darbo

Greetings,

I recently renewed my Premium Membership. I replaced my Gen 2 996 with a Gen 2 997S in 2014. It has 17k miles and my dash lights are driving me nuts. My TPM light is on 80% of the time I drive the car, alerting me to the front left TPM gauge not working. The mechanic said it is risky to replace and I am better off waiting until all 4 tires need to be replaced. The problem is, I just replaced the rear tires in February. He mentioned the TPM batteries only last 4-5 years. Anybody else have this issue? What's the workaround so I don't have to be bothered by annoying alert lights on dash?

Also, I got an oil change last month, the next week, oil level light alerts me to check levels. Of course, there is no dipstick, ughh. I haven't lost any oil but this is annoying too. When the car is running idle I run the test and it advises that oil levels are full and normal.

Despite its reputation, my 996 was an awesome trouble free 911. The 997 was/is my dream 911 but I am sick of these technical issues on such a new, low mileage, well-cared for vehicle.

Your input and help is greatly appreciated!

Macster

Regarding the TPMS questions. Unless there is a premature failure -- < 4 years approx. -- the general rule is all 4 sensors need to be replaced.

SM's tell me what often happens is a customer brings in a new car for new tires. The TPMS sensors are working but are very close, at, or even past the 4 year mark. 'course the customer balks at the extra cost to replace these and skips replacing them. Shortly thereafter he's back blaming the TPMS errors on the tech and the tire change and is really upset when the tires have to be dismounted and new sensors installed then balanced again.

If you wait until all 4 are bad you could be waiting a long time. While one will likely quit at around the 4 year mark, one might last a year or two beyond that.

I do not know if there is a way to disable the TPMS.

For oil level the SOP is to drain the oil hot, drain it a specific amount of time. My info (for my 996 Turbo and Boxster) is a 20 minute drain but I don't have the drain intervals for all 996 MY's. (The 997's with the DFI engines have a 1 hour drain time.)

Then once the engine is buttoned up again to add a specific amount of oil to the engine -- the oil guns in the dealer service bay have a readout that shows the tech how much oil he has added to the engine -- then start the engine and run it long enough to heat the fresh oil -- which if the engine is hot shouldn't take but a few minutes -- then shut off the engine and check the oil level.

The oil level display should show the engine oil level at the max line but not above it. By adding in a specific/known amount of oil you can then know the in-dash oil level display (and its supporting hardware) is working right.

BTW, the amount of oil to add I'm told may not be the same that is in the owners manual nor even what others use, but is based on the car's VIN and takes into account changes that may affect the amount of oil the engine requires to show the right level on the oil level display.

A friendly Porsche auto parts clerk or a tech may look this up for you if asked.

frankyluis23

If one sensor goes out, the others are not far behind. Replace all 4 now and have a piece of mind. Use the digital message display to check the oil level. Could very well be they overfilled it or you under filled it. Either way nothing to be worried about.

darbo

If it reads full (and I am certain it is not low) when I measure it at idle, but I get the alert every now and again, should I ignore or replace the sensor?

As for the tires, I have about 3k miles to go on the front and will have to deal with that nagging light I guess. Mechanic advised you need to replace all 4 sensors at the same time because the TPM system gets wonky when you don't replace them all. Problem is I don't see replacing 4 tires at once because they wear differently.

I am surprised this isnt a bigger issue for 997 owners.

darbo

Thanks for the detailed feedback. That's the dilemma-waiting a long time to deal with the nagging TPM light. I am surprised others arent faced with this pain of waiting to replace all 4 sensors and tires at the same time because the front and rear wear differently.

Bruce In Philly

My 2009 C2s (997.2) 104K miles is on the original TPMS sensors..... I don't buy this assumption that when one goes bad, the others are ready to kick. Some things just fail prematurely.

I suspect your tech is not a Porsche dealer tech.... that "wonky" comment is just plain flip.

Regarding that oil light... something is just plain wrong. I never had anything like that and I do my own oil early oil changes.

Maybe the two items are related?

I am a passionate DIY guy, but I think you should take the car into a dealer, check these two items out, and have them go over the whole car. Their computer can tell the battery life left in all the sensors.

Peace
Bruce in Philly

scottiemac

I had one bad TPMS sensor on my 09 C2 and the dealer replaced it. No problems and and the other 3 have been working fine now for over 8 months.

frankyluis23

This is far from rocket science... Each sensor has a built in battery that is factory sealed. These batteries can last 5 to 8 years just depends on luck. The likelihood that one sensor will go out before the rest is extremely common. It is extremely rare that multiple sensors go out at the same time. Theoretically speaking, one sensor can go out at 5 years and an other at 8 years. Either way it is not an issue, it is just part of routine maintenance. I had one sensor go out an decided to replace all four sensors at the same time.

Replacing the sensors doesn't mean you have to get new tires. You can have a shop remove each tire and replace the sensors and put back the old tires. Really easy and they can have it done in 30 minutes. I had discount tire replace all four sensors and perform a mount/balance for $480 out the door.

Wolfk

If your oil level gauge is showing one bar over the full mark, you will get the Check Oil Level warning message. Meaning, you are overfilled, you can drain some out and see what happens, it may not take much, .25 liter or so.
Before doing anything with your TPMS, run the the relearn process on your stalk.

Petza914

Slightly underfilled, I agree, nothing to worry about, but overfilled at all on 997s is not good, the crankshaft spinning in the oil froths it making the pump move oil and air instead of just oil and foamy oil isn't a good lubricant. This is one of the purposes of a windage tray in high performance engines, the other being to keep the crankshaft from moving oil away from the pick-up. An overfull condition can also cause premature failure of the AOS (air oil separator).

19VFB19

Disabling TPMS on a 997 is fairly simple.
I did it about a month ago.
One thing you will need is a Durametric Pro cable tool.
Search " Disable TPMS " and you will find step by step instructions with pictures.
Takes about 20 minutes.

3Series

Or you can have the dealer or any tire shop tell you how much battery life is left. They have hand tools that scan the sensor and give them this info.

If your rear tires are new, just replace the TPMS on the fronts then replace the rears the next time around.

OKB

if the tire shop says its risky to replace tpms sensors, I wouldnt go back to that tire shop, they must have broken a few of them

frankyluis23

I agree with you 100%. If you're running the stock 235/35/19, 295/30/19 or 305/30/19, then the sidewalls are stiff as a rock and don't want to flex. Consequently many tire shops tear the bead when separating the tire from the wheel. They are supposed to install protective plastic guards on their equipment to ensure they don't damage the tire. Also they must use lot's of grease to compensate for the stiffness of the sidewall.

If you use a tire shop that is not accustomed to working on high performance vehicles, they can easily screw up your wheels. This happened to me because the technicians were young and did not use caution when working with high performance tires.

darbo

My mechanic is a highly respected repair shop that works on Lambos, Ferraris, and Porsche only. I bought my rear tires from tire rack in February and they replaced them for me. Having said that, his comment about it being risky to remove and remount makes me apprehensive and I am thinking about taking it to the dealership.