72 911 Oil Tank capacity

CHILI · CHILI's Garage

I was helping a buddy work on his 911 this weekend and was dumbfounded by what he said "72's take 9 quarts of oil."

Is this correct? I did see on his gauge that it has qt quantities and full was a "9." I thought all 911's took 11 qts???? I know the 72 had the external flap and the tank in a different location, but is it smaller, too? Or do the smaller displacement motors (2.0-2.4) just hold less oil?

Signed,
Totally Confused

Bill Verburg · Bill Verburg's Garage

Oil tank thread 1

Oil tank thread 2

Tom Regelein · 01-12-2004, 07:58 PM

My 72 911E takes about 8.5 quarts of oil,
With no front oil cooler, thats all they hold.
The oil line to cam tower restrictors in my
engine are upgraded to the Turbo type.
This is a great, inexpensive, and easy to
install upgrade for older 911s. Higher
oil pressure less oil foaming and more
accurate oil level readings.
Hope this answers your question.

Tyson Schmidt · 01-12-2004, 08:48 PM

With an oil change, the '71 and earlier cars took 9.5 quarts, the '72 took 8.5 quarts, and the '73 and later took 10 quarts.

So yes, the '72 tank is smaller by 1.5 quarts than the later cars.

CHILI · CHILI's Garage

Yep, that answers my question. Man, I would have dumped 10.5 quarts into it if I were the one doing the work. Good thing I was just there for moral support and a knowledge base. Great knowledge base, huh? Don't even know how much oil it holds. Hehehe.

Randy Webb · 01-13-2004, 01:02 PM

ANd just for a fun tidbit, the '73 oil tank weighs 8.6 lbs. with hardware but w/o cap, rubber buffer, or the Al oil filter mount, or filter.

So that is the min. wt. that was moved to the in front of the wheel position in the 72's.

blue72s · 01-13-2004, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Randy Webb
the '73 oil tank weighs 8.6 lbs.

Dry weight or wet wt?

Randy Webb · 01-13-2004, 07:51 PM

Dry.

The next question is how much oil normally remians in tank while the engine is running.

Tyson Schmidt · 01-13-2004, 11:37 PM

About 4.5 quarts.

But hey, I'd give my eye teeth to save just the 8.5# of weight from behind the rear wheels. But not everyone will notice such things. To me though, I sweat every ounce. Mind the ounces, and the pounds will take care of themselves.

Randy Webb · 01-14-2004, 02:41 PM

You want an Al oil tank in front or in front of the rear wheel (so do I but I don't want to pay for it).

The wt. will be a bit more with the filter & mount and some oil in it. Someday I may calculate the moment arms from the CG....

blue72s · 01-14-2004, 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Tyson Schmidt
To me though, I sweat every ounce.

Why not just move the location of the tank to the smugglers box in the trunk? If built properly and insulated, no heat or smell will come in the cabin. Better wt distribution than 72.