2003 PORSCHE 911 CARRERA oil change

Regularlycheck
yourvehicleforsignsof
damage.
Damagedormissingaerodynamiccompo-
nentssuchasspoilersorundersidepanels
affectthedrivingbehaviorandtherefore
mustbereplacedimmediately.
Yourcarmayhaveallorsomeofthecompo-
nentsdescribedinthismanual.
Shouldyouhavedifficultyunderstandinganyof
theexplanationsoffeaturesorequipment
installedinyourvehicle,contactyourauthorized
Porschedealer.He/Shewillbegladtoassist
you.Alsocheckwithyourdealeronotheravail-
ableoptionsorequipment.
Throughoutthisbooklet,leftisdesignatedas
thedriver'ssideofthevehicle,andrightasthe
passenger'ssideofthevehicle.
Text,illustrationsandspecificationsinthisma-
nualarebasedontheinformationavailableat
thetimeofprinting.
IthasalwaysbeenPorsche'spolicytocontinu-
ouslyimproveitsproducts.Porsche,therefore,
reservestherighttomakechangesindesign
andspecification,andtomakeadditionsor
improvementsinitsproductwithoutincurring
anyobligationtoinstallthemonproducts
previouslymanufactured.
Wewishyoumanymilesofsafeandpleasurable
drivinginyourPorsche.
Important
Foryourownprotectionandlongerservicelife
ofyourcar,pleaseheedalloperating
instructionsandspecialwarnings.Thesespecial
warningsusethesafetyalertsymbol,followed
bythewordsDanger,WarningandCaution.
Thesespecialwarningscontainimportantmes-
sagesregardingyoursafetyand/orthepotential
fordamagetoyourPorsche.Ignoringthem
couldresultinseriousmechanicalfailureoreven
physicalinjury.
DonotalteryourPorsche.Anyalterationcould
createdangerousconditionsordefeatsafety
engineeringfeaturesbuiltintoyourcar.
DonotmisuseyourPorsche.Useitsafely,and
consistentlywiththelaw,accordingtothedriv-
ingconditions,andtheinstructionsinthisma-
nual.
AlterationormisuseofyourPorschecould
causeaccidentsandsevereorfatalpersonal
injuries.
Notetoowners
InCanada,thismanualisalsoavailablein
French.Toobtainacopycontactyourdealeror
writeto:
Noteauxproprietaires
AuCanadaonpeutseprocurerunexemplaire
deceManuelenfranc;aisaupresduconcessio-
naireoudu:
PorscheCarsCanada,Ltd.
AutomobilesPorscheCanada,LTEE

5045
OrbitorDrive
Building#11,Suite302
Mississauga,Ontario
CanadaL4W4Y4
Telephonenumberforcustomerassistance:
1-800-PORSCHE/Option
3
3

Inthedriver'sseat...
I>Checkoperationofthehorn.
I>Positionseatforeasyreachoffootpedals
andcontrols.
Toreducethepossibilityofinjuryfromtheair-
bagdeployment,youshouldalwayssitback
asfarfromthesteeringwheelasispractical,
whilestillmaintainingfullvehiclecontrol.
I>Adjusttheinsideandoutsiderearviewmir-
rors.
I>Buckleyoursafetybelts.
I>Checkoperationofthefootandparking
brake.
I>Checkallwarningandindicatorlightswith
ignitiononandenginenotrunning.
I>Startengineandcheckallwarningdisplays
forwarningsymbols.
I>Neverleaveanidlingcarunattended.
I>Lockdoorsfrominside,especiallywithchild-
reninthecartopreventinadvertentopening
ofdoorsfrominsideoroutside.
Drivewithdoorslocked.
Ontheroad...
I>Neverdriveafteryouhaveconsumedalcohol
ordrugs.
I>Alwayshaveyoursafetybeltfastened.
I>Alwaysdrivedefensively.
Expecttheunexpected.
I>Usesignalstoindicateturnsandlane
changes.
I>Turnonheadlightsatduskorwhenthedriv-
ingconditionswarrantit.
I>Alwayskeepasafedistancefromthevehicle
infrontofyou,dependingontraffic,roadand
weatherconditions.
I>Reducespeedatnightandduringinclement
weather.
Drivinginwetweatherrequirescautionand
reducedspeeds,particularlyonroadswith
standingwater,asthehandlingcharac-
teristicsofthevehiclemaybeimpaireddue
tohydroplaningofthetires.
I>Alwaysobservespeedlimitsandobeyroad
signsandtrafficlaws.
I>Whentired,getwellofftheroad,stopand
takearest.Turntheengineoff.Donotsitin
thevehiclewithengineidling.
Seewarningson"EngineExhaust".
I>Whenparked,alwayssettheparkingbrake.
MovetheTiptronicselectorleverto"P"orthe
gearshiftlevertoreverseorfirstgear.
Onhillsalsoturnthefrontwheelstowardthe
curb.
I>Whenemergencyrepairsbecomenecessary,
movethevehiclewellofftheroad.Turnon
theemergencyflasheranduseotherwarning
devicestoalertothermotorists.Donotpark
oroperatethevehicleinareaswherethehot
exhaustsystemmaycomeincontactwithdry
grass,brush,fuelspillorotherflammablema-
terial.
I>Makeitahabittohavetheengineoilchecked
witheveryfuelfilling.
Controls,Instruments
13

