seefouress

It sounds like there are lots of us with the problem of an inaccurate oil level checking system. I've read everything I can find about this problem but as yet have not disovered a solution.

Several previous posters have said the secret is to allow the car to idle for an extended period (after a complete warm up, on level ground, etc.) before performing the check. I've now tried that several times with the same poor results.

My GT3 just had an oil change last week (at 6100 miles). Since then, my oil level checks have bounced between .5 liters OVER full and .5 liters UNDER full. I'm at a total loss as to whether to add oil or not.

Would you guys agree that (since I don't know what the actual oil level is) it's a better decision to leave it as is, and thus take the chance that the car is underfilled, rather than risk overfilling it?

Surely if enough of us raise hell Porsche can fix this problem!

YA911Fan

Maybe your car has a bad sensor. The rest is software and most GT3s don't appear to have the problem you're having.

Have you asked your dealer to investigate this yet?

mooty

dont just let the car warm up. drive the damn thing, then pull into garage on level ground, let it idle for 5 min, take the reading. if you sensor is not faulty, it will be dead accurate.

str8ner

My Gt3 is at the dealer right now for the same reason. They witnessed the problem and told me they will contact Porsche to try to find out a fix. They do not seem to be familiar with this problem. If you bring your car to the dealer let me know what fix they have.

Stephan

seefouress

Mooty, your suggested approach is exactly what I've been doing, but unfortunately that has not solved the problem. Maybe I do have a faulty sensor but ,from the number of posts I've seen about this issue, I'd say there must be quite a few other bad ones out there besides mine.

If anyone has found a fix or had a sucessful sensor replacement please let me know. In the meantime I'll talk to the dealer and post his reply.

mooty

then indeed, it sounds like you have some sensor/computer prob.
hopefully the dealer will sort it out for u quickly.

YA911Fan

The good news is it's probably just the sensor. The bad news is they have to remove the engine to replace it!

(disclaimer: just going by what's been said in the forum --- hope I'm wrong )

ScottL

Porsche technical bulletin on the subject enclosed.

SidewaysSid

The 997 cars do require a slightly different technique to previous models. We spoke to Porsche GB about this and they did send a bulletin out to the UK OPC's. The old rules still apply but you need the oil and water temperatures to be really warm. That way all the thermostats and valves are open and the oil flowing correctly. It's a good idea when topping-up to keep the oil level slightly under the maximum. During hard driving or track days it is possible for the oil tempertaure to increase to a point where the oil expands and goes beyong the full level. These cars are still oil cooled even though water also courses through their veins so oil levels are something to keep an eye on.

Scott beat me to it and his post has the pdf. file showing the Porsche bulletin.

seefouress

Thanks Scott & Sid. Very useful info. I agree that knowing the oil level precisely is pretty important in these cars - which is why I'm so frustrated with the uncertainty in mine.

Flying Finn

You gotta love it when everything needs to be "modernized" = in this case, no dipstick.

NSXTC

Ah, the tech bulletin really clarify things up. The problem for me is I get different readings when measuring the oil level once the car has warmed up idling and once it has been idling after a drive.

As a result, I get the exact false reading as indicated in the technical bulletin (e.g. at idle warm up, I see 1 bar; but idle after drive and oil temp is up, I see 3 bars).

So the proper procedure is to measure the oil level only after the oil temp has risen to 90C/194F AND the coolant temp is up to 80C/174F. Taking readings at this point my results are always consistent, so my sensor seems to be working correctly. Since the sensor is reading from the external reserve tank, I don't think you need to wait for 5 min of idle. Maybe a minute max.

Thanks for sharing!

Anyways, my dipstick is on the UPS truck and we'll see if it's a worth while mod.

seefouress

NSXTC, I would be VERY interested in hearing about your dipstick mod. That could well be the answer I'm looking for (and without the hassle of figuring out whether my oil level sensor needs replacing).

930man

if the 3 is .5 liters low... whats is big deal???? i would rather .5 low then .5 high... there is alot of oil in the system ... quite a bit sitting in sump tank or am i incorrect???

NSXTC

Here's the thread about the mod that I'll be doing when my parts arrive this week.

https://rennlist.com/forums/997-gt2-gt3-forum/392584-997-gt3-oil-level-dipstick-parts-found-maybe.html