Noticed something strange today on my 2012 Turbo. When the engine was cold, oil pressure gauge would fluctuate up and down between 2.5-4 bar

This is happening while in Drive, sitting at a traffic light, not revving the engine at all.

once the car warmed up, oil pressure behaved more “normally” - ie stable and low at idle, and increasing when engine revs.

has anyone else had this happen? Is this normal in cold weather? I suspect it’s not, but this morning was the first cold weather drive in a while so maybe I don’t remember last winter very well.

I did have an oil change a couple weeks ago. Oil level reading is normal according to the dashboard reading.

thanks!

 

[QUOTE=2012PTT;4856377]Noticed something strange today on my 2012 Turbo. When the engine was cold, oil pressure gauge would fluctuate up and down between 2.5-4 bar

This is happening while in Drive, sitting at a traffic light, not revving the engine at all.

once the car warmed up, oil pressure behaved more “normally” - ie stable and low at idle, and increasing when engine revs.

has anyone else had this happen? Is this normal in cold weather? I suspect it’s not, but this morning was the first cold weather drive in a while so maybe I don’t remember last winter very well.

I did have an oil change a couple weeks ago. Oil level reading is normal according to the dashboard reading.

thanks![/QUOT

Where did they do the oil change?

 

[QUOTE=turbo_mikePTT;4856489]had the oil change done by a reputable Indy shop

 

Porsche oil pressure sending units fail often giving false readings and causing no damage...still a good idea to replace

 

That was my first thought is that the oil pressure sensor had failed, but if that were the case I can't figure out why it fluctuates only when the engine is cold and then behaves completely normal once the engine's been running for 4-5 minutes.

I actually realized this morning that it's more extreme than I first thought, it actually bounces back and forth from 1-5 bar when you first start it up, and then it narrows to 2-4 bar, and then it eventually stabilizes and stops bouncing around.

Does anyone else's Panamera do this in the cold? Just looking for confirmation that this is in fact not normal.

 

Your oil is multiple viscosity and pressure will register higher at idle when cold. The behavior you are describing is not normal. You need to make sure it is the sender and not actual oil pressure.

 

Any update to this? My 4S is doing this as well - I also received an Oil Pressure Sending Unit Fault yesterday. I assume I have a faulty pressure sender since everything else looks fine. However, I noticed that the car idles roughly (not missing) until the oil comes up to full temp at which point the car smooths out considerably and that makes me wonder if I have a weak pump. Do you have any other symptoms?

 

No update yet - haven't had a chance to take it to the shop yet, but I will soon and will update then. Let me know if any updates on your end also.

 

Will do - I am planning to stream some data from it tonight and see if there is anything weird going on especially during warm-up. After that I'll likely replace the sensor to begin with. Car goes through oil kind of fast - I hear they all do but it still seems like a lot.

 

Mine does this as well, any cause for concern or fixes?

 

Yea, the sending unit as mentioned above. Common issue.

 

My data stream showed nothing particularly unusual - just the same fluctuations on all readings - I'll replace the sensor in the next little while and update.

 

any luck on your end? I have had a chance to take it to the shop yet

 

I noticed my car doing this the past few days, going from 2 bar, to 3.4, etc., but have not received a fault code yet. Another thing I noticed is that prior to having the scanner to rest the oil light, it would take a day to process the correct oil level.

Thinking out loud here (and it may sound silly)... but is it possible that a a faulty Oil Pressure Sending Unit trigger a "pending" P0016 code? I posted my symptoms in another thread,

 

Replaced the oil pressure sending unit, and still having the same issue. Anyone else out there experience this or have any thoughts?