Oil consumption problem? - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

rteichman · 03-05-2006, 05:01 AM

I recently bought my 99 Boxster with 43,000 miles on it. I had a PPI done and while the RMS was fine, there was a leak on the cam cover, which was fixed. I have now driven the car 1,000 miles, and it looks like the car is down 1 quart of oil. I only drive the car on weekends, so during the week it sits unused. The car is always parked in my garage that has a light color floor, and there is not a single drop of oil on it. Also there is no smoke and the engine "purrs" when its running.

Is this amount of oil consumption OK? Do I need to do anything? I was so bummed out last night when I noticed the level had fallen yet again. Its fallen about 3 bars in those 1,000 miles. When I first filled up the car, the sensor showed the oil level right in the middle, then each fillup its gone down 1 bar (or so it seems).

Uncle Bob · 03-05-2006, 05:20 AM

Are you measuring it under the same conditions everytime?

MNBoxster · 03-05-2006, 05:55 AM

Hi,

There's nothing accurate at all about either the Digital Oil Supply Readout or even the Dipstick - you'll get different readings every time. But, with a 9+ Quart System, accuracy isn't all that important.

How do you know you're down a Quart? The Instrument Gauge only has a range of 1.6 Quarts. The Dipstick isn't graduated beyond an extremely generous OK Range. Keep it in there and you'll be OK...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

Brucelee · 03-05-2006, 06:15 AM

Agree with Jim here. If I had to choose, I would use the dipstick. Always measure in the same location and after the car has had plenty of time to drain down.

Perhaps in the morning before start up.

Good luck!

03-05-2006, 06:47 AM

Parked on a level surface too!

rteichman · 03-05-2006, 01:57 PM

Well I was going by the digital guage, but then I checked the dip stick and it was low too. Unless I have a different dip stick than you guys, I would hardly say it has a large OK range. More like a 1/4" between low and full. Not what I would considere "large". This morning after tha car had been sitting all night, I checked the dip stick and it was low, so I have added a quart and now the digital guage is at the top.

As far as the measurement goes, I actually had not been looking at it. I have only owned the car for a month and did not think I had to check it that closely. I relied instead on the digital guage after fuel ups. This would usually be after about 20 minutes of driving, and then the fill-up.

I guess my bigger concern is where is the oil going, as it definately seems to be going down over time.