Where does the oil go?

[Rapewta]

I have no smoke at all, ever coming out of the exhaust. I have no drips on the floor. No oil in the

coolant. No oil smell but between 3k and 4k I am adding oil. I dont get it because I don't understand

how the engine is dirfferent than all the other cars (V8's) I have owned. I have had many cars that

went 5,000 miles between oil changes and never had to add. I know it is normal from the owner's

manual but what's going on?

I just went and got another quart of oil today because the dipstick went from full to 1/2 in three K.

The car is super and I am thinking that it might not be a good thing to keep the oil full on the dipstick.

Where is it going? Thanks in advance. Don

[therock88]

Hi there.

This is absolutely normal oil consumption for these cars. Just the way they are made. If you take a look in your manual, you will see that they may cosume something like a quart or liter every 1000 Km's or something like that...Havent looked lately. But drive and enjoy! It also depends on how hard you drive them. I put a quart in my Turbo pretty regularly...I do drive "aggressively" and have many tickets to prove it :)

Take care.

DC

Edited December 29, 2011 by therock88

[logray]

If you don't have oily soot in the tailpipes or oil fouled spark plugs I wouldn't sweat it at all, just keep adding oil.

Reminds me of my Dads Datsun pickup. He had to park it on the street because it leaked oil so badly. At one point before he gave it up I think he was adding a quart every week or two, with only a 30 mile commute each day. I always asked him if he was going to fix it, but he said "nah, at least this way I don't have to do oil changes because the oil is so fresh".

[Carmon997S]

I've always run mine halfway up the dip stick, That's when the cars still had a dipstick, lol. I never had any oil loss but I think I have just been lucky. I'm sure there are lots of palces the oil is leaking past but the only common place I have ever been told is the valve guilds. Porsche builds there engines lose to make more power. If everything was tight enough to seal completely it would put more drag and restriction on the engine. That's why a formula 1 car uses a gallon or more in one race.

[logray]

And my 60hp two stroke outboard boat hauls ***.... :)

[j_beede]

1 quart per 1000 km sounds excessive, I would say that is a problem. I see several manufacturers claiming that 1 quart per 1000 miles is "normal" when their cars typically use 1 quart per 5,000 miles. I suspect they are simply trying to avoid warranty work for those outliers that consume oil.

Comparing the oil consumption of a 300 HP, 7000 RPM engine designed to last 60,000 miles to an 18,000 RPM V8 designed to last 300-400 miles is unreasonable in my opinion.

Edited December 29, 2011 by j_beede

[therock88]

1 quart per 1000 km sounds excessive, I would say that is a problem. I see several manufacturers claiming that 1 quart per 1000 miles is "normal" when their cars typically use 1 quart per 5,000 miles. I suspect they are simply trying to avoid warranty work for those outliers that consume oil.

Comparing the oil consumption of a 300 HP, 7000 RPM engine designed to last 60,000 miles to an 18,000 RPM V8 designed to last 300-400 miles is unreasonable in my opinion.

Well...Here you are...It is normal.....Right from the Owner's Manual for 997's, And it is the same for 996 as well:

Edited December 29, 2011 by therock88

[Rapewta]

Good news!

Thanks for the information.

BTW... the Carrera has now become my daily driver. We gave my daughter the Volvo 850 T5 last month after she

destroyed her VW.

Probably in March I will pick up another used 850. The dog loves the Volvos and all my band equipment and all the softball equipment.

The wife has a nice SUV and I hate using it for hauling all my cruddy stuff, scratching up the interior, etc.

[dphatch]

The reason a high compression flat engine uses more oil is due to the fact that when the engine is stopped all the oiI that was lubricating the cylinders doesn't drain back into the oil sump because the cylinders are placed flat ( horizotal and not vertical) in the engine. As a result, this residual oil has a tendency to seep past the piston rings into the combustion chamber when thhe engine is at rest, where, at start up, it is burned off. Engines left to sit for longer periods sometimes exhibit the puff of smoke many Porsche owners experience at start up which is common and normal for these engines. The smoke is the residual oil being burned off. Every other type of engine has its cylinders either vertical, as in a straight four or six cylinder , or at an angle that allows all the oil coating the cylinders to drain back into the engine sump when the engine is turned off. Daily drivers that are driven longer distances tend to get more miles per quart of oil because consumption when the engine is warmed up and running is similar to any other straight or " V " type engines. Run it for longer periods of time between start ups and you'll use less oil per mile. While there are other issue that can contribute to excessive oil consumption in this or any other type of engine the flat engine design is a key contributor in a Porsche engine.

