ADias

Precision. Accuracy is a bias error.

summit81

I have a 2011 C2S (3.8L, 385 HP). I broke it in per manufacturer's suggested procedure, and I made sure that some of the 2000 miles were long trips so that break-in was not all city miles.

I lost one bar after 3000 miles and added about 1/4 to 1/3 quart.

Between 3000 and 5000 miles, I have since ran one autocross and one track day which caused no oil consumption which surprised me.

I drive a mixture of docile and spirited/aggressive but I don't get a chance to drive spirited very often. It seems that the engine has gained in power and smoothness. No oil change yet.

simsgw

Precision. Just as Tony said. What we're debating -- if we must -- is the accuracy of our answers. Offhand, I don't think your way of answering is any less accurate than the overall nature of a poll like this. In a similar way, I answered for my car based on the original owner's report and what I've directly observed even though I bought it at eleven thousand. You're extrapolating to 5k from your oil consumption at 1,000 miles and I'm interpolating from consumption over 27,000 miles. My use of hearsay would be a source of error in a serious inquiry, but we can't take this seriously anyway. It's entertainment.

So I think you're both right. Or at least all three of us are entertaining to others. I hope.

Gary

summit81

I agree.

I also think it would be interesting if some type of pattern emerges where 2009 997.2 tends to burn significantly more oil than 2010 and 2011. Are there any 2011 oil burners out there?

So far in the poll it appears that "typical" consumption falls between zero and 1 quart for the first 5000 miles.

simsgw

Vaguely curious what suggests there might be more oil consumed in 2009 models than in the later ones? I can't offhand remember any change in the engine. What did I miss?

Gary

ADias

I bet oil use distribution functions are the same across all M96/M97/A91/Mezger flat6s.

SeamusC4S

I added just over 7 qts during the first 5000 miles. I've been tracking oil usage since I bought the car in May of 09. It's an 09 997.2 C4S. I followed the recommended break in procedures. I added oil only when the warning light came on –

Miles oil added date
1874 2 qts 08/24/09
3210 1.75 qts 11/25/09
4015 1.75 qts 02/25/10
5012 1.75 qts 04/26/10
5785 1.25 qts 06/7/10
6666 oil change 08/10/10
7820 1.75 qts 10/20/10
8670 1.25 qts 1/5/11
10405 2 qts 5/5/11
11759 1.75 8/10/11

I never have to add oil to any of my other three cars between oil changes, so I find this unusual. This cars burns oil and I don’t think it’s normal or acceptable, but my dealer says it is and so does the owner’s manual. The thing that blows my mind is why some use a little while others like me use a lot. It’s crazy!

Alstoy

This is one of the few aspects of Porsche ownership that concerns me. I own a 997.1 and luckily it does not need a drop of oil. However, as I consider a new car I am concerned that I may end up with one that does need oil. Porsche is such a great brand-why can't they figure this out?

chago996

No oil consumed during first 5000 miles. By the time it needed its first oil change, (12k) oil level dropped to first bar on the dash meter. Its a daily driver with full warm up of oil temp due to 24 mile commute each way. san diego

summit81

I could be off on this, but if you go through the comments on this thread and the other 997 thread on oil consumption, mdrums reports oil consumption on his '09, but not his '12. I also see several other 09 997.2 thread posts with oil consumption complaints, but I have yet to hear a complaint about a '10 through '12.

BTW, I have read about earlier Cayenne Turbo oil consumption complaints but I don't want to distract the focus of this study. The point is oil consumption may not be limited to just the flat six engine.

I agree that the data is anecdotal and insufficient to conclude a pattern.

simsgw

I'm awfully tired tonight (blame my p-car for being so entertaining), but I'm surprised someone else hasn't asked more about your procedures, Seamus. That isn't the way my car works and we have the same year. Mine is a C2S, not a C4s, but I'm pretty sure nothing is different about the oil measurement system.

More tomorrow?

Gary

SeamusC4S

simsgw - sounds like you had blast with the p-car - good for you! What procedure are you asking about? Break in or adding oil? Break in - I followed what was recommended by the dealer and read the manual. About adding oil - I don't regularly check the oil, I just add when the warning light comes on. Should I be doing something different?

JLHendrix

Mine is a 2011 C2. It has approximately 2300 miles. Thus far I have no measurable decrease in the oil volume. With respect to break-in, I stayed fairly close to the recommenadations of the manual but pushed the engine a little harder after 1500 mile. (spent a lot of time between 2000 -5000 rpm. )
I am more bothered by the amount of carbon build up on the exhaust tips. Another Poll?

