Oil level confusion and emulsification

[JasonH1969]

Hi all,

I have a problem I think with the electronic oil level sensor.

I always check the oil level on start up via the dashboard display; I noticed a drop over the 4000 miles I've done since buying it and when it got down to 2 bars on the gauge I thought I'd top it up.

I opened the filler cap and was shocked to see emulsified goop in the filler neck, but after a panicked google search it would seem that a small amount is normal due to the length of the tube and temperature differential. I've cleaned it out now and will monitor it. I then checked the oil via the physical dipstick to see if there was any sign of goop on the stick and was again disturbed this time to see that there was no oil on it at all!

I put 400 ml of oil in which took the electronic dipstick back up to about half but still didn't show on the dipstick, so put the whole litre in which now shows as full -1 segment on the dash but still only just shows on the dipstick.

I've got another litre now so that I can add more tomorrow as I assume that the physical stick can't be the problem here, it has to be the electronic one. Does that make sense?? Is that the right thing to do?

Hopefully I've done no damage running a little low up to now.

What would you expect oil usage to be on a healthy engine? This engine was fitted brand new 15,000 miles ago (albeit 10 years ago). The car has 54,000 in total. The exhausts are both clean and it doesn't smoke.

Can someone reassure me a bit over this please?

Thanks

 

[deMort]

First off can i just start by saying .. Don't panic !!

There is over 10 litres of oil in this engine .. it can run with no problems with half of that amount .. i've actually drained out 3 litres of oil on a 997 and that was it .. yes the car had issues but it still drove into us .

Starting with the goo .. pretty common depending on how its used and stored when not used ..

Its condensation mixing with the oil residue in the filler neck due to temp differences .. the engine will have approx 100 degrees C temp .. whilst the filler neck will be half of that .. as it cools then this forms .

Lets just say .. if i had a pound for everytime ive seen this ...

If you had an oil mix issue then it would be in the coolant tank ..

Ok .. my next point to make .. the oil level on these is done with it at FULL operating temp .. thats 90 degrees or higher for the oil .

Once at this temp you switch off the car then turn the ignition on .. you will have a Gauge countdown of 1 min or less .. read off the gauge at that point .

Every segment is approx 0.2 ltr so roughly 1.5 ltr min to max .. always leave the top 2 segments empty to stop an over fill .

It is rare to have an issue with the electronic gauge but it can happen .. basically get it up to temp then check the dipstick and gauge .. the dipstick is the one that will be correct regardless .

Lets just say Porsche did away with dipsticks from about 2002 ? .. they obviously have faith in the electronic gauges .. so do i .

Do NOT add any more oil at this time .

Oil usage varies from car to car .. i have no idea why .. Porsche say 1 ltr per 800 miles i believe .. that's a massive overkill as if it was using that much i would be a bit concerned ..

recheck and then reply please .

BTW .. im here for the next hour if you want to phone me .. pm if so .

 

[JasonH1969]

Thanks so much for the swift reply, that has helped a lot! I was a bit worried.

I've attached photos of the emulsification, which I've now cleaned out so I'll keep an eye on that. Hopefully nothing to worry about as you say.

There is no sign of any oil in the coolant or peculiar smells from the reservoir.

I'll take it for a run out tomorrow and re-check the oil level once it's properly warm. Is there a hidden menu anywhere to show oil temperature? or just wait until coolant temp is normal?

Thanks again.

 

[deMort]

The residue is normal in your filler neck .. not all cars get this but as mentioned its down to usage and stored conditions .

yes there is a hidden menu accessed via the a/c panel .. i have no idea how to access it though .. someone will probably chip in .. i have a Piwis im afraid so dont need this sort of thing as i can read off the values on the tester .

Basic rule of thumb .. drive the car for 15 mins and it will be in the ballpark .. if you get a 5 min countdown then it's not hot enough .. this time of year and we have to run the cars for longer in the workshop to get it at temp .

1 min countdown .. it might be 45 seconds .. i forget but that area then read off the gauge .. remove , wipe and check the dipstick .. that will give you both readings .

Dipstick is the most accurate but i suspect you will have a similar reading on both .

Oil check MUST be done on a flat level surface .

A segment or 2 below max is best .. as mentioned .. you have over 10 litres of oil in these .. a slight under fill is better than an over fill .. it will smoke if you do this by any significant amount .


EDIT .. oil temp takes longer than the coolant to reach 90 degrees .. coolant will read this after as little as 5 mins .. oil is NOT at temp in this time .

1 min countdown and its correct basically .

 

[JasonH1969]

I'll try that tomorrow.

Thanks very much for your advice, I'll be able to sleep now!!

 

[GMG]

...I'll just add to reassure you...my 996.2 will do this occasionally...but you will find a long drive and hot engine will reveal a completely clean filled neck :thumbs:

...when I first bought mine 5 years ago and saw this I panicked...I don't look now or worry...simply another characterful foible of this wonderful car...

 

[JasonH1969]

...I'll just add to reassure you...my 996.2 will do this occasionally...but you will find a long drive and hot engine will reveal a completely clean filled neck :thumbs:

...when I first bought mine 5 years ago and saw this I panicked...I don't look now or worry...simply another characterful foible of this wonderful car...

Thank you, it looked dreadful when I opened the cap, my previous six cars have been straight 6, V6 and V8 Mercedes and only one ever had an issue with emulsified oil when there was an internal leak in the oil cooler. The long filler tube and temperature differential being a problem makes perfect sense compared to those engines which just had caps directly on the rocker box.

I'll monitor for a while just in case, but the coolant being oil free is reassuring too.

Thanks for taking the time to post a reply, other people's experiences really help when it comes to learning about these superb cars.

 

[JasonH1969]

The residue is normal in your filler neck .. not all cars get this but as mentioned its down to usage and stored conditions .

yes there is a hidden menu accessed via the a/c panel .. i have no idea how to access it though .. someone will probably chip in .. i have a Piwis im afraid so dont need this sort of thing as i can read off the values on the tester .

Basic rule of thumb .. drive the car for 15 mins and it will be in the ballpark .. if you get a 5 min countdown then it's not hot enough .. this time of year and we have to run the cars for longer in the workshop to get it at temp .

1 min countdown .. it might be 45 seconds .. i forget but that area then read off the gauge .. remove , wipe and check the dipstick .. that will give you both readings .

Dipstick is the most accurate but i suspect you will have a similar reading on both .

Oil check MUST be done on a flat level surface .

A segment or 2 below max is best .. as mentioned .. you have over 10 litres of oil in these .. a slight under fill is better than an over fill .. it will smoke if you do this by any significant amount .


EDIT .. oil temp takes longer than the coolant to reach 90 degrees .. coolant will read this after as little as 5 mins .. oil is NOT at temp in this time .

1 min countdown and its correct basically .

So I took the car for a 25 minute run to thoroughly warm it through and parked up on the drive which is pretty much perfectly flat, I turned the car off and let it settle for about 5 minutes then ran the electronic check which took about 45 seconds.

The reading was one bar below the fill line which seems to match what it was reading yesterday. I jumped out and read the physical dipstick, which was almost dry yesterday, this time it was perfectly in the middle of the markers.

So I'd say the electronic stick does read slightly higher than the actual dipstick but the difference is not as great as it seemed to be yesterday. I'm perfectly happy now that I know the hot oil is at halfway on the stick and I'll maintain the level where it is on the dash which is perfectly acceptable.

Panic over!!

Thank you for the solid advice :thumb:

 

[deMort]

Excellent ..

That's 1ltr in 4K miles .. 250ml per 1 K .. perfectly normally to me :thumb: