Hi everyone. What a weird day I had today.

I decided to get the car up on jackstands today so I could change the brake pads, flush the brakes, and change the oil. No biggie....I've done this 3000 times before in my other cars.

First the brakes....I took the old pads out (the car is a CPO car, but it had different brand brakes front and back....nice!) and popped the new ones in. They were given to me by a friend so I am not 100% certain what they are. He says they are Pagid Orange pads for the track. They do certainly have more stopping power, but they screech and scream like a horror movie. Is this typical of this sort of pad? If so, I am going back to stock pads. I can't live with this! I did try to bed them in a bit with easy brake usage for a few miles followed by a handful of more aggressive stops from 100 or so.

Then came the brake bleeding. No issues there other than a lot of black "grit" in the fluid coming out of the calipers as they bled. I have never seen that before. What gives?

Next came the oil change. With the car up in the air, I removed the oil fill cap and the oil filter cap. I then went under the car and removed the drain plug in the rear-most position under the car. It spurted a small amount of oil and then trickled to a stop. After that, I removed the drain plug closer to the front of the car (about 6 inches away from the other one).

First thing I noticed was a spring inside the drain plug bolt. WTF is that for? Is there some sort of check valve in there to prevent oil loss in the event the bolt falls out? I ask this because absolutely *NO* oil came out of that hole when the plug was removed. The plug was wet with oil, and I got a few drips at most out. All in all, from the two drain points combined, I got a touch under 3 quarts of oil to come out of the car.

At this point I am growing quite concerned. Is there a trick to getting the oil to drain out of the car? That is what I am sincerely hoping. Otherwise, could my oil level sensor be bad and was I truly only running the car with 3 quarts of oil in it? The car never runs hot, and consumes about a quart of oil every 1000-1500 miles or so.

Did I miss something to get the damn oil to drain? I'm not exactly a newby with a wrench here. I am more than qualified and experienced enough for a simple oil change.

THEN....to top it all off (pardon the oil pun), I went out for another drive to play with the brakes. Still screaming like a chimpanzee. Grrrr.

A car pulls up next to me at a light with a couple of young guys in it. It was a Toyota Avalon or something similar. They mouth to me "wanna race" and I smile and motion for them to go first and get a jump on me. They oblige and I gave them about 20 car lengths before I plant the fun pedal to the floor.

I fly by them and we enchange smiles and I continue to put distance between us. At this point I gave these kids a great story to tell because I get a low coolant light on the dash followed instantly by a huge cloud of steam/coolant smoke trailing from the car.

I was about a block and a half from home so I just coasted it into my driveway. The temp gauge didn't read hot at all, so I am not worried about engine damage from the coolant loss.

What a fun day! I have a car that won't give up it's oil, but is more than glad to belch coolant while the brakes scream at me. I hope you all have a better weekend with your cars than I did!

Monday the car will be towed in to the dealer, and I will be ordering new stock brake pads to replace these noise-makers.

Does anyone have any ideas or clues for me as to why the oil didn't drain?

Thanks!

Rob

Here's a photo for your enjoyment:

 

Oranges are a great pad...for the track. Mine sounded like a municipal garbage truck coming to a screeching halt. The oil plug with the spring was an oil pressure relief fitting, not the one you want to remove for an oil change. Congrats for giving it a shot anyway, hope the coolant issue is nothing major.....

 

So the oil drain issue was simply me not finding the correct drain plug? OMG...I feel dumb. Next time I need to get the car higher up in the air to be able to look around better under there.

 

that's correct you need to find the sump tank plug(right rear of motor near sway bar) it contains about 8 quarts of oil .........start over drain that one and the one at the bottom most part of the engine case.

 

Cool...Thanks for the help.

I should have researched a bit for a DIY write-up before jumping in to the project...what a concept!

When I get the car back for the coolant loss issue, I will get it done correctly.

Thanks

Rob

 

Big Ups to you for your do it yourself mindset. Hope the coolant issue is resolved cheaply.

 

my pagid oranges were the pads from hell. they screeched to the point of being unbearable.
i installed them onto new oem rotors, and bedded them in only to discover they were too loud for daily driving. stock pads/rotors with upgraded brake fluid is the way to go IMO. excellent stopping power as long as things are intact.

 

OEM Porsche pads for the street. They also work reasonably well at the track
if good cooling is provided. I also used Pagid Oranges on the track and could
not stand the screeching on the street.

Good luck!

MK

 

Rob,

Give me a call on the Oil Change and I'll come help you. I've done it on my car and once you see it done you will see how easy it is.

John

 

Guys,

I too was considering changing the oil myself. I have the Porsche shop manuals and noticed that in the section (Group 0, Chapter 3) on the oil change it outlines draining oil from the turbos. I got under the car and see that these look undisturbed (they have a fair amount of road grime on them).

Do the dealers actually perform this step when paid $$ for a oil change? Should they? (I would think so). Does anyone on here who does their oil change themselves bother with this step?

My car is fast approaching the 30K service which I'll have the dealer do (need to get a smog check done in CA too). I wonder if this is something worth mentioning to them - given the cost of an oil change ~$175 ($90 service, $20.94 oil filter, $.65 alum seal ring, $.75 pump seal, $62.55 oil) at my dealer.

-Steve

 

John,

Thanks! This email reminds me that I still owe you photos! eek....Sorry!

I'll give you a shout once the car comes back. I have a handle on where to drain the second part of the oil from, but it is always nice to have a buddy in the garage.

Thanks!

Rob

 

No sweat Rob. Just ring me when you get the car back. You will need about 9 quarts of oil for the change.

 

Race pads make noise

Gunk comming out in the brake bleed means it was never done before.
I would flush the whole system.

There are 4 places to drop oil.
side bolt on bottom of case
Bolt on btm of sump
2 btm of turbos drip cans (allen)

Maybe you loosened up the coolant drain.

Elliot

 

im having the same problem with my coolant hose coming off. what did the dealer do?

 

Oil plug...8+ qts...they come out FAST....kaboom. You have been warned.

I use EBC red-stuff pads on the street...and light DE. Better than stock on track and no squeal. I have been told yellow-stuff also lack noise...and are even better on the track. Red-Stuff claim to be better cold. I can attest to awesome street performance at 30F cold...and on track.

Pagids just seemed to be so expensive....so I tried the red-stuff's by EBC. I don't plan to go back. No real rotor wear either.

JB