jplanaux

... I sit here fuming. You see, my car is two years old. The service light in x many days has been on. So I took it in for service for my $240 oil change - and they could turn off the light.

Well, normally I change my own oil, but I needed to turn off the light. And normally it takes me 1/2 hour to change my own oil, give or take. The dealer kept my car for 4 hours. I kept myself busy (wasting one of my precious weekend days) by spending four hours in the mall and bookstore. What a drag that was.

This morning wifie wanted to drive the Porsche. I said wait and let me check the oil level. Turn out the damn thing was overfilled. I emptied the oil filter, cranked it up and had to wait thirty minutes to check it again. Checked it again and the thing is still overfilled. I am hoping I can get it to a reasonable level before the end of the day.

And who is responsible for this mess. Well I won't mention any names, but I live in New Orleans and the owner I think is somehow affiliated with the Saints.

And guess what? People had warned me not to take my car there. I had interviewed a independent Porsche shop. And I knew I should take my car to the independent. But the hours were not quite as good.

Boy do I feel like a smuck!

Chris from Cali

Talk to the service manager, then the general manager... If they won't take care of you (i.e. redo the work and give a free service next time), report them to the Better Business Bureau. Posting the names of ****ty dealerships on the internet is no crime - it's an effective tool to prevent others from suffering your fate.

I hope your day today improves!!! It can't be all bad, you've got a 997!

richc

Lesson learned. I'm curious, with no dipstick how did you know they had over filled it with oil?

gota911

The gauge on the right in the attached pic shows the correct amount of oil in the car. However, if the small bar at the top of the oil level gauge (see red arrow) is white, then the car has been over filled with oil.

Malakas

That sucks.

For what its worth - I think Benson sold those dealerships a few years ago. There is great Porsche guy I used to go to in NOLA -- Greff Motors. They used to be across from Oschner, but I hear they moved to Metarie. The owner has an incredibly beautiful Gulf Blue 88 911. I've had good experiences there.

Good Luck.

dD/dt

Randy's a decent guy (Greff Motors). He used to service my '88 when I lived there. The routine stuff was fine. We had a bit of a falling out right before I sold it, over whether a quoted diagnostic price is just that, or if it's only that if it's easy and quick to figure out what's going on. At the time, though, he was the best show in town.

I would definitely take your problem up with the service mgr. BBB has become completely useless these days. If the service mgr doesn't listen, dispute the charges on your credit card.

Best of luck.

jplanaux

The independent that I was thinking of was Greff. He will get my business from now on. The Porsche dealership has lost my business. I drained 1.2 qts out of the car. I think that the service guy must not have completely drained it, or he miscounted filling. It also shows how thorough they are when checking things. I have heard of people who drive to the nearest dealer (60 miles one way) in Baton Rouge. I understand why. One might wonder about the inconvenience, but I lost two hours draining the filter, washing my hands and wiping tools and the underside of my car down.

On a positive note, I got lots of practice pulling the filter off. I know that nobody is going to change my oil again. Next time, I may just pay whatever for them to turn the damn service light off.

dD/dt

Does it require a computer or proprietary device to turn off? My wife's Acura uses a comination of key position and button pushing.

Tinluver

Just looked at my oil reading.It is in the same over fill spot as your red arrow shows.Had my oil changed for the first time on my 08 about a month ago at a dealer in Long Island. Is this reading to the very top OK or are many dealers FUp?

CMOS

Good question. I had my oil changed at a dealer in NoVA last week and it came back with the bars completely filled in, suggesting an overfill.

I'm going to guess that the dealers drain the oil, and then just put in "x" amount of oil. Even if it shows all bars, it's probably not massively overfilled to the point of a problem. That's my hope anyway!

gota911

The green arrows in the attached diagram show the Minimum and Maximum ACCEPTABLE range of oil in the car.

If the actual oil level is below the Minimum line, the oil indicator will blink and you should add oil immediately.

If all the gauge segments are filled to the top line (red arrow) then the oil has reached the maximum mark, and under no circumstances should oil be added.

The problem with filling the oil above the top green arrow (or to the red arrow), is that you don't know how much EXCESS oil is in the car. It could be 4 oz or it could be 12 oz. This is why you don't want to fill it past the top green arrow.

So to answer your question: Yes, many dealers are F'd Up!

Edgy01

Contact PCNA,--let THEM know about one of their dealers and their service department.

This is why I change my own oil,--and the "engine service" light is disabled on my car.

jplanaux

The problem is that the gauge indicates a narrow range. One does not know exactly how much extra oil is in the engine. One just knows there is too much. Is it an extra 1/2 qt, 1, qt, 2 qts, etc. The reason that I removed the oil is that I understand that it is bad to have too much oil (hence the upper bar on your gauge).

A quick google on the subjects pretty much all state: here's an excerpt, "The Car Talk guys say too much oil can be a big problem: "If the oil level gets high enough so that it touches the crankshaft, the oil will get whipped into a foam." Less than half a quart over the mark is below the amount they recommend worrying about."

Others refer to blown seals, etc.

dD/dt

It would be great if we weren't limited by this damn digital technology. I mean, if someone could devise and patent a thin, flexible metal rod that inserts directly into the crankcase, one could then withdraw this device, and avail himself of an oil reading which is not only accurate but infinitely variable.

Frino

Here are two suggestions that may help those paying to get their oil changed: Tell the service guy in advance that you want the oil underfilled by one quart and ask them to bring you back to the service bay when the job is done so they can demonstrate on the elec. dipstick that it's underfilled. If it's overfilled have them drain out a quart and re-measure.

Next time the vehicle is cold at home, add a 1/2 a quart or so to get the level right...I run at 3/4 full and don't add any oil until the level hits the lowest bar.