Oil Quantity - Does This Sound Right?

[rcecale]

Re-installed my engine a month ago and filled her up with 9 quarts of oil. It filled to about a half-inch up from the lower mark. This was supposedly enough to replace everything that was drained when I removed the engine.

Anyway, yesterday, I removed the engine plug since the seal was leaking and replaced the seal. The leak was fixed, but it only took 4 quarts to bring the oil level up to about one half-inch from the upper mark (the over-fill line).

For some reason, I expected a lot more oil to come out when I removed the plug. I know about the other plug on the tank on the passenger side of the engine bay, but does that hold that much oil? Or was I that low, that quickly?

I know there wasn't that much oil in the drip pan I had under the car, and I've only got almost 600 miles on it since I installed the engine.

Randy

[Formerly Steve Wilkinson]

You are, I assume, doing the dipstick reading with the engine idling, at running temp and on a level surface--the official drill?

Stephan

[rcecale]

Actually, I wasn't. The car was level, but thengine was NOT running. I was only pulling the plug to change the seal. I picked up a new oil pan and planned to simply pour the drained oil back in. Since it was only a few quarts, I ended up just adding new oil instead.

Randy

[Paul Franssen]

Yes, you MUST read the dipstick with a hot running engine (and with hot oil) in it, on level ground, otherwise it doesn't read anything correctly!
And, yes, that tank on the rear passenger side DOES hold a LOT of oil; it is, in fact the major oil-tank of the car.
The grand total of all oil in the car (engine + tank) should be some 12 quarts, if I'm not mistaken!
The Porsche 6-cyl engine is a so-called dry-sump engine: the oil is not kept in the engine itself, it is pumped over from that tank to the engine, that's one of the many reasons why that "flat six" engine is so good!

[David Goodman]

Randy,
That sounds reasonable. In our dry sump motors the tank is where you should find most of the oil. I've noticed that as my car sits without running over time, oil seeps from the tank back into the motor. So I think that the amount of oil that comes out of the motor will vary.
Dave

[rcecale]

Thanks for the quick replies. I'll check the oil level when I return from lunch this afternoon, just to be sure.

Funny thing, maybe it's just me, but she did seem to run with a little more pep this morning on my way to work. Could be all in my head...kinda like how a car seems to run better just after you wash it...but I wasn't really thinking about the oil this morning. I really think she was having fun!

Randy