Hi All;

Garaged my 2005 c2 for 5 mos with a full sump of brand new 5-40 Motul with level exactly at the full mark.
Upon returning took the car out on the highway for a 50 minute round trip.
Next week I get in the car the level is down one segment (.4 litres).
Drove the car exactly as before. After cooling overnite, oil is down another segment.
This car never used oil. Not driven hard, 23k miles on the od.
There is no visible leakage, no oil on floor, no smoke during driving, undercarriage is dry,
no oil visible in coolant reservoir. Car drives fine.
What a disappointment for such a great running car.

Any actual experience or armchair advice appreciated!
Sully

 

Very difficult to make a reliable statement. As long as the minimum level is not reached, I would advise against any refilling. The target should always be half full. After an oil change, mine also needs a few kilometers to become stable; do not worry. Of course, a faulty measurement would also be conceivable, but only the next measurements will show that. And in general: drive more! ;-)

 

Yea it may have been full when you changed it, or you thought so, but unless you put a few on it, it was not full, especially after the oil filter fills up too...

 

Anecdotally, and more something I've seen on my 997.2, one of my Lotus cars would sit for a month at a time when I was traveling for work. Once I got home it would leak oil, badly. The seals had shrunk. After a week of driving the leaks stopped. Then if head out of town and the cycle would start again.

I haven't seen this at all in the 997.2. But it's like a house wants to be lived in and a garden dies without frequent visits, cars want to be driven.

 

Probably an artifact of the measuring system. Your first reading rounded up to the top mark but it might be at the edge of the threshold.

 

I guess I will mention it, sitting for 5 months then driven hard will leave you with inaccurate oil levels, as getting the car up to temp and running it will burn off some water that might be in the system, and the oil gauge is notoriously inaccurate, and the cars are very easy to overfill. I would echo others and not add oil, but drive at least 1-2 times per week, then measure the oil level.

 

After changing the oil did you let it idle a bit to get the new oil circulated through the new filter and other areas? If not, this could be the source of one level down after a drive.

I always got my oil changed at the dealer and it always took longer than I expected but without any issues. Once, the oil change did not take very long and and I noticed that when getting ready to start the car it was already down one segment. So, an additional quart was added and off I went.

 

Great success! It was as most of you suggested, the measuring system was out of sync with the actual
amount of oil in the sump. I did my test run today and the level displayed at the exact same spot from start to finish.
Many thanks to you all. As usual, Great Forum!
Sully

 

On the .1 cars the only accurate and meaningful measurement is after the car has sat for several hours and then it is measured before you start it. Having it at the same spot from start to finish doesn't sound like you are measuring it properly, or accurately.

 

Measured cold, drove car, waited 6 hours and remeasured.

 

Then you're good to go!!!
😀