Edit: Here's some background for you guys who didn't read it already.

Porsche of Tysons corner thinks they've found the culprit responsible for my low/erratic oil pressure readings. I would never have guessed what it was...

Evidently Barrier Porsche in Seattle Washington rushed the work that was done to the car before I purchased it. They somehow managed to install the oil filter incorrectly, as my local dealership found a "c0ckeyed and crushed" oil filter inside of the housing. They also failed to securely fasten the main engine ground strap, which was the cause of my intermittent starting issues.

Now I'm wondering if the incorrectly installed oil filter was causing inaccurate oil pressure readings, or if the oil pressure truly dropped as low as the gauge was reporting (0 bar at points while idling). Hopefully I can get a sample of the engine oil and send it off to be analyzed.

 

Wow. I really hope it is something that simple, and that was just a one time oops on their part.

Someone needs to go yell at Barrier.

 

I'm just glad there's a 2 year warranty on the work that Barrier performed.

Oh, I plan on it... believe me. I'm also going to have a talk with Porsche of America and let them know about all of this.

Edit: Here's some background for you guys who didn't read it already.

 

Did Porsche of Tyson's write down their observations?

Did they confirm the low oil pressure prior to pulling the filter?

As long as you have their independent observations in writing you case with Barrier will be stronger.

The third-party warranty may not cover damage due to Barrier's negligence, so be prepared for that contingency. Be firm but fair with Barrier regarding an extension, at their expense, for any problems. They may ask that you ship the car back to them, at their expense, for any repairs if they turn out to be major.

Ideally, it's all good.

 

I would assume so.

This is a bit of a tricky subject. I've only talked with my service advisor, at this point, not the tech. Upon initial inspect by Porsche of Tyson's (HBL from here on out), the tech assumed that the problem was with the oil pressure switch. They were planning on replacing the switch and I agreed, mostly because I had read multiple times on this forum that it was a common culprit. I hung up with my SA and thought about it for a second and came to the conclusion that they were simply "throwing parts (read: money) at the problem." I called back and asked my SA to request that the tech hook up an external, mechanical oil pressure gauge and compare the readings to that of my in-car gauge.

The next morning, I received a call from my SA and was informed of the problem with the crushed oil filter. I was obviously concerned and said/asked "so these low oil pressure readings could, in fact, have been true and accurate readings.?" The first answer I received from my SA was a "yes," but he may not have understood my question correctly. I proceeded to say "well then that leaves me very concerned about engine damage, because I was seeing the needle drop down to zero bar multiple times while the car was idling." His tone immediately changed and he said there was no way that damage was done, and went on and on about inaccurate readings being caused by pressure and vaccuum fluctuations. To me, at least, it was quite apparent that he had little to no idea what he was talking about.

I then asked him if he had relayed my request to the technician and if they had compared the oil pressure readings to that of an external and mechanical gauge. He answered "Yes we did, and the car was reading 3.5 bar at 5000 rpms." I don't know how warm the car was when they made this reading, but I'm assuming that it was not fully warmed up. Regardless, that reading is STILL low, even for a fully warmed-up motor, as the manual states: "With a warmed-up engine and at a set speed of 5000 rpm, the engine oil pressure should be approx. 4.5 bar or higher." I confirmed with my SA that this reading was taken BEFORE the discovery of the crushed oil filter, but it was quite evident that he seemed to think that was adequate oil pressure for that RPM. He was trying to convince me that no engine damaged occured because they confirmed there was sufficient oil pressure at idle before the discovery was made.

I definitely have no proof that any damage was done, at this point, which is exactly why I want a sample of the used engine oil to send off for analysis. It's really the only ammo I could hope to have, other than tearing down the motor and visually inspecting the bearings or waiting for some sort of failure. Some things may very well have been lost in translation between the tech, SA, and myself, but I intend to get to the bottom of things when I'm finally allowed to pick up the car. Barrier is currently checking with the service manager in order to approve the cost of (mostly) diagnosis and repairs, which is less than $900. I'm not pleased with this, in the least bit, and I feel as if I should be able to go pick-up my car regardless of this interaction between Porsche dealerships. That's their problem, not mine.