Mike in CA

I've done two oil changes with my '09 C2S (coming up on 3) and have added less than 1 quart total between changes during that time. The car was almost completely broken in during the 2 weeks in Europe after taking factory delivery and I tried to follow factory recommendations as much as humanly possible. There were times though when I exceeded the break in rev limits, though only for short periods, and not ever to red line that I can recall. Almost no short drives; longer trips with lots of speed variation. I don't know how this compares to the break in proceedure of those with oil burners, I'm just thowing the info in as a data point.

simsgw

Well, yes, I think so. Most of this is from the manual, but let me blend my own suggestions. I don't know of a light per se, but we do have a message that appears, a warning. I think the phrase is "check engine oil" or "check oil level" isn't it? That comes on for either of two reasons: too much oil or too little. The "too much oil" only happens after an oil change if you follow the manual's procedure, but in this case ... well, I'm not sure. You seem to be putting in far too much oil, and you may be getting that message to warn you to take some oil out rather than add oil. We can't possibly know at a distance, so don't do either one without more information and probably a mechanic's help.

For normal procedure, don't wait until the warning message appears. As a regular thing when adding fuel, stop at the pump and don't turn the engine off. We have that computer control 'wand' just below the turn signal lever. Push that forward which brings up the menu. Move it up or down to reach the 'oil' choice. Now push it forward to select that. I think it's one push, but maybe two pushes to start the oil measurement process. At that point, the computer is checking the recent engine operation and temperatures in the oil and coolant. What it needs is a standard fraction of the engine's oil supply to be in the 'dry' sump. It lets things settle down at idle for as much as a minute. It will tell you how long it's going to wait and give you a countdown.

If the engine is warm and you haven't been running up to redline in the last couple of minutes, it needs about 45 seconds. If you been working the engine hard, it might need several minutes I suppose, but I don't do that before fueling so I've never seen a countdown longer than one minute. When the countdown is complete, you'll see a vertical display of five bars. The top one and the bottom one are thinner than the others. Like a domino on bottom, three ma-chiang tiles, and a domino on top. If the thin bar on top is lit, you're close to having too much oil, and the person doing the oil change or adding oil has probably made a mistake. You can creep up on that quantity without doing harm, but I don't why anyone would bother. Normally, don't expect the top bar to be lit and don't try for it yourself.

When you have the bottom thin bar and three thick bars above that, the car has all the oil it needs. Do nothing. When the top bar, the thin one, and the thick bar under it are turned off, you are down less than half a quart. You could sneak in a half quart at this point, but again there's no value in topping up a dry-sump engine and potential harm. I leave it alone. There's another good reason and this is the time to mention it. You need to put the car on a level place to read this close. Pick an island that isn't sloped at the gas station, or do it in your garage after returning home if you're this worried about oil level. The measurement is level sensitive. You can change the reading just by measuring on a slight slope, like my driveway.

If you get a display with only the bottom thin mark lit, it's time to add a quart of oil. Do not add a full quart before that. If the car wasn't sitting on a slope when you did the measurement, then you can fit in a full quart after the reading reaches "two thick bars low" but I do mean "fit it in" and you should not try it in one single addition of a full quart. If you were on a slope you didn't notice, the reading will be one bar lower than a true measurement and the engine will get too much oil.

The manual recommends adding only half a quart at a time. Turn off the engine to do that of course. After adding that half quart, start the engine again, give it a minute and initiate the countdown for a new measurement. That half quart will have moved the reading up at least one mark, and possibly two. Depends on where the oil level was exactly in the sump.

Never add more than one quart and only add a full quart if your display is down to the bottom thin line.

That "check engine oil level" is a message generated by a separate measurement taken while the car is running. You'll never see it if you follow the instructions above. I have not in nearly thirty thousand miles. It is there to catch a situation you overlooked or a mistake someone made. You shouldn't add oil just based on that message because it may be telling you the engine already has too much oil. Never ignore that light, but if it comes on, always do a measurement before taking any action.

What bothers me about your log is that you have been adding not just full quarts but 1.75 quarts in several cases. That isn't a good situation. Engines respond poorly to having an overload of oil. I don't know what specifically happens to this engine, but basically an engine finds ways to get rid of the surplus. You should never add oil because of that message without doing a measurement first. It's like using a dipstick but more accurate. You really should learn how to use it.

Dealers have a factory procedure for assessing oil consumption. If yours hasn't suggested doing that yet, I strongly recommend a discussion with the service manager or a visit to a new dealer. You should let them walk you through that measurement process, but they also should start a consumption test of their own. It requires a few regular visits, but it's well worth that to save an engine.

I strongly suspect your engine is getting too much oil, rather than burning what it has too fast. I obviously can't tell that from here, but the log sure looks like it. Get a dealer you trust to start a formal assessment. Seriously.

Gary