Oil clarification
 

I have a 2001S that had a professional oil change just prior to purchase. I've driven about 600kms on the car so far and checking the oil is leaving me confused. The gauge shows it beyond the markers and the dipstick doesn't show a defined area with the oil (it's still quite clean) - the entire dipstick section is wet with oil. Does this vehicle have too much oil in it?!? There are no codes, smoke etc. sometimes the idle will wander between 800 and 600 but nothing else.

Thanks!

Turn the car off and let it sit for about an hour, then turn the key to the on position and let the dash oil gauge run through its cycle. If the dash gauge, which is more accurate than the dipstick, says the oil level is near the upper arrow, you are fine. If the car was overfilled, all of the dash bars would be lit.

Here's the start up test result:

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1497973191.jpg

Thanks JFP, Shoot. The attached graphic is a cold test after sitting overnight. Sounds like it may be best to just change the oil now, and refill with a lower volume?

It is overfilled.Not good.
If they did not change the filter(?) do that to loose some excess oil. That may do it.
It is a good idea to check in the pleats of the oil filter anyway.An even better idea is to upgrade to an LN spin on filter at this time.

Before you change your oil, pull the filter cap and dump the oil in there. That should take you down a half to full bar. Rinse and repeat until you get to the proper level.

Okay. This is my first mechanical thing with the car:) . I have never removed the filter on a boxster - so I understand that the oil is not going to spew out as if you removed the drain plug nut .... I'll check some videos to understand the way the cartridge filter works. I don't have a replacement one, so is it okay (or even possible) to reinstall after I drain out some oil?

Thanks!

yes, you'll lose maybe half a quart, especially if you dump the filter cannister out. It will be messy but it works.

Do I need to start the motor (once the filter is placed back on securely ;) ) to have the pump refill the filter cap (in order to repeat the process)?

Yes.............

Got it. Thanks all!

You are definitely overfull which is bad for these cars. As everyone said drain some immediately before driving any further. I would take at least 1/2 quart out and check again.
You should reconsider a new mechanic as obviously he's not too familiar with this car.

Just be sure you do not do this.
http://986forum.com/forums/boxster-general-discussions/67165-slight-problem-during-oil-change-what-do-next-3.html

Agreed. It's going nowhere until I drain a bit out. This oil fill was either done by the previous owner (or the specialty shop that did the 30,000 mile service). So obviously, I'm not feeling overly comfortable on this previous job - hopefully it was a careless error. I'll start with this for now ....

I have heard that being somewhat overfull with oil is bad for these cars. How so? Anyone?

When too full it becomes easier for oil to get through the AOS and into the intake where it is then burned along with the air/fuel mixture. Too much oil can cause misfires and damage the catalytic converter, and "more" too much oil can hydro-lock the cylinder and destroy the engine.

I overfilled my oil just like that before my first track day, blew a huge smoke bomb, got a flashing CEL, engine cutting out, scared me to death, when I got home I dropped the oil filter canister and installed a new filter/o-ring (buying just a new o-ring was about the same price as a new filter which comes with the o-ring). This dropped my oil right down to just below the full mark and all was good :)

I had the same experience here on my first oil change. I filled my oil to the full mark thinking that's where it should be. It took almost 9 qts to get it to that level. Drove it to work the next day and I noticed a big cloud of smoke when I accelerated, engine stumbled a few times and cel came on.

What got me was I changed the oil, added 9 quarts, went to get gas, and the car reported on the oil level like it does when you get gas, and the lower bar was flashing indicating I was low (the oil was up in the engine still, I didn't give it enough time to come down), so I went home and it took another quart to get it to what I thought was the right level... Now I only check the oil after the car has been sitting level overnight, or at least for an hour or two after driving the car enough to get the oil hot. Otherwise I don't believe the gauge... :)

Looks like you got this taken care of, but for anyone that looks at this thread in the future, it is also important to make sure the car is parked on a flat surface when you check the oil level. I have experienced 1-2 bars difference from the electronic guage based on where I was parked.

I placed it up on 4 stands so it's level and took off the cartridge cover, then let the oil drain. I replaced the cartridge and then turned on the ignition. The check still indicated overfill so I turned off the ignition and removed the cartridge cover, but no oil was in it. Do I have to run the motor to have more fill up the filter?

