Luckymba

So I'm the least mechanically inclined person I know - never even adjusted the brakes on a bike. I intended to buy a much older porsche and after years of searching ended up with my 997.1. Not wanting to get cheated out of learning to work on the car, today I embarked on an oil change - my first ever. Couple of observations.

After running the car at normal temperature and then pulling the plug I wasn't prepared for the speed at which the oil erupts out (and neither was my drain pan). I ran into an issue when my drain plug dropped from the car and fell into the same sized hole in my drain pan - blocking the path of the oil. It was a bit like an oil grenade - everything within a 2 ft radius of my oil pan was in the kill zone and immediately covered with oil. Lesson 1, catch the drain plug and lay down plastic or some other barrier prior to pulling the plug in case of spill.

Second, I'm not sure what the point of the torque wrench is. I bought one but didn't use it (it will be returned). When tightening the drain plug and the filter with a normal socket set they both just seem to come to the end and stop. I'm not clear how they could be over tightened. It went from easy to firm and I stopped. Am I missing something?

I also have a question. I put the filter up and in but didn't want to push too hard. My assumption here is that once the cover is screwed in the cover pulls the filter into it's proper place. Someone please correct me if I am wrong.

It was much easier than I expected. And I feel more connected to the car.

McCulla

I'm sure I won't be the only one weighing in on this, but here a couple of pointers from a very long term 911 oil changer.

1)Get an open drain container with a spout on one end. Mine holds probably 3 gallons. The pan is about 2 feet in diameter and once I'm done with the change, I can pour the oil into my dedicated "go to the recycler" container (and retrieve the drain plug/washer that I drop plenty of times cuz it's frickin' hot!!)

2)Torque the drain plug to 37ft/lb. CAREFUL, yes you can screw up the sump
by overtightening! The filter housing seems to come to a solid stop to me as well and I don't worry as much about that one, but specs are torque it to 19ft/lb
*CAVEAT--I HAVE AN 05 NON-S CAR*

3)My technique for the filter is this. After pulling the old element out of the housing, I wipe the interior of the housing out as well as I can (clean rags, no loose threads, use the back of wife's wooden spoon to carefully wipe the recesses); put the new element into the housing and push it to place. You will feel a distinct seating of the element as it "pops" down into the housing. Then I slowly fill the housing with oil, pouring into the center of the element to about 80% full; then careful to keep it level, place it back onto the engine and spin it up, wrench it "tight" (torque if that's your personal standard)

Oil change is the easiest/best way to bond with your car. Doing it about 2 or 3 times will demo how simple it is. I, personally, think that ignoring factory torque values is done at your peril! Aluminum can be damaged/galled/etc., etc. and the avoidance of damage, expense, hassle, time without your car is worth investing in a nice wrench. If all you do is oil change, your torque wrench will be paid for in 3-5 changes.

Zeus993

Well done man. There's a couple of threads with good pics on this. Maybe your first go wasn't sexy but you got it done.


Check this out:

DIY Oil Change in the 997
https://rennlist.com/forums/997-foru...the-997-a.html

Spokane5150

The "Torque Wrench" is a good thing to use for the new tuner because you probably don't normally have a good feel for what is 19 ft./lbs. and 37 ft./lbs. You don't want to under-tighten and have the plug come loose from vibration or over-tightened the bolt or nut and gall the threads. Just remember, when you hear and feel the click in the torque wrench then you need to stop. It's OK to check your torque a couple times but some people don't understand how to use a torque wrench. I found this out when I let my 16 year old use it on his dirt bike torquing past the click point.

I use rubber buna cloves when changing the oil with an old leather clover over top so I can hold onto the plug and not burn my hand while unscrewing it. Use a deep pan to keep the splash down and news paper or a cardboard box is nice to use to keep any of the splash or drops of the floor.

Edgy01

Many are surprised the first time they try an oil change on a "911." The older ones were far worse--with perhaps up to 14 quarts of oil dumping out rather swiftly at once!

After heating up your car jack it up and get it up maybe a foot off the garage floor and place it on jack stands all around. I then use a cut down 5-gallon paint bucket to catch the oil. Always keep an extra oil drain plug handy in your tool box so that you don't have to go sifting through all that oil so that you can plug the hole and service the engine. You can fish the plug out later when the oil has cooled.

I have a custom 5-gallon bucket that is now tailored to the oil capacity of a 997 engine. I also scribe on the inside lines every 2 quarts, so that once the oil is out I know precisely how much oil came out of the engine. (Several on Rennlist are concerned about over filling their engines). If you put back what you took out your will never over fill these things.

The 5-gallon buckets are wide enough to cover the drips from the main drain and the area of the oil filter simultaneously.

Spoddle

Another tip on filling the car with oil. Our cars take roughly 9 quarts (with a filter change). I usually put in 8.5 quarts, start the engine and bring it up to temp. After it's at temp I check the oil level and add oil if needed. If it doesn't indicate it needs oil drive the car and recheck after a couple days to ensure everything is all good.

Luckymba

Thanks for the advice guys. Edgy01 I read your comment on another post about the 5 gallon bucket and didn't understand why you needed it - I do now. And Spoddle I did fill with 8.5 quarts and brought it up to operating temp and did the 5 minute check and the oil was exactly at the max line so all is good.

socalbusdev

Do you really have to jack it up to do the job?!

Luckymba

I backed mine up ramps just outside my garage - so the front was in the garage and the back was outside up the ramps. With the slope of the driveway there was a ton of clearance. My drain pan is pretty high so I'm not clear how effectivly you could get in there without the additional clearance.

utkinpol

in my 997.1 C2 I put in 7.5qt, then i let it settle, re-measure then add half of qt may be top. it never goes to full 9at and you want to be careful of how much you add. meter should not show upper segment of oil level indicator lit.

USMC_DS1

I don't as I use a low profile plaster/concrete mixing tub from Home Depot. It slides under the car nicely, provides for enough room to access/remove the drain plug and filter housing, is large enough to cover the entire oil splash area including the drain plug and filter housing at the same time. Here's a pic of what it looks like in this post: https://rennlist.com/forums/8662791-post8.html

Edgy01

If you use a large (wide) enough tub you don't need to jack it up. However, it makes it far easier to get tools in there.

McCulla

If you are lucky enough to have just a bit of down slope where your driveway meets your garage, you don't need to jack the car up. I put the rear tires right at the edge of the garage floor and the very gentle slope of the drive behind that gives me room for my low profile catch pan. I've got plenty of room for tools. If I were on a flat, however, I would probably lift the car a bit for access.

USMC_DS1

Some driveways also have a 1" lip where the garage is raised above the driveway so that water does not run into the garage. I just back her up towards the edge where the tires are an inch or two in front of the raise edge. BTW, make sure to choke the front tires, place her in 1st gear(if MT), and apply parking brake whenever working on the car. Safety 1st.