MICHAELWWW

I just check mine every time I pull into the garage to put the car away. Get a check oil warning light after 45 days of owning your first Porsche and checking the oil will become your new religion!

gpjli2

You really need to catch it before the idiot light goes on if you know what is good for you and your motor.

sandwedge

^^^ This. And even if you do remember to check it at the end of a drive you still have to wait for almost a minute to get a reading. Sometimes I wonder if the 997.2 oil consumption stories are at least loosely related to the hassle of checking it. Because of all the conditions that must be met, it's almost certainly done less frequently and the consumption may seem more dramatic once a reading is taken. Happened to me. First time ever in any car owned that I got a check oil level warning light. I've kept records since that event and this car actually uses less oil than my -06 did.

MICHAELWWW

Yes, lets go back to all those threads about burning off condensation and contaminates at high temperatures. The car was approx 2000 miles past it's 20000 mile service thus I did not know that oil consumption was in my future as DFI owner. Say what you will about the corvette , but I have never had to add oil, especially to a car with 21451 miles. I know from Gary's excellent synopsis that oil is a consumable and that edgy is a quart every 1000 miles since birth, but that wisdom was lacking at inception . Live , learn do not repeat!
Cheers!

sandwedge

I added 1 quart after my light came on which brought it to one bar short of full. Poured another 1/2 of quart in and left it at that. You're saying 1.5 quarts low with 7.5 quarts still in the sump will damage the engine?

Bijan

I assume if the engineers decided at what point the light comes on to add more oil, then it is still safe at this point. Although the manual says "Add engine oil immediately"
BTW the manual for the .2 cars states that additionally oil level is measured "in the background while driving", seems like at certain distance intervals. If the minimum is reached or it is well above maximum "Check engine oil level" is displayed.

gota911

How can that be? According to a certain Rennlist "someone" (Canadian) "all 997.2 DFI engines burn more oil than the 997.1 engines. That's a FACT!" You have just blown his theory into small pieces!

Sorry, I couldn't resist!

Carry on!

simsgw

In a Porsche, the "check oil" light is a safety net, and you should not see it. What they've done is identify problems delivering oil to critical engine areas and use that to trigger the light. It's like chest pains in a cardiac patient, not a routine measurement result being reported.

Gary

simsgw

That's what I love about sports cars.

G

gpjli2

Tim of course is right.

gpjli2

I'm saying that it is an "idiot" (emphasis intended) light and a last resort on the part of Porsche to get owners to pay attention. It is not an oil level gauge. If it fails the motor is in danger of being toasted. I'm sure, however, YOUR motor survived and that you don't think that is the way it is should be done.

Alan C.

So if you are driving down the highway and a leak developes in your oil system causing the 'idiot' light to come on you are an idiot? I look at it as a save your bacon light.

However, I do check my oil level every time I pull in the garage and when filling the gas.

sandwedge

If that's really the case, then shouldn't a scan for "check oil" lights being triggered be every bit as mandatory as a DME scan for overrevs when buying a used 997? Critical engine areas being starved for oil? Sounds worse than a brief journey north of 7,200 rpm.

simsgw

Darned if I know what the computer records. Might do just that. I'd certainly tell one of my coders to record every warning.

However, the tech material does not say that any area is starved for oil. What it says is something to the effect that the computer is recognizing difficulty getting that oil, not delivering it. If I'm reading it right, that means you could go for some possibly brief period of time with the oil delivery just enough to avoid damage, but with the engine beginning to have problems gathering the oil it needs. I always supposed it to mean something about occasional cavitation in pick-up pumps, something like that. But honestly, I noted it in passing when I was reviewing the material back when we bought the car. My memory might be wrong, and in any case what I do remember of the discussion was that it was tantalizingly void of detail.

I really don't know any more except that once that warning light goes on, it means you waited longer than you should have to check the oil level. You haven't hurt the engine -- yet -- but neither are you being warned merely to add oil. You're being warned not to ask much of the engine either.

In case my tone isn't painful enough to convey this: I once wrote off the engine in a German car by relying on the "check oil" light. The fact that it was a 1955 VW and I was only a newlywed of 19 only heightened the pain. [Do we have a little icon for the shudder that memory just caused me? Apparently not.]

Definitely not recommended.

Gary

RonnieTheC

Is it true that the oil consumption problems found in the 2009's (1st year of direct injection) have been solved in the 2011's abd 2012's?