PORSCHE 911 CARRERA 2003 4.G Owners Manual

Engine
Oillevel

Followtheinstructionsinthe"Cautions"chapter.
t>Regularlychecktheoillevelusingthe
on-boardcomputereachtimethevehicleis
refuelled.
Refertothechapter"On-boardcomputer".
A.Warning!
Engineoilishazardoustoyourhealthand
maybefatalifswallowed.
t>Keepengineoiloutofchildren'sreach.
Usedengineoilcontainschemicalsthat
havecausedcancerinlaboratoryanimals.
t>Alwaysprotectyourskinbywashingthor-
oughlywithsoapandwater.
Thedipstickandoilfillerareintheenginecom-
partment.
PreconditionsforCOlTectoillevel
measurementwiththedipstick
-Vehiclemustbelevel.
-Enginemustbeswitchedoffandatoperating
temperature.
-Letengineoilflowintotheoilpanforafew
minutesaftertheenginehasstoppedrunning.
Checkingtheoillevel
1.Withdrawdipstickandwipeitwithaclean,
lint-freecloth.
2.Pushdipstickfullyhome,withdrawagainand
readofftheoillevel.
Pushdipstickinasfarasthestop.
Theoillevelmustinnocasefallbelowthemini-
mumorexceedthemaximumoillevelonthe
dipstick.
Thedifferencebetweenthetwomarksisap-
proximately
1.25
litersj1.33quarts.

Topping
offengineoil
1.Ifnecessary,addengineoilhalfaliterata
time.Unscrewthecapoftheoilfiller.
2.Checkoillevelwiththedipstickagainaftera
fewminutes.
3.Pushdipstickinasfarasthestop.
Pushfillingaidinwiththecapandclosecap
carefully.
Maintenance,CarCare
171

AmbienttemperatureSAEViscosityRangeAmbienttemperaturesSAEViscosityRange
(seasonal)Mineraloilbased(seasonal)Syntheticoilbased
engineoilsengineoils
generallyhigherthan15W-40generallyhigherthan10W-40
50°FjlO°C20W-5050°FjlO°C15W-40
20W-4015W-50
generallylowerthan15W-40generallylowerthan10W-40
50°FjlO°C10W-4050°FjlO°C10W-30
10W-305W-30
generallylowerthan10W-30
14°Fj-1O°C5W-30
EngineOilRecommendation
Recommendedoilviscosityrangesdependentonambienttemperatures:
UseonlyengineoilslabelledasAPISHorSJ,orILSACGF1andviscositygradesofSAE10W-40orhigher.
Preferablyyoushouldusesyntheticorsemisyntheticengineoils.
IfindoubtaskyourauthorizedPorschedealerforPorschetestedandapprovedall-seasonoils.
172Maintenance,CarCare

Oilchange

Theengineoilhastobechangedattheinter-
valslistedinyourMaintenanceSchedule.
See"Capacities".
Werecommendthatyouhavetheengineoil
changedatyourPorschedealer,whohasthe
requiredoilsandthenecessaryfillingequipment.
Ifyoususpectanoilleakintheenginehave
yourdealercheckitoutimmediately.
Allcurrentengineoilsarecompatiblewitheach
other,i.e.whenmakinganoilchangeitisnot
necessarytoflushtheengineifyouwishtouse
adifferentbrandorgradeofoil.
Since,however,eachbrandofoilhasaspecial
composition,youshould,ifpossible,usethe
sameoilbrandifitbecomesnecessarytotop
upbetweenoilchanges.
Porscheengineshavelongintervalsbetweenoil
changes.Youcanmakebestuseoftheselong
oilchangeintervalsbyusingmultigradeoils
sincethesearelargelyindependentofseasonal
fluctuationsintemperature.
Ifyourvehicleisusedfrequentlyinstop-and-go
trafficincoldweather,theenginewillnotalways
beproperlywarmedup.
Condensationfromproductsofcombustionmay
accumulateintheoil.Inthiscase,itisadvisable
tochangetheoilmorefrequentlysothatyour
engineonceagainhas100%efficientengine
oil.
Engineoilperformanceclass
Engineoilisnotonlyalubricant,butalsoserves
tokeeptheengineclean,toneutralizethedirt
whichpenetratesintotheenginethroughcom-
bustionandtoprotecttheengineagainstcorro-
sion.
Toperformthesefunctions,theoilisprovided
withadditiveswhichhavebeenspeciallyde-
velopedforthesefunctions.
Theefficiencyofanoilisexpressed,for
example,bytheAPI,ILSACorACEAclassifica-
tions.
UseonlyengineoilswiththeclassificationAPI
SHorSJ,orILSACGF3,orACEAA3(Europe).
Viscosity
Likeallliquids,engineoilisviscouswhencold,
andthin-bodiedwhenwarm.Theviscosityofan
oilisexpressedbyitsSAEclass.Forcoldvis-
cosity(measuredattemperaturesbelow
32°FjO°C)theSAEclassisgivenasanumber
andtheletter"W"
(asinwinter),forhotviscosity
(measuredat212°Fj100°C)theSAEclassis
givenonlyasanumber.
Theviscosityofanoilis,therefore,alwaysthe
sameifithasthesamenumberofanSAE
class.
E.g.:A10W-30oilanda10W-40oilhavethe
sameviscositywhencold(belowO°C);whenhot
(at212°Fj100°C)theoilwiththenumber30is
thinnerthantheoilwiththenumber40.
Oilswithtwoviscositiesarecalledmultigrade
oils;oilswithonlyoneviscosityaretermed
single-gradeoils.
Single-gradeoilscanonlybeusedforthenar-
rowtemperaturerangeidentifiedbytheirSAE
number;multigradeoilscoverawidertempera-
turerange.
TheviscosityoftheengineoilforyourPorsche
hastobechosenaccordingtotheambienttem-
peraturegivenintheengineoilrecommendation
table.
Maintenance,CarCare
173

