Semi noob oil checking question?

[chrisbruck]

Got my first 911 in June and been checking the oil regularly on the dipstick. I wait till the temp is on the first white hash mark (90 deg C line), park level in the garage and pull the dipstick while running for a few minutes... no big deal.

Now, the temps in ATL are cool enough to where my car won't quickly reach that operating temp. I can hammer it on the Interstate and it stays cool and I'm not in sitting traffic long enough for it to really heat up like it does in the summertime.

Any problem checking the level at these cooler oil temps?

The reason I ask is I'm tracking oil usage and try to stay consistent with the oil temp when I check it. I know cooler oil will show a lower oil level which makes it harder to tell how much oil I've used.

Or am I just overthinking all this????

[ivangene]

now that track season is over for me - I will run my oil a lot higher on the dip stick than in the summer / and track days as I know i will not get hot enough for the expantion to be an issue

by the time summer comes around I will let it fall back to the lower level so when it's HOT it will be normal

so i think just do a scale adjust (add till you hit the new lower temp) and throw that point out of your "tracking" - then in the spring do the same in reverse

nothing beats a good over thinking

[K Sykes]

Key thing is has your thermostat opened? If your forward oil cooler is hot - then should be warm enough. There is some thermal expansion of the oil (I guess) but there are so many other variables that not sure it's within the accuracy of repeat measurements..

[OsoMoore]

My SC's oil gauge looks like this one (below). I wait until the needle gets out of the white box before I check the oil level. Its the same place I wait for before running the engine hard.

[dshepp806]

My MAIN oil check guideline (aside from the obvious ones) on my 89 is to be consistent in ensuring the front oil line are toasty. In the winter months , I notice that the laines will be warm, but NOT toasty, at all times. Big thing is NO SHORT trips. I take EVEN longer routes to work during the Winter months to give her a chance, at least! I like to feel something warm on the output side of that fender thermostat before I check the oil. Just habit,..but I do understand your interests in the cooler months,..fair question, I'd say.

All of my historical points will go out the window in another month, as I've decided to drop the normally running BP20W50 to BP 15W40 just for this winter.....

BEST!

Doyle

[GH85Carrera]

I have driven my car on COLD days and the thermostat will not open even after a 45 minute drive.

I know the oil level gauge is just a rough guide but if it is showing a good level and there is no big puddle under the car I figure the oil did not all burn off.

[dshepp806]

Same here Glen. Especially on the cold days. Sometimes, I leave her be, if it's especially "cold" , at least for our climates. She'll stay in the garage for the ICE days.


BEST!

Doyle

[chrisbruck]

It warmed up fine in the summer... front oil lines would get pretty hot. Now the thermostat doesn't open nearly as quick, if at all. I'm sure it's working fine, just throws off my previous oil temp readings on the stick. Guess it's just one of those air cooled things to get used to....

[dshepp806]

Yes,.."an "air-cooled" thing.

BEST!

Doyle

[db_cooper]

In the winter, I would suggest keeping the oil level somewhere between the MIN mark and halfway to the MAX mark.

My experience with several 911s has been if you fill it to the MAX mark..it will quickly blow off a quart, more or less.

The 3.2 likes the oil level at about the middle of the range, hot, at idle.

"Hot" is hard to do when it gets colder outside. The best word to use is "normal operating temp" for your driving season.

Halfway between the marks will give you a better idea as to the health of your engine. Don't top up your oil till it gets down to the MIN mark. Then add 1/2 quart. That should get you close to a middle of the range on the dipstick.

And as a bonus..after being parked for a while, they don't smoke as much on cold start up too.