Hi all,

what is an acceptable oil consumption usage for a 2002 996T with 28K miles? I am looking at a car and the owner is telling me that it burns quite a bit of oil, but I am not sure how to quantify quite a bit. The car doesn't appear to smoke at least at idle. I haven't taken it for a test drive yet. Thanks.

 

You need to ask the seller to define "quite a bit". Every car is different. It is very common for these cars to use a qt or so every 800-1500 miles. That is considered normal by Porsches standards. If it doesn't smoke at idle or while it is running, I think it's OK. If it BLOWS smoke while you drive it, run.

 

Excellent,

in other words one should expect to add a fair amount of oil in between oil changes. I would also expect higher consumption based on spirited driving versus moderate driving, for lack of a better word. When I ran through the oil check today, at first the computer replied the engine wasn't up to temperature. After a while the check went through but came out with only one bar. This check would be influenced by the car not being parked on a really flat surface. Right?

 

As said above, all the cars run a little different. My car burns 1/2 quart every 3,000. My buddy's car burns a quart every 1,000. He got a little concerned and had the engine looked over and all his numbers (leakdown and compression) looked good. His mechanic talked to Porsche and they said that a quart every 1,000 is w/in parameters.

 

It will not "check the oil" unless it is up to operating temp, not sure about the level surface. One of the reasons these cars can go longer between oil changes is it gets a fresh qt once in a while. Consumption will be higher with "spirited" driving, but not excessively higher.

 

I think every car is unique...I track mine and I seldom need to add any oil in between oil changes at 2000-3000 mile intervals. IMO, there are lots of available cars out there, so find one that potentially has less issues...

 

My oil consumption got cut by 70% when I went from 0w-40 to 5w-50....but one must live in a warm (I'd have to check the manual for the temp issue...let's just say in the US in a place that doesn't see ice/snow/frost) climate for the latter..... 5w-40 was better for me than 0w-40 (turbo diesel truck). All of these were/are Mobil 1, btw. I don't want to start an oil war.

 

OK I hear you, I'll ask the owner to see if he can quantify the consumption. On a different note, wouldn't you need the engine taken out to do a leak down and compressor check in order to access the spark plugs area, or at least lower the engine? The car has a set of PSS9. Can I raise the car back to stock ride height without doing a complete alignment? I got a steep driveway.

 

No engine removal for any of that. They can all be done by removing rear bumper and intercoolers. Probably a 2hr job if you've never done it before. Check your coils while you are there. Any change in height would likely require an alignment.

 

not exactly the best salesman is he ! did he also tell you it rattles and isnt very fast

 

Nah,

he didn't seem to know too much about the slight rattle. I am guessing it might be a noisy intermediate shaft. But what I really like is when the owner tells me he never takes the car to redline...On the other hand the car hasn't had an over rev both I and II in over 700 hours if I am reading the data right. Also the engine has 772 hours which means the average MPH sit at around 36. The car has a fidelity warranty for another 5/50, so I am very tempted right now.

 

If it actually has a "rattle", it likely has a light weight flywheel.

 

has he modded it all ?

 

I spent a while looking at maintenance records and there is no evidence of clutch replacement nor slave/accumulator. The clutch pedal feels OK soft. I listened to a another car a couple of weeks ago which did have a single mass flywheel but it did not seem overly loud, to me anyway, within an enclose garage. I remember reading an Excellence article where the author made it sound as if a car with a single mass flywheel is really obnoxiously loud.

 

on the topic of modding... sorry I missed it...no engine mods, but the car had different rims on a CF hood and a GT2 rear lid at some point. What was encouraging was to see that he purchased a GT2 harness to remove a cel of because of the GT2 rear deck. Is there a way to check if a flash was ever done? He did disclose that the fenders and bumpers were repainted because of rock chips. Indeed the front radiator shows pebble hits on the fins.