Engine Oil Pressure Light - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

Viper5 · 03-07-2009, 05:12 PM

I drove my car today for the first time in a few weeks after replacing the water pump and transmission fluid.

I went on two trips. The first one I went out to just test ride the car and see how it behaved. I immediately noticed that the coolant light was flashing. Earlier today I dumped out the water from the hose that connects to the pump. Most of fluid came out. I then put the hose back on and replenished the resevoir with the actual mixture of coolant since I finally knew that it wasn't leaking anymore. I thought the flashing light was because the system hadn't registered that the fluid had circulated yet. Well I'm driving about 2 miles down and I notice that the engine temp is at 250 (red line). I immediately pull over and turn the car off. I look in the back and I see steam coming from the reservoir. I then checked the level of coolant and I couldn't see it. I thought it was empty, but when I unscrewed the cap, I could look in and see it was above the max level. This didn't make sense to me since I put the level between min and max earlier that day. After I let the car cool I check the level again and it had since dropped to the original middlepoint. So I decide to drive it home since it was only 2 miles. On my way home, I notice the light stopped flashing and the temp was consistent around 215.

After getting home, I'm confused why it was blinking and overheating, then it wasn't. So I start the car up again and just drive it around the neighborhood this time in case it starts overheating again. As it was on the way home, the light had stopped blinking so I didn't really know what to think. I pull up to my driveway and I accidentally stall the engine (I'm still new to my car). I start it back up and try to go, but notice that the enigne oil pressure light is blinking as I start to release the clutch and put in the gas. The car won't go anywhere! If I keep releasing the clutch and put in the gas, the car will stall. Meanwhile the oil pressure light is blinking like crazy. I then check the oil level and it's good.

So in summary, before today I have never seen the oil pressure light on ever and the car has never overheated (just leaked which is why I replaced water pump).

What is happening???

Viper5 · 03-07-2009, 06:52 PM

Ok. I feel kinda dumb. When I stalled it, I was in dirt. The wheels dug into the ground and I am still new to this car and thought I was giving sufficient power but apparently I wasn't. I'm guessing thats why the oil light came on. Because I had a lot of rpms and the clutch was almost out, but it wasn't going anywhere. Can someone confirm that this is normal for the light to come on in this case?

Well I eventually put a bunch of rpms in and finally got it out. There is nothing wrong with the transmission (thankfully). However I still have the coolant light flashing. When I removed the coolant from the hose today, there was about 1 gallon that came out. I was reading the manual and it said that there is a total of 5.5 gallons in the system??? Thats crazy. When I filled it up today, I mixed the porsche coolant 50/50 with water and put it in the reservoir at the midpoint of min/max as stated in the manual.

The odd thing is when I went out for my first test ride and pulling over, the coolant was way above the max point. This is after I unscrewed the cap. Then when I got home and drove it out again and got stuck. I checked it and it was empty! Then I unscrewed the cap and it came back up to the point of normality. Then when I got it out of the ditch and parked it in the driveway, I checked again and unscrewed the cap and it's empty again! With the cap unscrewed, why does it change from normal (first starting up) to above max (after stopped for overheating) to normal (after getting stuck) to empty (parking it in driveway)?

After removing the hose and catching about a gallon in the bucket, I filled up the reservoir up to the midpoint and it took about half a gallon. How am I supposed to correctly fill up the coolant level when the reservoir will only take a fraction of the total capacity?

cvhs18472 · 03-08-2009, 03:01 AM

Did you vent the cooling system when you refilled the tank? That might have something to do with the light. Ed

Viper5 · 03-08-2009, 09:08 AM

Am I supposed to let the car run while refilling?

Paul · 03-08-2009, 10:56 AM

Please have your car towed the to dealer.

Viper5 · 03-08-2009, 11:41 AM

Disregard the first message I posted. My problem is that I'm trying to refill the coolant supply. The reservoir will only take a fraction of the 5.5 gallon capacity. How do I get the rest in there?

Paul · 03-08-2009, 11:46 AM

Do you have the procedure to fill and vent the system?

Paul · 03-08-2009, 11:52 AM

Remove the oil and coolant tank caps then the plastic plate under the caps. To open the bleed valve you lift it metal lever up and it will stay in the up position. Replace the oil cap.

Warm up the car a while and keep the tank full. Put the cap on run the engine at 2,500 rpms for 10 minutes to get the thermostat opened. Make sure the tank is still filled. Run the car at 2,500 again for 5 minutes and every 30 seconds briefly rev the engine up to 5,000 rpm. Then close the bleed valve.

Let the car cool overnight. Check the coolant level in the morning, add if necessary.

This is for a manual transmission car.