chago996

This morning on the way to office, the warning for "Check engine oil Measurement" came on while on the freeway. Its a 997.2 Carrera with 75k miles, whose last engine oil service was at 70k. I pulled over to a side street, thinking that maybe the oil level would be too low and that would have been unusual for this engine since its oil has never needed to be to topped-off. But, the measurement was reading one bar HIGH! This is the first time this warning has come on the dash and the last oil service was as I wrote above, 5k miles ago. My fist thought was perhaps an oil-coolant intermix but the coolant level is at normal level. So, any thoughts? Car is running just fine, except i noticed a week or two ago that the tone of the engine noise at idle is slightly different.
I appreciate any input

thanks

Hella-Buggin'

It's possible that if there's moisture in the case from too much driving that doesn't burn off the water vapor, it can mix with the oil and show a high reading. Give the car a good long drive at temp and give it a chance to burn off the water.

chago996

Thanks for your fast reply.
Forgot to mention its a daily driver, hence the 75k miles original owner. My commute to office is 25 miles, 1/2 hour at "spirited speeds". Reside in San Diego, not humid at all.

Hella-Buggin'

I read somewhere that it takes 20 minutes with the oil at temp to burn off the vapor. Water boils at just over 200 degrees so... you're probably just at the point where it's starting to burn off, and then you park for the day and more moisture accumulates.

syzygy333

if I got that warning I would definitely drain off about a quart, then go through the procedure to check level (bring up to temp (200f) and check.

I occasionally bring my oil temp up to 225 or so (keeping in lower gear/revs up)
to burn off condensate, because it does accumulate.

but running overfilled is definitely a no-go.

do you do a lot of short trip driving?

chago996

No short trips, daily drive to work is 25 miles at highway speeds. Been doing that for 6 years on this car, never a high reading on the oil. Like I wrote earlier, last oil service was 5k miles ago, and the oil level was spot on right after. Must add that once i stopped to read the oil level when the warning came on the dash with its exclamation point, the warning went away. Once i arrived at office, and re-checked the oil level, it was still one bar high, but no warning on dash had returned

syzygy333

Times like these I sure miss the "old fashioned" dip stick. Possibly the sensor is erroneous? you have 5k on this oil change, no added oil since?
not a lot of short stop/go trips.
seems like the only thing that has changed is the warning indicator coming on.

may seem extreme, but since you are nearing next oil change, I would drain oil over night and measure amount. need to factor in what is still in the filter too
(maybe 1/2 qt or so in filter?

do you get oil temp up to 225 or so at times? I do this frequently to help burn off any moisture. i'll run on freeway at about 4k rpm for a while to do this. (PDK) in 4th or 5th gear so as not to get the attention of johnny law. I change oil/filter every 5k anyway....

docdrs

One bar high....I suppose you mean bars left which means you are above themas level and hence the warning...... mine has been at no bars left and I don't get the warning. what was it reading last time you looked and how long ago was that?

chago996

Yes, one bar higher than the full level. Last time I checked was when the car had the oil changed 5k miles ago, to make sure it was at full level and not overfilled either. It read full. Just came from my indie Porsche where oil was changed and they think its the oil sensor. They have seen it go bad before on others. will take to P dealer

2011-sy-carreras

Before they start replacing oil sensors, I would have them drain about half a quart and drive until warm. then re-measure. If its below the full line, the last oil change added to much oil and not enough to immediately come back with a warning. It happened to me. The sensor will always measure it one bar over full, no matter if it's a little, or a lot over. That's where a dip stick is handy in our cars. When it happen to me, mechanics complain, because they have no way of knowing how close to full they are when replacing oil during a service. They add the amount of quarts of oil that fills it to capacity during a oil and filter service. Hard to tell how much of the old oil did not fully drain out. Best way is to not fill it up to full during an oil change, and gradually add to full line after the car warms up. Each electronic measuring segment is about .4 liters of oil. Mine was an easy fix and not over filled by much. The overfill line works like the old idiot lights and does not tell you by how much. If you are slightly over, it says it is over and scares us to think we're driving with to much oil. Putting that many miles on the car and not burning any oil is unusual in a good way. I burn about .4 liters every 5,000 miles and have a 2011 997.2 C2S. Told that's below what our cars are expected/Spec to burn.

Macster

SD is humid enough.

And 25 miles even at spirited speeds may not have the oil as hot as you might think.

I've driven 50+ miles at highway speeds and the coolant doesn't get hot enough (212F) to trigger the radiator fans to come on.

And if one has to use the A/C this works to keep the engine even cooler since the A/C on has the radiator fans running all the time.

When I see the highest coolant temperature with my cars and believe the oil is at its hottest temperature it is not when driving down the freeway but pushing the car really hard on a mountain road or driving in slow/go traffic or circling a parking lot looking for a place to park the car or even sitting in a fast food drive through waiting for my order.

5K miles is as long as I run the oil in my Porsches. At around 5K miles I notice the Boxster is more inclined to smoke upon start up and both the Boxtser and Turbo engines generate more clatter upon cold start.

I would not bother to drain any oil out at this point but just have the oil/filter service done. You have to be sure the shop that changes the oil knows how do this properly. The new DFI engines have a 1 hour oil drain time -- from hot -- and it is critical the correct amount of oil be added to the engine and then the electronic oil level system is checked to make sure it reads correctly.

Using the electronic oil level system to know how much oil to put in the engine is doing things wrong.

mreloc

I would drain and refill for sure at your mileage. As much as I'm reading here to the contrary, I highly doubt you have a dilution problem with your driving habits- even if your oil isn't over 212, it is hot and likely the water is evaporating anyway- these are not closed systems but designed to encourage moisture evaporation BUT to prove/disprove this theory I'd send a sample out to blackstone to have it analyzed for water content- then revive this thread with the results please!

Wayne Smith

At 5K you're due for an oil change. If you don't DIY, make sure they warm things up first and drain for at least an hour. Then put back 7.5 quarts. This should put you at one bar down, which is fine. You now have a valid reading (all bars with no more to go is not valid since you could be over filled). My first oil change was done at the dealer. They over filled, but I had no bars above the fully filled bar to indicate this. So how did I know? For the 45K miles since (and 9 oil changes) I've removed 7.5 quarts, added 7.5 quarts, and been at one bar down. But the first time I drained, I removed 8.5 quarts. Each bar is less than a half quart, so that first time I was over filled.

chago996

Thank you all for your valid replies. After reading these I was thinking that the indie Porsche service shop had overfilled 4 months ago and I never noticed, but they are very reputable and have been my shop for a while to do the smaller service work. But, they thought it might be a bad oil sensor. So, last night as I arrived home, i checked the digital oil level again, but this time with the car parked on the hill where I live to see if it registered differently than when the car is level and hence know that the sensor is working. I checked with the car pointing up and one more time with it pointing down, to see if the oil level would be different since the owner's manual says that the car should be level to get an accurate reading. Well, both times it read the same, one bar over the full reading, nothing changed. And I live on a fairly steep hill. So, I think it may be a faulty oil sensor, but who knows. If any of you with a 997.2 could check their oil level on a hill and see if the oil reading is different than when the car is level, it would be interesting to know, as a big favor (like you have nothing else to do). anyways, thank you all. I'll keep u posted

dgjks6

mine always reads low if I am not parked level. Does not matter if up hill or down hill.

But I burn a quart every 2K miles or so, so if you can't check it then gt it changed again depending upon mileage