BrakeFluidlevel
Followtheinstructionsinthe"Cautions"chapter.
Useonlynew(unused)OriginalPorsche
brakefluid.
174Maintenance,CarCare
/!\Warning!
Brakefluidishazardoustoyourhealth,and
maybefatalifswallowed.
Brakefluidalsoattackspaintwork.
~Keepbrakefluidoutofchildren'sreach.
~Takecarewhiletoppingoffbrakefluidnotto
soiltheluggagecompartmentoritemsoflug-
gage.
Checkingthebrakefluidlevel
Thereservoirforthehydraulicbrakingand
clutchsystemsisintheluggagecompartment.
~Checkthebrake-fluidlevelregularlyatthe
transparentreservoir.
Thefluidlevelshouldalwaysliebetweenthe
"Min."and"Max."marks.
Aslightdecreaseinthefluidlevelduetowear
andautomaticreadjustmentofthediscbrakes
isnormal.
If,however,thefluidlevelfallsmarkedlyor
belowthe"Min."mark,thebrakingsystemmay
havedevelopedaleak.
~Havethebrakingsystemcheckedimmediately
atanauthorizedPorschedealer.
Changingthebrakefluid
Brakefluidabsorbsmoisturefromtheairover
time.Thisaccumulationofwaterlowerstheboil-
ingpointand,undercertainoperatingcon-
ditions,canaffectthebrakingaction.
Thereforehavethebrakefluidchangedinac-
cordancewiththechangeintervalsstatedinthe
brochure"Maintenance".
..
WarninglightUSA
0
WarninglightCanada
Thebrake-fluidwarninglightsintheinstrument
panelandon-boardcomputerindicate:
-brake-fluidleveltoolow,
-inconjunctionwithlargepedaltravel,
abraking-circuitfailure.

Ifthewarninglightsshouldlightupwhile
driving:

~Stopimmediatelyinasuitableplace.
~Donotcontinuedriving.
Pleasehavethefaultremediedatyournear-
estauthorizedPorschedealer.

