simsgw

No, because the only oil consumption problems were in the minds of people who couldn't afford one.

Gary

gpjli2

Please view my comment in the context of this posting, ie: oil consumption. Imo, if you do not have a handle on the state of your oil before the warning light goes on during your cruise you are not doing your job. You of course know that so why let the other guys off the hook so easy? Peeps do need to know that if they run mostly short trips condensation will give a misleadingly high oil level reading. 1/4 to 1/2 qt loss on a longer run may be common. If you are full when you set off that should not put you at risk though. "Safety net lights" maybe but not a substitute for the oil level gauge and a mindful (and knowledgeable) owner.

gpjli2

I have not read about any production changes made that would address the fact that some 997 motors (.1 or.2) comsume more oil than others. Officially Porsche does not feel there is a problem unless you use a qt in 600 or so miles so whats to fix ? I have seen postings by post '09 owners concerned about high oil comsumption though to partially answer your question. Waiting on the '12's but if I were a gambling man my money would be on no change there. The old Metzger based motors are great but they do their share of oil burning as well.

Bijan

I think their limit is 1.5 liters per 1000 kms or 1 qt per 391 miles
My 996 4S DD used almost zero oil between annual services

Alan C.

Ill buy that

simsgw

I get 389 miles but I'm probably dropping a digit somewhere. Sounds reasonable to me. No one said it's an average across all of us in all conditions, it's an "up to" figure. On a DE day, I consume about ... well, let's see: twenty-minute sessions, three in an afternoon, 100 sec/lap roughly so 12 laps each and 1.5 miles per lap... call it 56 miles in an afternoon. Be generous, call it a hundred miles, but in that distance I consume a half quart of oil and twelve gallons of premium. About $2 of the one and $48 of the other. Fifty bucks well spent I figure.

By comparison, my long term average is half a quart of oil and 400 gallons of gas between 7000-mile oil changes, $2 plus $1600 overall. Someone who puts -- even occasionally -- as much demand on the engine as I do at the track would consume as much oil as Porsche consider acceptable.

They are consumables. The harder you work the engine, the more gas it consumes. Oh, and oil also. Deciding there's something wrong requires more than a routine consumption level like that. You need a symptom for all love. That's why Porsche says it does not indicate a problem to see consumption rise as high as 1.5L each 1000 km. Because it doesn't.

I think people who worry about the price of consumables have better choices for a car than a 400 hp Porsche.

Gary

Bijan

Gary,
Cost is not an issue with me but I wonder why the variability as most of us and what effect it has on the engine.
I did track my 996 with minimal oil loss, my 997.2 uses some oil but nowhere near the limit.

simsgw

The variability is across the owner base, remember. Some people live in the high range of rpm and some do not. Remember that the value quoted is technical guidance to dealers on when to consider there may be a problem with the engine. We only know about it because we love our cars and look into every detail we can find out. Oil consumption itself is never a problem, just a surprise to people accustomed to mild-mannered cars.

Tracking your car isn't what does it. Not directly. My first two DE days when I was laying the ghost of early Porsches and convincing myself a 997 doesn't hide any nasty surprises, I was tiptoeing around. At least for a race driver. And I never used a pint of oil through both days. Shoot, I'm an old man but I could have gone those speeds with the car stuck in fourth the whole way.

The DE day on which I used half a quart in an afternoon was the one where I paired up with another race driver and we did tire tests all morning. By lunch, I had revised the tire pressures and also determined that I wasn't putting enough heat in the tires. I needed to ask more of the car. With that knowledge, I went out in the afternoon and drove it like a race car. (Shazam! Bloody fast car when you ask the right questions.) That is when I went through half a quart in half a day.

Now most people never will go that deep into the car's limits, but you don't have to be pushing the limits, if you just love the sound of the exhaust and rev the nuts off it all day. Those last sessions, the car spent nearly an hour continuously between 5000 rpm and 7000 rpm. In normal driving, I suppose it must take me six months to acquire an hour of high-rev time. I just don't drive cars that way on public roads.

