Balr14

I had the 60k service done on my 09 C2S about 6 weeks ago... it included an oil change. I thought they did a very thorough and professional job, so I didn't give it a second thought. Just for the hell of it, I checked the oil level today, after driving it for about 20 miles. It read solid white all the way to the top of the display. I thought it was supposed to read between the two marks on the display that are about 1/4" apart. Does this mean they over-filled it? Is that even possible? I haven't noticed anything wrong, the car is running better than when I got it.

okbarnett

if its over filled, it will say over filled

spyd

Don't you wish you had a 'dip-stick'? I know I certainly do. (and regular lugged wheels) LOL.

Bruce In Philly

Check your invoice.... it should show how much they put in. I believe they have a pump pulling from some tank and measures the flow as they do it and they then charge you for that fill.

Peace
Bruce in Philly

ADias

After a drive when the car is still warm, remove the oil filter and replace it with a new one. That should bring the oil level down enough.

sleepy

Overfill is an actual warning that the car will tell you, so it's certainly possible to overfill. When it'll tell you is a bit of a mystery. In my case, I bought my car and drove 400 miles home just fine, but the overfill warning showed up a couple days later on a short evening drive. The oil level was all the way to the top like yours, and later drives consistently gave me the overfill warning until I got it fixed.

Wayne Smith

An over fill is bad. Better to have it down a mark. On the 997.2 a small removal is difficult. But I wouldn't run it if the gauge is all the way to the top bar, especially considering thermal expansion.

If you're patient you can loosen the drain plug a very little bit and wait for a pint or two to drip out.

Balr14

I have heard that overfill can damage the AOS... but I don't know if that's true. I think I should take it back to the Porsche dealer that did the oil change.

Dennis R. Cliff

Hold on! My 09 C2S oil gauge (computer screen on dash) was solid black after a thirty mile freeway trip. The oil level was measured on a dead level concrete floor while idling. I had just bought this car and have a post on Rennlist about my fear of cylinder scoring. My exhaust ports on the heads and tail pipes were very sooty. I opened the oil drain and had no trouble removing 18 fluid ounces of oil. This brought the oil level to the top bar on the computer gauge. That is with white showing above the correct full oil line. If your oil gauge shows all white, that means that you are low on oil. If you put in some oil you should see some black on the gauge. After I put 180 miles of fast driving on the car the oil level dropped a slight amount (same concrete garage floor with car idling), This drop in level was due to the engine burning oil which apparently some Porches do. This drop meant less black on the gauge and a little more white. So my car was over filled by 18 ounces and the computer gave no indication of that.

Dennis R. Cliff

I forgot to mention that if you measure the oil with the car not sitting level, you will get an inaccurate reading. The way that the computer tell you that the car is over filled is with solid black on the gauge.

Bruce In Philly

Your oil level can drop after extended driving due to water being evaporated out from the hot oil... you may not be burning as much as you think.

Peace
Bruce in Philly

C4SDayton

I just had my first oil change. I will bw doing every other change myself going forward, but I got a good walk-around under car and lots of questions answered for the $75, so happy to give the indy the business to establish a relationship. I took them 9 quarts of oil and told them I would top off so not to worry about getting it to upper mark. I left with about 0.6 quarts left and reading near upper mark. Next time I will take them 8 .5 quarts. Less for them to think about=less likely to ever overfill.

Dennis R. Cliff

Bruce, thank you for making that excellent comment.

linderpat

I'm not sure I understand what you are talking about.

1. Do you measure your oil with the car idling? I've never heard of that, and do not think that this could result in an accurate measurement. With the car idling, the oil is being circulated through the engine and related lines/coolers, etc. So how could you measure it? Will the computer even show a measurement under these circumstances? Maybe it's a 997.2 thing?

2. how does the guage showing all white, which on my car (a 997.1) means it full, indicate on your car that the oil is not full? Do you have reverse gauges?

Wayne Smith

The 997.2 measures while idling and after warm up (some water shed, thermal expansion somewhat complete). It needs to pump oil from the pan into the sump tank to complete the measurement so running while sitting on a flat surface is required.

White (lit) indicates oil level ... not black.

You cannot remove the filter to remove oil like on the 997.1.

The level should (IMHO) always leave a blank (not lit) square toward the top. Better to be a bit low than too high.

One teaspoon can make a difference in a block being on or off (is 1.5 rounded to 1 or 2?). Thermal expansion is a lot more than this. So your measurements can vary day to day and with the surface you are measuring on.

Different cars appear to drain differently, although the oil changes I have done for friends have all resulted in 7.5 quarts out and 7.5 quarts in.

The only way to know how much to fill is by taking a level reading before drain, measure the drained amount, and adjust per the initial reading (add some of it was low before the drain, subtract some if it was high).

Dealers dump oil into a shared drain tank. They don't measure the drained quantity. They then proceed to pour in a set amount. It's a great way to run a business, but a lousy way to get a proper fill.