FuelEconomy
Fueleconomywillvarydependingon
where,whenandhowyoudrive,optional
equipmentinstalled,andthegeneralcondi-
tionofyourcar.
Acartunedtospecificationsandcorrectly
maintained,willhelpyoutoachieveoptimal
fueleconomy.
I>Haveyourvehicletunedtospecifications.
Aircleanershouldbedirtfreetoallowproper
engine"breathing".
Batteryshouldbefullycharged.
Wheelsshouldbeproperlyaligned.
Tiresshouldbeinflatedatcorrectpressure.
I>Alwaysmonitoryourfuelconsumption.
I>Drivesmoothly,avoidabruptchangesin
speedasmuchaspossible.
I>Avoidjackrabbitstartsandsuddenstops.
I>Donotdrivelongerthannecessaryinthe
lowergears.Shiftingintoahighergearearly
withoutluggingtheenginewillhelpsavefuel.
I>Prolonged"warmup"idlingwastesgas.Start
thevehiclejustbeforeyouarereadytodrive.
Accelerateslowlyandsmoothly.
I>Switchofftheengineifstationaryforlonger
periods.
I>Anyadditionalweightcarriedinthevehiclere-
ducesfueleconomy.Alwayskeepcargotoa
minimumandremoveallunnecessaryitems.
I>Organizeyourtripstotakeinseveralerrands
inonetrip.
I>Allelectricalaccessoriescontributetoin-
creasedfuelconsumption.
I>Onlyswitchontheairconditioningwhen
necessary.
I>DonotdrivewiththeRoofTransportSystem
mountedunlessyouneedit.
TheEPAestimatedm.p.g.istobeusedfor
comparisonpurposes,actualmileagemay
bedifferentfromtheestimatedm.p.g.,de-
pendingonyourdrivingspeed,weather
conditionsandtriplength.Youractual
highwaymileagewillprobablybelessthan
theestimatedm.p.g.
I>Pleaseobservealllocalandnationalspeed
limits.
OperatingYourPorscheinother
Countries
GovernmentregulationsintheUnitedStatesand
Canadarequirethatautomobilesmeetspecific
emissionregulationsandsafetystandards.
Therefore,carsbuiltfortheU.S.andCanada
differfromvehiclessoldinothercountries.
IfyouplantotakeyourPorscheoutsidethecon-
tinentallimitsoftheUnitedStatesorCanada,
thereisthepossibilitythat
-unleadedfuelmaynotbeavailable;
-unleadedfuelmayhaveaconsiderablylower
octanerating.Excessiveengineknockand
seriousdamagetobothengineandcatalytic
converterscouldresult;
-servicemaybeinadequateduetolackof
properservicefacilities,toolsordiagnostic
equipment;
-replacementpartsmaynotbeavailableor
verydifficulttoget.
Porsche
cannot
beresponsibleforthe
mechanicaldamagethatcouldresultbe-
causeofinadequatefuel,serviceorparts
availability.
IfyoupurchasedyourPorscheabroadandwant
tobringitbackhome,besuretofindoutabout
shippingandforwardingrequirements,aswell
ascurrentimportandcustomsregulations.
Maintenance,CarCare
175

Fuel
/!\Warning!
Fuelishighlyflammableandharmfulto
health.
I>Fire,openflameandsmokingareprohibited
whenhandlingfuel.
I>Avoidcontactwithskinorclothing.
I>Donotinhalefuelvapors.

Topreventdamagetotheemissioncontrol
systemandengine:
I>
Neverdrivethetankcompletelyoutoffuel.

I>
Avoidhighcorneringspeedsafterthewarning
lightshavecomeon.
Followtheinstructionsinthe"FuelEconomy",
"EmissionControlSystem"and"Fuellevel
gauge"chapters.
Check
enginewarninglight

Ifthewarninglightsintheinstrumentpaneland
on-boardcomputercomeonandremainson
whiledriving,itsuggests:
-animproperlyfastenedtankcapor
-refuellingwithenginerunning.
176Maintenance,CarCare

Openingthefillerflap

Thefilleropeningisunderthefillerflapinthe
frontrightfender.

I>
Withthevehicleunlocked,pressonthefront
partofthefillerflap(arrow)toopentheflap.
Thefillerflapiscentrallylockedalongwiththe
otherlocks.

Ifthereisadefectintheautomaticunlock-
ingsystem:
I>
Openthepassengerdoor.

I>
Pulltheringintheright-handdooraperture
(arrow).

Refuelling
Fueltankcapacityislistedunder"Capacities".
Porschedoesnotrecommendtheuseoffuel
additives.
1.Important:Stoptheengineandswitchoff
theignition.
2.Slowlyunscrewthetankcap.
Hangthetankcapontheplasticstrapofthe
fillerflap.
3.Insertfuel-hosenozzlefullyintothefillerneck
withthehandleofthefuel-hosenozzlefacing
down.
4.Donotaddfurtherfueloncethecorrectly
operatedautomaticfuel-hosenozzlehas
switchedoff.
Fuelcouldsprayorcouldrunoverinwarm
temperatures.
5.Replacethetankcapimmediatelyafter
refuellingandturnituntilyouhearitandfeel
itengage.

Ifyoulosethetankcap,youmustreplace
itonlywithanoriginalparttoreducethe
possibilityofafireintheeventofacolli-
sion.