Edited December 31, 2011 by dphatch

[j_beede]

1 quart per 1000 km sounds excessive, I would say that is a problem. I see several manufacturers claiming that 1 quart per 1000 miles is "normal" when their cars typically use 1 quart per 5,000 miles. I suspect they are simply trying to avoid warranty work for those outliers that consume oil.

Comparing the oil consumption of a 300 HP, 7000 RPM engine designed to last 60,000 miles to an 18,000 RPM V8 designed to last 300-400 miles is unreasonable in my opinion.

Well...Here you are...It is normal.....Right from the Owner's Manual for 997's, And it is the same for 996 as well:

Disagree. "Up to" 1.5 liters per megameter is legal language to protect the manufacturer. Two quarts of oil to make a round trip from SF to LA? May as well replace those fouled plugs too!

[j_beede]

The reason a high compression flat engine uses more oil is due to the fact that when the engine is stopped all the oiI that was lubricating the cylinders doesn't drain back into the oil sump because the cylinders are placed flat ( horizotal and not vertical) in the engine. As a result, this residual oil has a tendency to seep past the piston rings into the combustion chamber when thhe engine is at rest, where, at start up, it is burned off. Engines left to sit for longer periods sometimes exhibit the puff of smoke many Porsche owners experience at start up which is common and normal for these engines. The smoke is the residual oil being burned off. Every other type of engine has its cylinders either vertical, as in a straight four or six cylinder , or at an angle that allows all the oil coating the cylinders to drain back into the engine sump when the engine is turned off. Daily drivers that are driven longer distances tend to get more miles per quart of oil because consumption when the engine is warmed up and running is similar to any other straight or " V " type engines. Run it for longer periods of time between start ups and you'll use less oil per mile. While there are other issue that can contribute to excessive oil consumption in this or any other type of engine the flat engine design is a key contributor in a Porsche engine.

Not to mention the problems that boxer engines have with ring wear on the bottom side of the pistons due to the force of gravity

1 quart per 1000 km sounds excessive, I would say that is a problem. I see several manufacturers claiming that 1 quart per 1000 miles is "normal" when their cars typically use 1 quart per 5,000 miles. I suspect they are simply trying to avoid warranty work for those outliers that consume oil.

Comparing the oil consumption of a 300 HP, 7000 RPM engine designed to last 60,000 miles to an 18,000 RPM V8 designed to last 300-400 miles is unreasonable in my opinion.

Well...Here you are...It is normal.....Right from the Owner's Manual for 997's, And it is the same for 996 as well:

Let me make sure I have this right... 24 quarts of oil added between oil changes is considered "normal" per the owner's manual... You are okay with that?

[j_beede]

The reason a high compression flat engine uses more oil is due to the fact that when the engine is stopped all the oiI that was lubricating the cylinders doesn't drain back into the oil sump because the cylinders are placed flat ( horizotal and not vertical) in the engine. As a result, this residual oil has a tendency to seep past the piston rings into the combustion chamber when thhe engine is at rest, where, at start up, it is burned off. Engines left to sit for longer periods sometimes exhibit the puff of smoke many Porsche owners experience at start up which is common and normal for these engines. The smoke is the residual oil being burned off. Every other type of engine has its cylinders either vertical, as in a straight four or six cylinder , or at an angle that allows all the oil coating the cylinders to drain back into the engine sump when the engine is turned off. Daily drivers that are driven longer distances tend to get more miles per quart of oil because consumption when the engine is warmed up and running is similar to any other straight or " V " type engines. Run it for longer periods of time between start ups and you'll use less oil per mile. While there are other issue that can contribute to excessive oil consumption in this or any other type of engine the flat engine design is a key contributor in a Porsche engine.

I guess Subaru, BMW, Honda, Lycoming, Continental, Ferrai, Lancia, Citroen, et al use(used) different physics?

