Soulteacher

Our airport security people find it every time... at the regional airport there is a control station outside the main entrance where they check what you have in your trunk... (stupid waste of money to begin with because you can have boxes and suitcases and tools and what not and they still let you through)... in either case, they always ask to see the trunk and then walk to the back of the car where, ta taaaaa, they find the engine.

Likemystoppie?

Relax abe- it's all in good fun. And yes, Rennlist has amoungst the MOST classy out of any other web based forum for Porsche. fyi....

_Nathan

Never mind, I found it. It was in the trunk.

cag64

Test. You just got your oil changed at the dealer, are you sure? In the old days to check, just pull out that trusted dip stick, sure enough fresh clean oil running all over that bad boy. I guess to be sure now you have change it yourself.

richc

I've trained a small mouse to scamper down the pipe thru which we add oil, he carries a small thimble attached to his tail. When he reaches the oil, I spin him around with the tether I have attached to his front leg, the thimble dips into the oil and I pull him out. It's worked out pretty well so far. If you decide to train your own mouse, don't do on a hot engine. I went thru a couple of mice before I figured that out. You won't get a full thimble of oil, but you'll get enough to tell how dirty it is.

Edgy01

I've tried what you suggest but I'm not getting the mice back out! (So far I have lost several). How do you secure the tether really well? I'm a little concerned about restarting the engine with them in there.

Minok

Which makes it very easy and convenient to check when you fill the tank as the engine is warm then. Just remember to do it.

GMS

Welcome to the new world, many new cars do not have dipsticks any more.
Lots' of them don't have spare wheels either.

Edgy01

At the Concours on Sunday I had to explain to the judge that there is no spare, no jack, and then proceeded to show her where the rudimentary "tool kit" is.

Cope

I'm not sure how richc does it, but I always tie a running bowline. No problems so far.

Charlie C

Having no dipstick seems like a disaster waiting to happen. I mean you're depending on an electrical connection to monitor the oil level. If something fails, you won't know that the oil level is too low. At least with a dip stick, there's nothing that can fail.

Sadiq

oops... 7-month old thread

mdrums

,,,and also the 09 is not very accurate. Try this....check you oil and not the reading....then turn the car off and wait 3-4 minutes and re-check. For example if you are at 1/2 or lower on the 1st reading you will be higher or full on the second reading!

Minok

A dipstick would not save you from disaster. If there is a problem and the oil drops while driving, in all cases you are relying on an electronic sensor to tell you to stop the engine NOW. Its true that a dipstick will give you a more reliable (from getting a reading) read of the oil level in a pan.

The issue I've got with the electronic reader is the time it takes (around 15-20 seconds of idling after I refill at the gas station (that way its at the same hot-engine state)... but also that the reading is VERY sensitive to the position of the car. The slightest incline affects the reading it seams. That is one reason to use a gas station to get readings - the spot by the pump is usually horizontal (unlike garages which slope down out the door).

I've seen what mdrums has indicated. I've checked the oil as I parked in the garage and got one reading. After the car was off, I started it again and got an entirely different reading. So it seems that the time the engine has been running also affects the level reading.

Thankfully the precise level isn't that critical. If the level doesn't show any bars for a proper reading, put in 1/2 quart, then start it up again and let the engine run a bit and repeat, until you get just under full bars.

Its a shame that the oil fill and tire pressure procedures are such confusing and flakey processes that are not just simple 'slam dunk' operations. Part of the problem is surely the instructions given by the manufacturer and the number and variety of ways of obtaining the setting readout or setting level. (if you give me 3 places to get a proper tire pressure level form, I'm sure I can arrive at 3 different amounts for the pressure I should be running). Part is the design of the car - its not the same as the vertical 4-cylinder 2.0l VW engine my Golf had where the oil just drained down into the pan at the bottom meaning a cold engine dipstick look is all it takes. These engines don't provide for such a simple mechanical reading; they require reading oil levels at during operation at operational conditions.. and that makes it a bit tricky.