Missed that detail being answered by JFP!

Done! One 'emptying out' of the cartridge and the level is perfect. It wasn't too overfilled, but I'd rather it not at all. Thanks everyone for the help!

I am sure most know what a Mity Vac is. Miine came from HF and I use it to change my brake fluids on my Cars and Truck. I thought about seeing how much oil I could remove from the engine via the dip stick tube. I had a small piece of clear tubing about 48 or so inches and connected it to my MV. When inserting the clear tubing down the dip stick tube it stopped sliding down around 18 inches. I removed it and cut of the tip at a sharp angle. It then slid all the way deep into the sump.....I was able to remove approximately 5 oz of oil in 3 or 4 minutes. I am thinking you could remove a 1/2 to 1 quart within a short while if need be. It seems to be easier to remove the oil and continue to check until it's at the correct level. Big plus, it's without creating a mess and dealing with the oil filter.

Be damned careful using that thing to pull oil out of the sump. There are a lot of things down there that the tube can get hung up on, requiring pulling the sump cover to get it out. We have had more than one Porsche with a dip stick tube flat bedded to the shop because of this. Bad idea, period.

I wrapped a piece of electrical tape around the clear tubing based on the measurement of the dip stick. Also the engine was cold. Should not get hung up on anything I would think. However thanks for your alert! Would you comment on the reason cars have been flat bedded to the shop because of a dip stick tube. Thanks!

Funny thing about mity vac...
Required for our 4-stroke Yamaha waverunners.

Works great on our E36&46 BMW's
Stinks on one Son's 2005 Mustang and our two 2002 4Runners.
Never tried it on the Box.
Lawn mower...excellent!

The plastic hose used to suck the oil out was inserted down the dipstick tube, but became entangled in the various air/oil separator's and baffles in the sump and could not be pulled back out. This prevented the dipstick from being reinstalled either because the hose was hanging out in the rear trunk, or had broken off, blocking the dipstick. Result was a couple of hours of shop time, plus the price of flat bedding the cars to the shop, all because someone tried to save some time/effort. Like I said earlier, bad idea.............

First of all I don't know very much about Boxster engines. That out of the way, I can't see how just that small amount of oil would make any diff. If it's not smoking or running bad, no check engine light etc. Just curious.

I have less experience and knowledge than you on this engine:) But when the message is consistent about not running it overfilled with oil, I don't want to chance it. I had an MGB that I would run with an extra 1/4 to 1/2 quart ... but nothing ever happened to that engine, it also didn't have such tight tolerances that the M96 appears to have.

Thanks for explaining ones problem routing tubing down the dip stick tube. Would you agree the tubing would not get itself entangled with parts you mentioned if the tubing went no deeper than the dip stick?

The reason I ask is I have the same reading on my dash gauge. Runs great, no smoking, no check eng light. Checking my dipstick, its on the top of the full line as best I can tell. Oils so clean and it's hard to see/read this type of stick. Just wondering if I should do what you did or not.

I painted the tip of my dip stick on my VW diesel silver. That way I could easily see the black oil. Not sure if it would work on the Porsche. Just a thought!

Pulled my filter cover off and drained it because my dash gauge also showed all bars lit. Thought it might take care of it like the OP did. While I was doing this I took a pic of my filter an it looked like it had shiny bits in the pic. I removed it and put a new one on because I wanted to see what it was. Ended up it was just the flash making the oil sparkle. I cut open the old filter and this the only thing (besides some dirt) I found in it.
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1499457248.jpg
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1499457270.jpg

Oh and my dash gauge still has all bars lit.

This is the largest piece of whatever that was in my filter. No metal in the oil, used magnet. This looked like a piece of sand but I think it may be plastic. Picked it up with tweezers and it desolved with minimal effort. Water pump fan piece? Seems to be off white in color. Should I be concerned?

Thanks in advancehttp://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1499514649.jpg
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1499514665.jpg

Thinking of emptying out another cartridge full of oil tomorrow and see how that effects the dash oil gauge. Any opinions on stuff found in my oil ⤵⤵⤵

Normal............