FinallyGotOne-- sorry to hear about your bad experience. We are all newbies at some point, and we all learn at least some lessons the hard way. (Ask me about my first marriage.)

Were I a gambling man, I'd bet that your engine is just fine. It'll need someone who is familiar with the 911 to set it to rights, as you thought, and having a pro give it the once-over will give you some peace of mind. But in my humble opinion, unless you spent a week at the track, or did a gumball run across 20 states, seven days of tooling around with ~25-30lbs oil pressure will not have done any noticeable damage. Unless the "weird noises" you mention were a terrifying series of loud knocks followed by the tinkling of magnesium hitting concrete... which seems unlikely.

PaulGTR: congratulations on increasing your post count. Yeesh.

Well, I did work at a shop in California whose main focus was to rebuild engines. I never thought I was the completely ignorant type when it came to mechanics. However, I am rethinking that all the time with this little 911 of mine!

I did not just wait for 2 hours and leave. I waited in the lobby through the whole time. Now a lot of you think me moronic because you would never do what i did. thats cool I have learned my lesson, and hope someone out there like me will re-think their plans to do what i did.

Honestly, a 1979 is supposed to have two drain locations, and one of them is supposed to be on the sump plate, am I correct in that? I am a bit curious why mine has just the bowed out sump plate? Is that a modification? this 911 does have the carrera tensioners, does that go hand in hand with the different sump plate?

This was NOT a speedy lube place at all. But as I said I do not think I should share that info yet. It's not fair to them especially if I have no troubles or they cover any repairs.

My P shop I trust 100%, They are one of the best in my region. The other shop has taken their number and they will be talking. Last time I checked my oil (Yesterday) yes while it was warmed up and running, the oil was in the middle of the dipstick. An interesting point was that the engine oil was quite cool to the touch.

I'd like to hear more about my 79SC having a different sump plate??

at Joe Bob.I did not say there were two drain plugs, only two locations. They used a WIX filter. I actually did not notice the lack of druck pressure. Joe Bob: they are the ones who are the certified mechanics, not me. And usually shops will not let you in the work area due to their insurance. (that is what I have heard anyway)

I think the name of the shop, unless they were an independent advertising themselves as knowledgable in Porsches, is a moot point. Or a Porsche dealer.

Since you apparently have a Porsche mechanic, some of the repercussion from taking it elsewhere for the oil change is on your shoulders. I don't know that I would have waited patiently for two hours without going into the shop to see what was going on, even if I wasn't specifically knowledgeable on 911's.

Their responsibility is that if their "research" on how to change oil was inconclusive, they should have waved the white flag. I can just see three guys there, googling "oil change 911".

A lot of engines don't have drain plugs you have to remove the sump plate, that way you also check and clean the screen, aka 912 and VW.

We all learn ... need to figure out if the spring is missing and start from sq 1 . If it is then "OK" don't sign a waiver or release of concern .




This handy device would only be useful to the few with hoists or really tall jackstands

I agree. Do it yourself. I have 5 cars. I change the oil on every single one. I don't need a factory tech to tell me - pull drain plug. catch oil. Replace gasket. replace plug.

Not that I'm a genius. The first time I did the 911, I pulled the plug with the pop-off in it. Whoops. At least I caught it and put it back though.

Pelican sells all the parts and tools you need for this.

Amazon.com sells Brad Penn

Buy a 15 quart drain pan.

I second what another poster said that the engine is probably fine. On Miata board, I saw people post that they had inadvertently run with like 1 quart oil at ridiculously low pressure and engine was somehow fine. An engineer said engine can stayed lubed with flow even at low pressure and survive. 911s may be different of course. On any board, you will see anecdotes about the quicky oil change places doing stuff like overtorquing and stripping oil pan threads, forgetting to refill oil, etc. Can happen even at specialist places. A colleague with a Mini had the dealer drain and forget to refill coolant. Driving home he saw temp shoot to H and stopped right away and rad was dry. Car was fine fortunately.

If somebody drove a Lambo, Ferrari, Porsche or the Space Shuttle into my business, I would dam sure make sure that I did the job correctly. I've worked on cars that I had no experience with, and used the internet to get the necessary knowledge to do the job. I have yet to feck one up (knock on wood).

In this day and age, there is little excuse for incompetence.

That is redundant.