Note
Theoillevelisautomaticallymeasuredduring
refuelling.
Themeasuredoillevelisdisplayedforapproxi-
matelyoneminutewhentheignitionisswitched
onortheengineisstarted.
However,thismeasurementisperformedonlyif
thefollowingpreconditionsaremet:
Engineisatoperatingtemperature,ignitionis
off,refuellingiscompletedwithin15minutes.
FuelRecommendations
YourPorscheisequippedwithcatalyticconver-
tersandmustuseUNLEADEDFUELONLY.
Yourengineisdesignedtoprovideoptimumper-
formanceandfueleconomyusingunleadedpre-
miumfuelwithanoctaneratingof98RON
(93CLCorAKI).Porschethereforerecom-
mendstheuseofthesefuelsinyourvehicle.
Porschealsorecognizesthatthesefuelsmay
notalwaysbeavailable.Beassuredthatyour
vehiclewilloperateproperlyonunleadedpre-
miumfuelswithoctanenumbersofatleast
95RON(90CLCorAKI).sincetheengine's
"ElectronicOktaneTMknockcontrol"willadapt
theignitiontiming,ifnecessary.

Theuseof
UNLEADEDFUELONLY
iscriti-
callyimportanttothelifeofthecatalytic
converters.Depositsfromleadedfuelswill
ruintheconvertersandmakeitineffective
asanemissioncontroldevice.

Carswithcatalyticconvertershaveasmaller
fueltankopening,andgasstationpumpshave
smallernozzles.Thiswillpreventaccidental
pumpingofleadedfuelintocarswithcatalytic
converters.
I>I>I>
Maintenance,CarCare
177

Unleadedfuelsmaynotbeavailableoutsidethe
continentalU.S.andCanada.Therefore,werec-
ommendyoudonottakeyourcartoareasor
countrieswhereunleadedfuelmaynotbeavail-
able.

Octaneratings

Octaneratingindicatesafuel'sabilitytoresist
detonation.Therefore,buyingthecorrectoctane
gasisimportanttopreventengine"damage".
TheRONoctaneratingisbasedontheresearch
method.TheCLC(U.S.CostofLivingCouncil
octanerating)orAKI(antiknockindex)octane
ratingusuallydisplayedonU.S.fuelpumpsis
calculatedasresearchoctanenumberplus
motoroctanenumber,dividedby2,thatiswrit-
tenas:
RON+MON
2
orR+M
2
TheCLCorAKIoctaneratingisusuallylower
thantheRONrating:
Forexample:95RONequals90CLCorAKI
178Maintenance,CarCare
Fuels
containing
alcohol
andether

SomeareasoftheU.S.requireoxygenated
fuelsduringcertainportionsoftheyear.Oxyge-
natedfuelsarefuelswhichcontainalcohols
(suchasmethanolorethanol)orether(suchas
MTBE).
Undernormalconditions,theamountofthese
compoundsinthefuelwillnotaffectdriveability.
YoumayuseoxygenatedfuelsinyourPorsche,
providedtheoctanerequirementsforyourve-
hiclearemet.Werecommend,however,to
changetoadifferentfuelorstationifanyofthe
followingproblemsoccurwithyourvehicle:
-Deteriorationofdriveabilityandperformance.
-Substantiallyreducedfueleconomy.
-Vaporlockandnon-startproblems,especially
athighaltitudeorathightemperature.
-Enginemalfunctionorstalling.
Fuels
containing
MMT
SomeNorthAmericanfuelscontainanoctane
enhancingadditivecalledmethylcyclopentadienyl
manganesetricarbonyl(MMT).
Ifsuchfuelsareused,youremissioncontrol
systemperformancemaybenegativelyaffected.
Thecheckenginewarninglightonyourinstru-
mentpanelmayturnon.
Ifthisoccurs,Porscherecommendsyoustop
usingfuelscontainingMMT.
PortableFuelContainers

A
Danger!
Portablefuelcontainers,fullorpartially
empty,mayleakcausinganexplosion,or
resultinfireincaseofanaccident.

t>Nevercarryadditionalfuelinportablecon-
tainersinyourvehicle.

EmissionControl
System
Intheinterestofclean
air
Pollutionofourenvironmenthasbecomeaprob-
lemthatisofincreasingconcerntoallofus.We
urgeyoutojoinusinoureffortsforcleanerair
incontrollingthepollutantsemittedfromthe
automobile.
Porschehasdevelopedanemissioncontrolsys-
temthatcontrolsorreducesthosepartsofthe
emissionthatcanbeharmfultoourenviron-
ment.YourPorscheisequippedwithsuchasys-
tem.
PorschewarrantstheEmissionControlSystem
inyournewcarunderthetermsandconditions
setforthintheWarrantyBooklet.
You,astheownerofthevehicle,havethe
responsibilitytoprovideregularmaintenance
serviceforthevehicleandtokeeparecordof
allmaintenanceworkperformed.Tofacilitate
recordkeeping,havetheserviceperformedby
authorizedPorschedealers.TheyhavePorsche
trainedtechniciansandspecialtoolstoprovide
fastandefficientservice.

