Oil Question - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

bhduxbury · 03-20-2006, 05:30 PM

each bar is a cup or so? 1/3 of a litre? i forget.

i don't think you should ever need to add "a quart or two" in one setting unless there was neglect.

Adam · 03-20-2006, 06:30 PM

^ exactly. And check the dipstick as well to coraborate the digi-stick...oh that's right you 987 owners don't have a dipstick..lol..hope you have good faith in computers.

MNBoxster · 03-20-2006, 06:38 PM

Hi,

Remember, the Boxster M96 Engine is a Quasi-Dry Sump Engine. There's almost always plenty of Oil in the Engine.

Don't be too Anal about keeping it topped up as the Readout is notorious for innacurate readings unless checked when the Engine is Cold, such as in the Morning before Driving.

Anything above the 2nd Bar on the Readout is Overfilled, and the 2nd Bar to the Bottom is the Minimum OK Range. You are not Low unless the level registers under this Bar, in which case, the Bottom Bar will Flash. Anything in-between is OK.

The Danger in Overfilling is that you will damage the Emissions System, the Cats in particular - very spendy replacement.

As mentioned, each Bar is approx 1/3 Ltr. and you should only add Oil in 1/2 Qt. increments and then wait at least 3 min. before checking the level and adding more to prevent Overfilling. If Overfilled, you need to drain the excess amount before driving...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

rpdelaney · 03-21-2006, 02:29 AM

All good points. I'm at the stage where it is on the last bar and flashing. I didn't realize each bar is only about a 1/3 of a quart. Thanks guys!

bhduxbury · 03-21-2006, 09:21 AM

grabbed my manual ('06 base 987, though the manual appears to cover the S, too; regarding oil there are no differences between base and S noted) --

"The difference between the minimum and maximum marks on the (oil level) segment display is approx. 1.2 litres.

Each segment of the display corresponds to approx. 0.4 litre."

re: topping off --

"Add at most half a litre of engine oil at a time."

for reference:

0.4 litre = 13.5 fl. oz / 0.423 quarts / 1.69 cups (just over one cup and two-thirds, which is what i would use).

1 litre = 1.06 quarts

more fun (so i can just look it up here rather than grabbing my manual):

oil change with filter = 7.75 litres (8.19 quarts)
oil change w/o filter (perish the thought of not throwing on a new filter!) = 7.5 litres (7.93 quarts)

oil!