I don't think you should worry about why one person's engine is 'burning' oil while another's is not. Once in awhile a real problem will exist and the high oil consumption will be related to that, but it won't be often. And other symptoms will appear. Basically, just think of it as a measure of how hard you ask the engine to work. On public roads, I rarely get over six thousand and then only for seconds. I never dwell in those higher reaches. Absolutely no need for it in a car this powerful. Another person might like the sound effects of course, and nearly live in that high range. Go for it, I say. (Though neighbors may not agree...) These are our toys, else we'd all own Smart4two or golf carts and private planes. But don't worry about how much oil it consumes any more than you worry about how much gas it needs. All just consumables.

[Of course, if you bump into someone who is worried, we can all send condolences and maybe arrange a charity concert... you know, like Farm Aid.]

Seriously, you know you don't care about the cost of the oil and not greatly about the inconvenience of putting in a pint once in a while. You really only care whether it indicates something is wrong down inside there. As long as you don't have real symptoms of a problem, the oil is just part of the ticket to play. Play more, buy more. Play less, buy less. Honest.

Gary

Edgy01

Several years ago we did a survey for the 997.1 engined car owners and discovered some interesting percentages of oil consumption. Do a search for the specifics.

It probably comes down to what is known as a tolerance stack. In some instances (some engines) the combination of all moving parts that carry a tolerance range can stack up against you sometimes in that things are just going to be looser. It has nothing with the way you broke in your engine, or how you drive.

For example, I have well over 300,000 miles in Porsches and the 997.1 I have uses oil at a ridiculous rate (about a quart every 1000 miles). I have not changed my driving methods over the past 38 years in the Porsches and yet I have the worst mileage of any Porsche I have ever owned (or broken an engine in on). I have broken in 3 engines over those years.

Many other changes are going on these days in light of an industry effort to get less pollution and better gas mileage. When you use thinner oils your mileage goes up. But you wind up paying a price sometimes.

I'm certain that if Porsche knew why some 14% of the 997 engines out there use a lot of oil they would fix it. But they don't.

MICHAELWWW

So was I supposed to know that I had just purchased a car that would be consuming oil at to me was an alarming rate? I had owned the car approximately thirty days. There is yet to be an explanation posted as to why the varying degrees of consumption from car to car,owner to owner. I don't know how as a " noob" I could even have possessed knowledge that currently does not exist. The Amazing Kreskin I am not.

simsgw

Why, Dan? I don't mean why are you certain, but why would they fix it? Marketing might twist some arms, but I can't see anyone in Engineering understanding your complaint. I have a little trouble with that myself. Our engines are designed to consume petroleum. Some in the form of grease, lots in the form of gasoline, and a middling amount in the form of oil: vaporized as coolant, injected as a mixture additive, and lost to Lord Miscellaneous.

If it isn't costing too much for you to enjoy the car, what problem is there to fix? Public relations?

Gary

simsgw

How was anyone supposed to know you would alarm so easily? Perhaps just that age provides perspective and you haven't as much stored up. For a quick touch of perspective: I learned to check the oil every time I added gas. Our cars typically used a quart with every tank of gas. No modern car is going to startle a driver who learned their care before the days of computer-controlled milling machines. And speaking as an engineer, there isn't anything to be worried about in the first place.

Well, Edgy has given the classic explanation of car to car variation, and I've explained how the usage varies in the same car from day to day and driver to driver.

Would the calypso version help? "Don't worry. Be happy."

Gary

Mike in CA

Stated very nicely, Gary.

MICHAELWWW

Would the calypso version help? "Don't worry. Be happy."I am not a big Bobby McFerrin fan and woul not consider him calypso. Lets stick with Harry Belafonte, he wasn't born in Manhattan.
I was alarmed because I thought I had just dumped all my oil in the parking lot of the football game I had just left. I consulted my owners manual and was happy to learn oil consumption was normal in my car. I topped off the oil per the instructions in the owners manual and consulted the RL technical forum. I read all 267 posts (dont know why this is happening again) and was moderately satisfied with Gary's theory to the extent that I was not going to concern myself with oil consumption. Learned a littlle about Greek street racing as well. I have also learned a great deal about my Porsche in the first few months and will not be seeing the idiot light again.

simsgw

You've come to the wrong shop for musical expertise. The only way I can carry a tune is by putting CD in my pocket.

Okay, that's fair, Michael. I'd be alarmed too. They might not let you back for the next game! But you really don't have to be alarmed about the car either.

Gary