Fact or Fiction: You Must Keep A Porsche Level During An Oil Change? I Test The Theory.

It's a "well known fact" that you can't jack up just one end of a Porsche to do an oil change. The question is: is this true? Today, I test out the story (myth?) to see if it's true.
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[@lonniecrook1684]

I jack my Cayman S up in the rear, remove the oil plug, then lower the rear to back level so all the oil comes out. Then I jack it up again, put the oil plug back in, replace the filter, and lower it down to add the new oil. All you need is a drain pan shallow enough so you can lower the car onto the tires without squishing the drain pan. Leaving 8% of the old oil in my engine would bother me, so this is how I avoid it.

[@k.j.g.9601]

Exactly!

[@BurnsRubber]

Please use jack stands while working under the car. Do not trust your life to a jack alone.

[@Will-kk6bb]

Totally true, I use only 2 jacks and do the same 👍

[@acooper1037]

same here.

[@roots4x]

Another easy solution to lifting the front is to simply throw in some fresh oil after the initial drain. This dilutes the 8% left over oil. Most DIYers will have extra half quarts here and there lying around anyway. Why not just use those instead of saving those for 6-12 months to use next time. Especially when you're buying 5QT jugs anyway. I do this when I'm kinda lazy. Otherwise, just lift the front too like Cliff says. It's super easy.

[@andrewjohnson750]

All Porsche owners that want to do work themselves should but some Quick Jacks they are great. Car can sit with all wheels off and loads of room to work underneath. Costco in England i paid around £1100 and worth every penny. . Check them out you will be wanting a set . Not any advertisement for the brand just honest, wish i could add a picture

[@PanameraTSE]

This is a great video to help us folks who don’t have a lift. Thanks for taking the time to make this video.

[@kevinsboxster2310]

I've owned my Boxster for 18 years. I've changed the oil using ramps (which slightly elevated the rear of the car) and a lift. Your measurements confirm my unscientific conclusions based on observation. It seems that when I fill the car with oil after using a lift that I need about 0.3 liters more oil to reach the fill mark. I do have one question about your procedure. Do you think removing the oil filter prior to your second drain cycle would have affected the amount of oil remaining in your car? Overall, I agree with your conclusion. That is, if you don't have a lift available, draining the oil with one end slightly elevated is fine. Thanks for an informative video.

[@gggasbell]

Great video with actual data vs "opinion". I also have a lift and a 981 GT4. I get a little more out level as you did on that car too. There's quite a bit of oil in all the engine-to-cooler line and coolers themselves, so no matter what you do you'll never get it all. Before I had a lift I put the front on 2 or 3 inch ramps, then jacked up the rear and got almost the same out. Since you are always mixing new oil with some old oil (in the cooler circuit, valve train, etc) I assume changing more frequently covers it. I track the GT4 and change every 5 normal HPDE days or after any 2 or 3 day event with really hot, hard days. BTW I always drain the oil and pull the filter while still draining so I get the little bit in the filter level or not.

[@warrenlucier5796]

I have ramps that I back up on so I've got enough room to access the drain plug and filter. The slope of the driveway vs height of the ramps have a 1" differential over the 8' of wheelbase, which has the back slightly higher. I created a couple of 1" ramps for the front to make it level to solve the problem for oil servicing and I let it drain for quite a while before buttoning it up and filling the crankcase.

[@pedrokd5439]

Good job, Cliff 🎉🎉

[@tedjohnson64]

Excellent experiment!

[@Melatoninlullabies0313]

Thanks for the tip love ur channel I bought my first Porsche 3 months ago, ‘08 cayman with 60k miles

[@8bitaffiliate243]

So helpful! What a great idea for a video. I have been wondering this myself and scouring thr forums with nothing definitive. Thank you much!

[@hankiuyi]

Thanks for the exp. Much appreciated. How about do same exp for transmission oil?

[@Hoster987]

Cliff, really enjoy your videos and helps me with my 987 DIY. I have no doubt you get more oil out when leveled and maybe worthwhile since I do this once a year. By the way, I wouldn't be surprised if half of the residual / old oil (when leveled) would have come out anyways when rears were jacked up if more time was allowed? For example, (when rears were jacked up) screw in the drain plug, wait 10 mins or so, re-open, then you would see more old oil coming out. For our other 2 vehicles, I have fumoto valves installed (and do these on ramps), and when the old oil start dripping, I shut the valve, wait 10 mins or so, then re-open to get more oil out (e.g., drips turn into stream of oil)

[@theplayernkc]

I have a 2003 Boxster S that I bought in Feb 2013. I have done all the oil changes myself since I purchased the car. I only jack up the rear of the car to change the oil. So for over 10 years of this type of oil change and no issues with my car. The car still has it's original IMSB and now has 132k miles on it. I personally don't think it makes that big of a difference.

