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I've read an entire thread about checking it when it's cold and an entire thread to check when its hot/warm. So which way is it?
The threads are also several years old, and people are still learning new things about the 996 today.
Here's an easy question.... Should you check oil level on the dipstick when the car is cold or hot? I've read an entire thread about checking it when it's cold and an entire thread to check when its hot/warm. So which way is it?
The threads are also several years old, and people are still learning new things about the 996 today. My local Porsche mechanic says to check when the car is still warm.
When my car is cold the oil level is right above the bottom dot, but not really on the shaft. When the car is warm, it reads about half way up the shaft(last time i checked)
I don't have an owners manual yet, so I'm not sure what that suggests. Although after reading, not everyone even trusts the owners manual.
I'm about a month away from doing my first oil change on this car...
Thanks for the input!
I have a 99, which has an electronic gauge as well as a dipstick. While my engine has pretty much the same levels between the two, the manual has different instructions for each.
For the dipstick, it wants a hot measurement.
For the gauge, it wants the shortest timer result, which is either hot or stone cold.
It says: “For checking through oil, want as much oil as possible to flow to the pan”, in which case, the engine should be very warm and after waiting for a long time, or, stone cold after the car sat overnight.
Pick whichever reading is always the highest and go from there. That way you won’t risk overfilling it.
1999 996 manual for checking oil at the gauge 1999 996 manual for checking oil using the dipstick
Thank you! this answers the question perfectly. I have an 02. Wonder if it's the same? I was just about to order all of the manuals before this Rona hit. Cost is about $230. Now I'm waiting because manuals are an unnecessary expense at the moment. Right now the car is stone cold. haven't driven it in about 5 days. Oil is at exact same level as when i checked it before last drive. Right above the lower dot. I may take it for a spin today, let it get good and warm, and check dipstick again.
Thank you! this answers the question perfectly. I have an 02. Wonder if it's the same? I was just about to order all of the manuals before this Rona hit. Cost is about $230. Now I'm waiting because manuals are an unnecessary expense at the moment. Right now the car is stone cold. haven't driven it in about 5 days. Oil is at exact same level as when i checked it before last drive. Right above the lower dot. I may take it for a spin today, let it get good and warm, and check dipstick again.
Thanks again!
Keep in mind the dots are NOT the low and full marks on the dipstick. The lines on the straight part of the stick is the low and full levels. Look closely at the drawing from the owner manual depicting the stick. The lower dot is below low and while the engine still has sufficient oil you should add oil to get it to the middle between the two lines. Check with engine cold(read overnight) and on flat surface. I was directed to do this by someone much smarter than I am about these cars.
I check mine digitally after it has set all night.
I also check it for appearance and level while warm when I refuel.
The levels normally match.
I add 1/2 quart of oil at the next refueling when I see it flashing digitally.
I have the LN Engineering 2 qt deep sump and figure I can wait for the flashing plus up to 200 miles to add oil since I have more oil in my sump than normal.
The best way to get a accurate oil level is to drive slowly the last few blocks to your garage, to allow most of the oil in the heads to be pumped back to the oil sump.
Park on level ground & check oil level the next day.
Oil is at the bottom line. I added 4 ounces today. Taking it slow and don't want to overfill. Will check tomorrow and add more if needed, which i think it probably will.
Can anyone offer an opinion how the oil drains if you just jack up the rear of the vehicle? Does that work well enough, or should the front and rear both be jacked up to get all the oil out?
Keep the car level to drain the oil. You don't have to get every ounce out (nor can you). That being said, after the oil stopped draining I did jack one side up slowly and drained some more oil.
As a point of reference, on my 02 996, after driving the car for an extensive amount of time and letting it sit for about 10 minutes, my digital oil level read 2 bars below full. Oil on the dipstick was perhaps a bit less than 1/16" below the top mark. With your current readings on the digital indicator and dipstick you are a bit low on oil.
Get a low profile oil pan that holds 10 quarts. I jack up the left rear side so I can work underneath and remove oil drain plug while my low profile oil pan is underneath the drain plug. Then I drop it back down and let it drain for a long time. Then I jack up the left rear again and because of the design of the oil sump plate a bit more oil comes out. I leave it like that for awhile, then reinstall drain plug and fill it up.
04-07-2020, 05:01 PM
