[968TDG]

Ok, drove off in the car this morning and the "!" was on with the low oil indicator, so I went back to my driveway and checked the oil. Sure enough it was nearing the low mark.

A brief history of recent pertinent work/info:

I replaced the oil filter housing gasket, which was leaking badly. After doing this I cleaned all of the belly pans so that I could see any continuing leaks. Since then (about a month ago) I've had the belly pans off a few times with no sign of any significant leaks. There is a little leaking around the oil pan, but just it seems to be very slow.

I've been driving the car in heavy rain over the past few days.

There is no sign of the car burning any oil through the exhaust, not smokey, doesn't smell at all.

There is no sign of oil in the coolant, nice and clean.

I'd be surprised if I could have lost a quart of oil in the last month without noticing, no oil on the driveway, very little in the belly pans.

Is there any chance that when I replaced the Oil filter housing gasket there was an air pocket in the oil cooler that stayed there for a while? I'm quite careful with checking the oil periodically, and had not noticed it going down.

Any thoughts?

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[flash]

these things use oil - the book says that 1.5 liter per 1000km is "acceptable" - that's nearly a quart per tank

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[968TDG]

holy crap.

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[flash]

yup - pretty crazy - i don't use nearly that much, but i do use more than any other engine i have ever had, INCLUDING the british ones

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[DaveN]

I crapped the first time I drove my 87' 944 600km and I got the ! light. Pulled into the nearest gas station and looked at the stick, it was 1/2 way down and I was confused too. I had no manual with that car. I bought a 944 S2 with the manual and I came across the oil usage declaration and felt much better. A friend of mine sold his 944 and bought a 911 (what's that?) and he panicked as well when his oil light came on until he read the oil consumption blurb.
I must say my 968 hasn't eaten a drop of oil in 6 months of summer driving - it must think it's Japanese [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif[/img]

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[968TDG]

Yeah, I keep a fairly keen eye on my dipstick (not sure why I chose that wording) because I originally had a bad leak on the oil filter housing, and I drove the car across the country at high speeds and high temps when i bought it. but I'll try to keep better tabs on it to get a real idea of the rate.

-Phil

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[Cloud9...68]

Interesting how much variability there is in these cars' oil consumption. With about 110K on the clock, my car hasn't consumed a teaspoon of oil since I last changed the oil exactly 3000 miles ago. Now, if only I could do as much bragging about my compression numbers...

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[Scott Collins]

I check every time I get gas. I also take a peak at the timing belt through the view window just to see how the belt looks.

I keep 2 quarts in the wheel well and add when needed. I keep the oil level right at the top of the mark.

I always have wished there was some kind of "quick release" for the covers so that I could see everything on the front of the engine quickly.

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