RonnieTheC

I just turned 2100 miles in my 2009 C2 Cab and had to add 2.5 quarts, for the oil warning light came on and I was very low. I called my dealer's service department today and was informed that a new 997 needs 1 quart added every 800 miles or so during brake in. Is this correct, and, if so, how long will this process of adding oil continue?

LlBr

Here's an "old" TSB on permissible oil consumption for 997.1. Looks like you're within acceptable limits. Tell them to show or fax to you the information they are going by for the 997.2 engine

kosmo

Yes. I recall seeing it somewhere in the manual. Check yours.

TooSixy

Mine just turned 810 miles over the weekend and the oil gauge was 1 bar below the normal so I filled it up with 3/4 of a quart and the reading was full again. I believe it's normal during break-in.

ross74

Not to worry.

A characteristic of the DFI engine.
It will burn almost a quart/1000 miles for the first couple of thousand and then the consumption will start dropping after about 5000 miles and will stabilise after about 10000 miles to something like 1/4 quart or even less /1000 miles.

At least thats my experience.

Macster

Generally a new engine uses more oil than it will once it is broken in, which can take some time. While maintaining the same driving style you should see oil consumption taper off and level out.

Where it levels out to, at what consumption the engine has once broken in, can vary from engine to engine.

BTW, with a new car, new engine, you should pay close attention to vital fluid levels.

You should pay close attention to these levels even if car not new: They ain't called "vital" for nothing...

Anyhow, a new car with a new engine can develop a serious fluid leak or as you found out just consume a lot of oil, and you should be on top things and add oil or the vital fluid when the level gets low not when it gets seriously low.

If you find a vital fluid other than oil low that's usually a leak and calls for getting the dealer involved.

Please pay more attention to your car's vital fluid levels going forward.

Sincerely,

Macster.

LlBr

Ditto. Check all that stuff often; tire pressures too. However, that's a huge amount of oil to lose in a short time so I don't blame Ronnie too much.

ADias

I suspect you have overfilled it. One bar is at most 0.4l. You should have waited until hit the mid range and then add 0.5qt.

Edgy01

Some time back we did a poll on 997.1 engine oil consumption. There will always be a certain low percentage of these engines that burn oil, no matter what Porsche does. Some use none at all. Some use oil at the rate of a quart every 1000 miles, or more. Mine (997.1) has been using oil at the rate of 1 quart per 1000 miles since mile 1. Today, with 43,000 miles, it still uses oil, at that same rate. The engine was broken in per Porsche break in guidance, and the car is never raced. We have found that HOW an owner breaks in their engine has no correlation to how much oil the engine uses.

ross74

Guys remember this is a 997.2 the OP is asking about (I assume from the date)
And those of us with DFI engines know they tend to consume significantly more oil, especially during break in..

ADias

I do not think that is true at all. Dan is correct, some M97 and 9A1 engines do consume oil, others do not. I know several 9A1 engines which use no oil.

ross74

But that is always the case.
There will be engines that consume 0 oil and those that consume a lot but on average all DFI engines, not just Porsche's have higher consumption of oil. Thats because these engines operate with higher compression ratios and much higher combustion temperatures and slightly bigger tolerences.
Remember Porsche suggests max allowed oil consumption of 1,5 lt/1000km for these engines rather than 1lt which was previously

LlBr

Each engine is different. I forget the details. FWIW, Probably because parts are "mated" at the factory. You'll get sets of cylinders, sets of bearings, sets of pistons that all vary a little from other sets, but are all within tolerances. Therefore some engines consume more oil than others. It's probably a fantasy to think "German Engineering" results in mass-manufactured items that are absolutely identical. Just a guess because I can't remember exact details because my memory tolerances are too large. I'd appreciate anybody's clarification on the matter.

Edgy01

This question was posed in Autoweek a year or so ago and their techincal guys suggested that the tolerance stack on a minority of the engines added up to higher consumption. I don't believe that Porsche would settle for a fleet decrease in oil economy with the introduction of the DI engines (MY09 and up). Thus, there are going to be a few that still exhibit excessive oil consumption--"Excessive" in the minds of the average owner. Porsche will continue to downplay the significance of oil consumption and continues to state that it's within their normal parameters. I would suggest that the owner of a new Honda or Accura would not tolerate that interpretation of excessive oil consumption.

JW911

It has always been my understanding that boxer engines are predisposed to oil consumption versus an in line or V engine. Oil is naturally draining back into the crank case with those engines. But with the boxer, oil is more prone to settle in the cylinder and be pushed into the combustion chamber. Sounds logical so I always accepted this. I wonder how Subarus do with oil consumption? Japanese engines are generally known for minimal oil consumption. Not sure about that Subaru boxer though.