FinallyGotOne,
thanks for sharing your experience...it just may save someone trouble.
When I first got my car, I had a local shop change the oil. I brought the oil and filter. They had it done in about 5 minutes. I asked the tech how much oil it took and he said only about 4 qts. drained out...forgot the sump. Another twenty minutes and the job was complete..but...they overfilled it. We drained about two quarts out and I was on my way.
I have NEVER had another mechanic touch the car since that day. I do everything myself now.

Nobody touches my car,asides maybe for a wheel alignment and then again it would have to be a shop with a heck of a lot of good references ...

I've heard too many horror stories arising from them Jiffy Lube or similar outlets,and that's just from people i know personally !
If you don't see any Porsches in the parking lot,keep driving ... lol

Cheers !
Phil

Just to clarify.

Druck mean pressure in German. Öl mean oil.

gauge actually says druck pressure

I sure hope everything works out for you here. If it were me, I would have this nasty know it my gut worried about what I did. But that's me.

Anyway, my horror story.

Several years back, I took my Miata in to a quickie oil change place to have the radiator flush. I would have done it my self if I had a place to do it. So, after they gave me the keys back, I drove it home the 2 miles and parked it in the garage. I was off for a great day at the ball park. The next day I was out on the highway when the engine started to smoke and knock. The gauges were showing that the engine was over heating and the power was dropping fast. Once I was pulled over and had the hood open, I noticed that the radiator cap was loose. I opened it up to find it empty.

Anyway, several months later of dealing with these people and thousands of dollars in repairs, I was back on the road. I did file suit and they settled out of court for the full amount.

These are the 2 gaskets, one on each side of the sump plate needed when removing it for an oil change:

930-101-391-01-M17 Oil Strainer Plate Gasket (2 per car, sold individually), 911 (1974-83)
Brand: Victor Reinz [More Info] $3.75

If the shop didn’t remove the plate, some old oil remained behind. Also, when the plate is removed, the strainer screen is examined for debris, cleaned and re-installed:

930-107-314-00-M253 Engine Oil Sump Screen, 911 (1965-83), 911 Turbo (1976-77)
Brand: Uro Parts [More Info] $39.25

You could buy this nice kit from Pelican that includes everything you need to convert your plain sump plate without drain plug to one with a drain plug:

MCD-930-107-001-00 Oil Sump Plate Kit w/Drain Plug, 911 1965-83 [More Info] $81.55

It is important for the sump plate to be installed in a certain position to ensure that the pick-up for the oil pump is able to suck oil meaning: plug is on the left side.
Get a Bentley SC Repair Manual and learn more about your SC; you’re not doing a good job looking after it now that you “FinallyGotOne”.

Letting any old shop to bungle a simple oil change slapping on a generic filter and leaving a lot of dirty oil in is pretty poor as is driving for a week with low oil pressure and noise. :rolleyes:

Get a sump with a plug and the Bentley and give the SC better maintenance. SmileWavy

One label is in German and the other in English....

Just to be "fer sure fer sure" as they say in the San Fernando Valley! :D

I have never taken my Porsche to a quick lube place but have taken my numerous trucks to them over the years(decades) without a problem. I do pay attention however to what they are doing. I think saying they are all bad is an unfair generalization.

FinallyGotOne- hope all works out OK for you. Keep us posted on your saga.

Now for my story, thank heavens not the 911 or one of the BMW's. Took my ex's Explorer V8 to a well known and respected local quick change place, one that does a lot of imports. Oil techs there are all pretty knowledgable folks, 2 of them work as techs at a local tuner weekdays and here on weekends for extra mod money. Anyway, pull the SUV into the bay, they start out draining the oil and pulling the filter while I'm still telling the manager to use the Fram oil filter rather than their cheaper off-brand part. And fill with Mobil1 5W30 please. He pulls out 6 qts of oil, and the filter, puts the filter on the ground for the guy in the pit, and the oil on the cowling. While the manager is showing me my "dirty" air filter (a washable K&N) I watch the tech pour the 5.5 qts into the engine, then get in the car and ask the guy in the pit if he's clear. He's getting ready to turn the key and I see the filter still sitting on the ground and yell to stop. Yup, they forgot to put the filter on. Tragedy averted, and lots of apologies from the manager. And all this took less than 10 minutes. And yes, these are knowledgable guys who build 350hp turbo 4 cylinders during the week. Needless to say I've done the oil changes myself for her since then.