Toassure
efficientoperationofthe
EmissionControlSystem:
I>Haveyourvehiclemaintainedproperlyandin
accordancewiththerecommendationsde-
scribedinyourMaintenanceBooklet.
Lackofpropermaintenance,aswellasim-
properuseofthevehicle,willimpairthefunc-
tionoftheemissioncontrolsystemandcould
leadtodamage.
I>Donotalterorremoveanycomponentofthe
emissioncontrolsystem.
I>Donotalterorremoveanydevice,suchas
heatshields,switches,ignitionwires,valves,
etc.,whicharedesignedtoprotectyourvehi-
cle'semissioncontrolsystem.
Inadditiontoseriousenginedamage,thiscan
resultinafireifexcessrawfuelreachesthe
exhaustsystem.
I>Donotcontinuetooperateyourvehicleifyou
detectenginemisfireorotherunusualopera-
tingconditions.
Parking

/!\Warning!
Dangeroffire.

I>Donotparkoroperatethevehicleinareas
wherethehotexhaustsystemmaycomein
contactwithdrygrass,brush,fuelspillor
otherflammablematerial.
I>Ifyourcarcatchesonfireforanyreason,call
thefiredepartment.
Donotendangeryourlifebyattemptingto
putoutthefire.
Undercoating

/!\Warning!
Dangeroffireandseriouspersonalin-
juries.

I>Donotapplyadditionalundercoatingorrust-
proofingonorneartheexhaustmanifold,ex-
haustpipes,catalyticconvertersorheat
shields.Duringdrivingthesubstanceusedfor
undercoatingcouldoverheatandignite.
I>I>I>
Maintenance,CarCare
179

HowEmissionControlWorks
Whenanautomobileengineisrunning,ituses
energygeneratedthroughthecombustionofa
mixtureofairandfuel.Dependingonwhethera
carisdrivenfastorslowlyorwhethertheen-
gineiscoldorhot,someofthefuel(hydrocar-
bons)maynotbeburnedcompletely,butmay
bedischargedintotheenginecrankcaseorex-
haustsystem.Additonalhydrocarbonsmayenter
theatmospherethroughevaporationoffuelfrom
thefueltank.Thesehydrocarbons(HC),whenre-
leasedintotheair,contributetoundesirablepol-
lution.
Inaddition,carbonmonoxide(CO)andoxidesof
nitrogen(NOx)contributetoengineemissions.
They,too,areformedduringthecombustion
processanddischargedintotheexhaustsys-
tem.
Toreducethesepollutants,yourPorscheis
equippedwithapreciselycalibratedfuelinjection
systemtoassureafinelybalancedair/fuelmix-
tureunderalloperatingconditions.
180Maintenance,CarCare
Oxygensensor
Theoxygensensor,installedintheexhaustpipe
continuouslysensestheoxygencontentofthe
exhaustandsignalstheinformationtoanelec-
troniccontrolunit.Thecontrolunitcorrectsthe
air/fuelratio,sotheenginealwaysreceivesan
accuratelymeteredair/fuelmixture.
Crankcaseventilation
Throughcrankcaseventilation,undesirable
emissionsfromtheenginecrankcasearenot
permittedtoreachtheoutsideatmosphere.
Theseemissionsarerecirculatedfromthe
crankcasetotheairintakesystem.Fromhere
theemissionsmixwiththeintakeairandare
laterburnedintheengine.
Catalyticconverters
Thecatalyticconvertersareefficient"clean-up"
devicesbuiltintotheexhaustsystemoftheve-
hicle.Thecatalyticconvertersburntheundesir-
ablepollutantsintheexhaustgasbeforeitis
releasedintotheatmosphere.
Theexclusiveuseofunleadedfueliscriti-
callyimportantforthelifeofthecatalytic
converters.Therefore,onlyunleadedfuel
mustbeused.
Thecatalyticconverterswillbedamaged
by:
-pushortowstartingthevehicle
-misfiringoftheengine
-turningofftheignitionwhilethevehicleis
movingor
-drivinguntilthefueltankiscompletelyempty
-byotherunusualoperatingconditions.
t>Donotcontinuetooperateyourvehicleunder
theseconditions,sincerawfuelmightreach
thecatalyticconverters.Thiscouldresultin
overheatingoftheconverters.Federallaw
prohibitsuseofleadedfuelinthiscar.