[@pnug9040]

The IMS wasn't replaced? Caymans don't really have an that issue but if yours has not been done. You do need to get that done. I've spoken to a couple of Boxster experts at Porsche tech events and they basically stated that an IMS going on my 987.1 was a unicorn thing but old (996) Boxsters & 911s need to be upgraded. The 987.1 larger upgraded Boxsters & Caymans IMS is internal and can't be changed without splitting the case anyway.

[@theplayernkc]

@@pnug9040 Not happening. The IMSB doesn't need to be replaced.

[@charleslu7044]

@@pnug9040You can replace your IMS bearing but you need to mill out the bearing case with a special tool made by EMS. They rent out the tool as well. Some of the 986 bearings are dual row and don’t need replacement.

[@johnash826]

Well, interesting video. But its simple. The Caymrn does not have a true dry sump system. It is described as an integrated dry sump, which of course is a misnomer.

[@johnash826]

Jack up the rear. Drain as much as possible. Remove oil pan. Put in a smaller one lower the car to flat. Drain the rest.

[@user-gb5mu3jm9j]

My husband just got me a 2018 cayenne 2 mths ago and now it reads Max 1.5 quarts oil refill Drive on possible, what does it means? He is out of town and don’t know if I should take it in for check up, can someone advise please.

[@pnug9040]

I generally fill the filter housing halfway and put it on real slowing to not spill any. Don't put all the recommend amount it. Stop about half a quart short. Run the engine a couple minutes, then check the level ~30min later. You don't want to be above the full mark.

[@FredomSeeker1969]

Was the engine at operating temperature before you started the draining process? If not, it will affect the total quantity of oil that will drain by gravity.

[@halloweenjack8683]

Great vid do not think I will maul about with my 997.2 GTS to much mither regards from Manchester UK 👍

[@brightenupcc]

Good video Cliff. 5-8 min longer than necessary but highly useful content. Thanks!

[@SesshomaruSama15]

i saw the whole video and felt it was short, to each their own.

[@cllistings5914]

Nicely done. Wonder how much of difference there would be if you warmed up the engine and removed filter before draining?

[@CliffsGarage]

I've done oil changes warm and cold, oil fill open and closed, filter on and off. Made no discernible difference in volume or speed.

[@pnug9040]

Oil is thin and take forever to stop warm or cold.

[@MrSmakboy]

What happens if you lift the front more than the back?

[@alg4633]

He makes it sound so simple to jack up the rear, put jack stands on the rear, then jack up the front and put jack stands underneath; the only problem is their is only 1 jack point on each corner so if your using a Hydraulic jack on the jack point, you cant put a jack stand on it. You need something like a quick jack, lift, or lift bars at an added expense. Some folks use the sub frame as a jack point, but I wouldn't risk cracking or bending those, what looks to be, aluminum frame supports.

[@CliffsGarage]

It actually is pretty simple to life both ends of the car without using the side jack points. Also, you don't have to put jackstands under the jack points in the first place, you can just put them under the lower control arm ball joints. Or vice versa.

[@iam8up]

I sub'ed and liked but would only watch videos on the Cayman. Not interested in the Hummer myself. Just input from a viewer :)

[@whatstpoint3867]

That’s very interesting and helpful but for completeness what would happen if you jacked only the front end up??!!!

[@CliffsGarage]

I honestly have no idea why you'd ever want to do that, but I think it would make accessing the drain and filter very difficult.

[@whatstpoint3867]

I am not in anyway technically minded but if the car is at an angle one way if tilted the other way would this alter the amount of oil which would be released? I.e. if the sump is towards the front of the car would it give up more if drained to the rear? Great vid on the halo lights by the way

[@whatstpoint3867]

I guess that’s why all Porsche centres have vertical lifts!

[@jimg2812]

Wrong info here, not all porsches have external dry sumps, only the GT models do like GT3. The car in your video has an integrated sump and not a dry sump.

[@juliuscaesar2792]

Yes, you must keep the Porsche level during a oil change.