rwiii

I change my own and it usually takes 9.5 quarts give or take but is there a significant amount of oil left in the engine that doesn't make it to the pan or is it negligible/fraction of a quart. I seem to remember that was the case with the air-cooled cars where oil played a significant role in cooling the engine. I googled it but all I turned up was the amount needed for an oil change, not the total capacity.
Thanks.

5CHN3LL

From an old Renntech post:

"Porsche changed oil fill capacities somewhere along the line during 996 production due to the cars smoking during turns. There is a technical bulletin somewhere detailing the specifics. The cars with the greater fill capacities can be identified via the dipstick. If your dipstick has tangs on it at the yellow ring, it is the new style and the capacity is .5 (cant remember exactly if its liters or quarts) less than the previous style. On the earlier cars, around 9.2 quarts give or take a tenth seems to work and the newer cars seem to take around 8.7 give or take a tenth. When you take about amounts down to the tenth of the quart or liter you have to take into consideration the amount of time you let the oil drain."

5CHN3LL

...and the subsequent post from the same thread also had useful info re: when you check the oil can change the results...
-----
There is a letter in Excellence April 2005 ed. page 22-26 that explains this very issue. In the letter Bruce Anderson is explaining to someone the proper method of checking the Oil in modern 996 type cars. As their are four different methods of checking the Oil Bruce go's on to say "How you check your oil will result in different readings. When you check the engine cold, you will get a higher reading than with the other methods. All the oil has run back in the sump, resulting in this higher reading, with the warm check procedures, there is always going to be some oil off in the far corner of the engine, so you will get a resulting lower reading." The four methods of checking the Oil in a 996 from the article. 1. With the engine cold when you turn the ignition key to "Accessory" (Gauge method) 2. By switching a warm engine off then turning the key back on and waiting for the time to run down to zero. 3. What Porsche calls the automatic oil level measurement when you are fueling. The motor must be warm. This presumes the engine is shut off for a few minutes (about 5) but less than 15 min. When you turn the key back on the oil level is displayed for approx. one minute. 4. The Old fashioned way, with the dipstick (Cold engine) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- the article go's on to say that the newer 997 and 997S cars no longer have dipsticks so you have to rely on the gauge on the instrument panel. The bottom line is just check the oil cold on a 996 and it will be fine. This method gives a more realistic picture of the current oil capacity. A little of topic but pertinent. D Man

rwiii

No, I'm asking it it's like a quart or two. Like a lot of oil.

rwiii

So sorry I didn't properly articulate. After you have drained all the oil from the pan, is there a significant amount of oil left in the engine or does it pretty much all feed into the pan.

Macster

There can be several liters of oil left in the engine even after a hot oil drain interval of 1 hour, or even overnight.

I don't have the numbers for the NA 996 engine but I have the numbers for the Turbo engine.

Engine oil capacity is approx. 12.5l.
Change quantity is 8.5l.
With filter change this increases to 8.75l.

The Turbo drain procedure calls for the oil to be hot (at least 70C IIRC) and a drain interval of 20 minutes.

The NA 996 engine probably retains less oil as it does not have the turbos, their oil lines, etc.

rwiii

I was almost going to end my original post with, "someone wake up Macster". I don't know how you do it.

islaTurbine

I just changed mine. I put in 9 quarts and that filled her nearly to the full mark on the dipstick and halfway up on the digital gauge.

kromdom

I keep my routine simple: drain 9, pour 9. Change the oil once per year and not once have I checked oil levels in between changes. YMMV.

Gretch

Often when I change the oil I let it drain over night. Once I replaced the oil catch basin with an empty 2# coffee can when the oil was down to drips......... I let the jack down so the car would sit flat (coffee can had clearance from bottom of crank case).

Came back the next day and coffee can was full and about a half a cup or so overflowed on to shop floor.

Mine is a 2000 C4. don't know if that matters, and not sure of there are oil lines that run up to an oil cooler in front.

I was surprised how much oil the girl takes so i always get 10 quarts in preparation for an oil / filter change.

Byprodriver

I'll say about 1/4th-1/2 quart more oil can be drained by removing the sump pan & allowing oil to drain for a week after removing drain plug & filter while engine is over 150 degrees. The key is removing as much old oil as is practicle. There is no need to waste time trying to get the oil level perfectly at the full mark.

porschedog

Gotcha - check when cold. The dipstick is good for whacking people who hover and offer advice, not much else.

FYI, the oil on the GT3 must be checked wile the beast is running. It won't "let" you check it until it has deemed the oil warmed up. One does not argue with a Mezger engine.

rwiii

Guys please. I'm not talking about what you drain. I'm talking about how much oil is in the engine AFTER you drain your 9 or 9.5 quarts.
I'm going with Macster's answer. Thanks for all the 9 quart answers but he's right. About 4 quarts remain in the engine regardless of how much you drain from the sump. This is his world. The rest of us are just guests.

Chiamac

Isn't that more of a dry sump anyway?

I don't really check it either, and when I do it's only to make sure the oil is somewhere on the scale or between the marks. I guess now we're saying it has around 10-12 quarts, a little low or not on the mark isn't going to hurt things all that much.

Ahsai

That's not my experience when I dissembled an M96 engine. I didn't measure but I estimate around 1~2qts. No way the engine can hold 4 quarts w/o the sump. Most of the residual oil was in the bottom of the cam covers.