of my oil level, and I monitor it over the months between each oil change (a stoplight after the car is hot offers a quick opportunity for the guage to work as it should ...nothing easiler than that!!). I still check the dipstick every now and then at fillups, but the gauge gives me an idea of what's happening in that tank of mine, and I like that. Much better than an idiot light which, IMHO, is absolutely useless (gee, the light is on, I must be out of oil....doh!!!).

Edward

cpdjfd107

Maybe my gauge is just really off or my car runs just really cool but I can never get my temp gauge to read at 9 0'clock unless it sits and idles for about 10 minutes and even then I have to give it some gas to get the thermostat to open up to really get the oil level gauge to move. Once it is warmed up it does read accurately but getting to the appropriate temp is difficult for me.

mike cap

I think you may be missing the point that the aircooled engine is really air/oil cooled. The 12 quarts of oil are for lubrication and cooling. Porsche installed the gauge because a proper oil level is critical to engine life. I find it a handy tool to have and find it very accurate.