[therock88]

The reason a high compression flat engine uses more oil is due to the fact that when the engine is stopped all the oiI that was lubricating the cylinders doesn't drain back into the oil sump because the cylinders are placed flat ( horizotal and not vertical) in the engine. As a result, this residual oil has a tendency to seep past the piston rings into the combustion chamber when thhe engine is at rest, where, at start up, it is burned off. Engines left to sit for longer periods sometimes exhibit the puff of smoke many Porsche owners experience at start up which is common and normal for these engines. The smoke is the residual oil being burned off. Every other type of engine has its cylinders either vertical, as in a straight four or six cylinder , or at an angle that allows all the oil coating the cylinders to drain back into the engine sump when the engine is turned off. Daily drivers that are driven longer distances tend to get more miles per quart of oil because consumption when the engine is warmed up and running is similar to any other straight or " V " type engines. Run it for longer periods of time between start ups and you'll use less oil per mile. While there are other issue that can contribute to excessive oil consumption in this or any other type of engine the flat engine design is a key contributor in a Porsche engine.

I guess Subaru, BMW, Honda, Lycoming, Continental, Ferrai, Lancia, Citroen, et al use(used) different physics?

The original question was about the oil usage and the concern of whether or not it was normal. The answer is Yes. It is normal. The responders here gave the original poster good information

explaining why and how it is normal.

Your posts seem to be more about your opinion of how Porsche designs cars, what oil usage should be etc.. You are certainly entitled to your opinion,

but you are not correct and do not appear to be well versed on cars.

As for physics (and sarcasm)...Porsche has a different design so "Different" physics apply....Which is why I can add a quart of oil every 1000 miles to my

997 Turbo, and blow away any of the cars you have listed above :) To my knowledge, none of the cars you listed use a flat opposed boxer design engine, so would

not have the same residual oil in the cylinder to deal with.

Don't get so frustrated.....It is just oil...not blood :)

DC

[logray]

...To my knowledge, none of the cars you listed use a flat opposed boxer design engine...

+1 in regards the troublemaker. :) But also Subaru does use horizontally opposed design, and I wouldn't be surprised to hear if some of the others have played around with it in obscure scenarios.

[j_beede]

Thanks for clearing that

The reason a high compression flat engine uses more oil is due to the fact that when the engine is stopped all the oiI that was lubricating the cylinders doesn't drain back into the oil sump because the cylinders are placed flat ( horizotal and not vertical) in the engine. As a result, this residual oil has a tendency to seep past the piston rings into the combustion chamber when thhe engine is at rest, where, at start up, it is burned off. Engines left to sit for longer periods sometimes exhibit the puff of smoke many Porsche owners experience at start up which is common and normal for these engines. The smoke is the residual oil being burned off. Every other type of engine has its cylinders either vertical, as in a straight four or six cylinder , or at an angle that allows all the oil coating the cylinders to drain back into the engine sump when the engine is turned off. Daily drivers that are driven longer distances tend to get more miles per quart of oil because consumption when the engine is warmed up and running is similar to any other straight or " V " type engines. Run it for longer periods of time between start ups and you'll use less oil per mile. While there are other issue that can contribute to excessive oil consumption in this or any other type of engine the flat engine design is a key contributor in a Porsche engine.

I guess Subaru, BMW, Honda, Lycoming, Continental, Ferrai, Lancia, Citroen, et al use(used) different physics?

The original question was about the oil usage and the concern of whether or not it was normal. The answer is Yes. It is normal. The responders here gave the original poster good information

explaining why and how it is normal.

Your posts seem to be more about your opinion of how Porsche designs cars, what oil usage should be etc.. You are certainly entitled to your opinion,

but you are not correct and do not appear to be well versed on cars.

As for physics (and sarcasm)...Porsche has a different design so "Different" physics apply....Which is why I can add a quart of oil every 1000 miles to my

997 Turbo, and blow away any of the cars you have listed above :) To my knowledge, none of the cars you listed use a flat opposed boxer design engine, so would

not have the same residual oil in the cylinder to deal with.

Don't get so frustrated.....It is just oil...not blood :)

DC

I always thought that oil consumption was something to avoid--unless you drive a diesel or a Saab 96 :) Actually, as I recall, the Saab 96 would go further than 620 miles on a quart-and--a-half of oil. Learn something new everyday.