New Porsche owner as of 5 months ago. Bought a 2006 911 4S Cabriolet w/23K miles. On January 31st I had a "Major Maintenance Service" performed at the local Porsche dealer. Today, I got a "Check engine oil level" warning light. Could I really need to top off the oil that soon? Most of my driving is short trips under 20 miles and I've put about 3,000 miles on the car since 11/16. Could this potentially be an indication of a bigger engine issue? Thanks in advance.

 

Did you check the oil level after the service? Maybe it was low to begin with?

Assuming you didn't check the level the amount of oil consumed could be rather small, on the order of a fraction of a quart.

Absent a CEL, any untoward engine behavior or abnormal noises, I don't think there's any bigger engine issues.

There are some owner/operator issues though.

1) You need to check the oil level more often, always after a service and then periodically between services; and 2) You need to drive the car more than 20 miles once in a while. Take the long way home from work!

 

What is the current oil level? Is it reading too low or too high? If you're only doing 20 minute trips you may have introduced a bunch of water vapor into the oil that's actually making the level read too high. If it's too low, consumption of up to 1 quart every 700 miles is supposedly acceptable, but not really in my mind. You should be checking your oil level using the gauge and the procedure in the manual, at least once a week.

 

Its nothing, top up, don't worry about it.

 

Thanks everyone! Appreciate it.