Yeah... I'm hoping it doesn't come to that, but I guess it's always best to plan for the worst.

Indeed.

 

Document EVERYTHING on paper with signatures and video of them signing it in blood!

 

GREAT ADVICE

Strange. If you do not have it in writing, DO NOT ASSUME it is somewhere else!!!! Either you have it or it does not exist.


I dearly hope that you UOA is clean, but while your version of these details is crisp and clear in your mind and in this thread, what is documented- and what PCNA and the two dealerships actually say-will likely be dramatically different. If the UOA shows issues you can be sure that there will be nobody (besides you) pressing Barrier about what they will do for you!

You should think strategically about getting whatever documentation you can ASAP, before you start pressing anyone with claims or escalating the issue. Get what you can quickly.

Good luck, glad to hear it was resolved.

 

So I just went to Porsche of Tyson's and got my car. I had a heated conversation with the tech who did the work. It really only became heated because he informed me that the oil filter was not (according to him) crushed. He did, however, swap it out for a new oil filter, which miraculously fixed the low oil pressure problem. Regardless of what the tech said, though, I had the SA make sure that a note about the crushed oil filter was included on the invoice.

If you all remember, I really had two oil pressure issues: low pressure and fluctuation (bouncing needle). The fluctuations only started after the car was sufficiently warmed up, which I told Porsche of Tyson's multiple times. Upon hopping in the car and driving away, however, I noticed that it had the exact same number of miles as when I put it onto the tow-truck. They hadn't even driven it to warm it up to operating temperature.

So I drove the car off and the oil pressure was, in fact, much higher than it was before. It was up near (or at) 5 bar at cruise, and sitting right around 2 bar at idle. After driving it around for a while to sufficiently warm it up, I stopped at a few stop signs and lights and realized that the needle was still bouncing up and down. I took some video of this behavior. The biggest fluctuations can be seen at the 0:16 second mark and between 0:29 and 0:45 seconds. Please check it out and let me know what you all think.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZDefX9Ws1Q&hd=1

At this point, I'm thinking it was a combination of two issues: the (un)crushed oil filter, as well as an electrical issue with a part such as the oil pressure sender/switch/sensor/etc. Obviously, I need to take this in to get it fixed completely... just not sure if I want to deal with Porsche of Tyson's anymore.

 

Mine also does this

 

So I wonder if it's normal or if your sender unit is on its way out. Has it always done this?

Edit: I would appreciate it if others would chime in, as well. Is this bouncy oil pressure needle at idle actually normal?

 

It could be normal if your idle fluctuates a tad, which most engines do, even with proper maintenance and parts installed. Oil pressure is only as constant as the source driving it, so if your idle dips for a split second this would in turn drop the oil pressure for a split second.

Does anyone know what the sensor is supposed to OHM out at? That would be the easiest and quickest way to figure out if the sensor is bad.

 

Mine is also 5bar while cruising and 2bar at idle (with a tiny bit of flux)

 

Okay, it's confirmed that there is still something wrong. I don't have video of this, but sitting at idle I saw the needle go from 2 bar straight up to 4.5 bar, then right back down. No one's going to convince me that's normal.

I realize this. I actually know quite a bit about how engines (and the associated components) work. My idle is rock solid while my oil pressure gauge needle is hopping around like a jumping bean on crack. And don't try to tell me that I don't know what a jumping bean on crack looks like; I've seen my fair share of those little bastards!!!

EDIT!!!! I have finally put two-and-two together and I now realize why the oil pressure miraculously doubled when the "undamaged" (according to the tech) oil filter was replaced with a new one. It most likely had nothing to do with the oil filter at all and was, in fact, caused by the loose ground cable that they found! That could definitely have been causing the low readings from the oil pressure gauge. I feel a LOT better now that I know the reason for the previously low oil pressure readings.

 

Bit of a ***** getting to it, common problem.

 

The video is completely normal. My car has always done this at idle and I've driven others that acted just like this. My normal pressures while driving are around 5 or so, at cold idle around 3-3.5 and while idling fully warmed up and hot around 1.7 or so. I used to run Mobil 1 0w40 and now run Mobil 1 5w50 and oil pressures are exactly the same.