RetractableRearSpoiler
Therearspoilerreducesairresistanceand,par-
ticularlyathighspeeds,reducesrearaxlelift.
Automaticcontrol
Therearspoilerautomaticallyextendsatap-
proximately75mph/120km/handretractsat
approximately37mph/60km/h.
50Controls,Instruments
C1
Warninglight
Thewarninglightintheinstrumentpanellights
foralampcheckwhenignitionisswitchedon.
Thewarninglightsintheinstrumentpaneland
on-boardcomputergooniftherearspoiler
doesnotextendatmorethan75mph/120
km/horiftheendpositionisnotreached.
Iftheautomaticcontrolfails:
I>Stopthecaratasafeplaceandextendthe
rearspoilermanuallybypressingthespoiler
rockerswitchA.
A.Danger!
Riskofanaccident.
Thespoileraffectsmovementofairaround
thevehicleandisusedtomaintainaerody-
namicstabilityasvehiclespeedsincrease.
Ifthespoilerdoesnotextendautomatically
duetomechanicalmalfunction,drivingsta-
bilitywillbeadverselyaffectedbyin-
creasedrearaxlelift,whichcouldleadto
lossofcontrol.
I>Adaptyourdrivingstyleandreducespeedto
thechangedaerodynamicconditions.
I>Havethefaultremediedatanauthorized
Porschedealer.
I>Donotexceedthepostedlegalspeedlimit.
Risk
ofan
accidentandlossofcontrol.
I>Donotoperatethespoilerrockerswitchma-
nuallywhiledriving.

Instrument
On-boardTextdisplay
inMeaning/measure
panelcomputeron-boardcomputer

UnitsTheunitskilometers/milesforspeedand
arechangeddistancewerechanged.
LIMITCurrentspeedcanbeacceptedforthe
Cannotbeacousticwarningsignalonlyifthevehicleis
acceptedwithinmotion.
vehiclestopped
USALIMITSelectedspeedlimitfortheacousticwarning
~exceededsignalhasbeenexceeded.
Adjustyourspeedifnecessary.

Canada

~Fuel
levelgauge
IJ1
ConsiderrangeonRefuelatthenextopportunity.
warninglightremainingfuel
0ii1
EngineoilStopimmediatelyatasuitableplace,
pressuremeasureoillevelwiththeon-boardcomputer
toolowand,ifnecessary,addengineoil.
Temperature
II
EngineSwitchengineoffandletitcool.
gaugewarningtemperatureCheckcoolantleveland,ifnecessary,
lighttoohighaddcoolant.
Temperature~CheckSwitchengineoffandletitcool.
gaugewarningcoolantlevelCheckcoolantleveland,ifnecessary,
lightflashesaddcoolant.
Controls,Instruments
93

Engine-compartment
blower,

radiatorfan
Theradiatorandradiatorfansareinthefrontof
thecar.
Theengine-compartmentblowerismountedon
theenginecompartmentlid.
/?\.Warning!
Riskofinjury.
Aftertheengineisswitchedoff,theengine-
compartmentandcoolanttemperaturesare
monitoredforapprox.20minutes.
Duringthisperiod,anddependingontem-
perature,theengine-compartmentblower
andradiatorfansmaycontinuetorunor
starttorun.
I>Carryoutworkintheseareasonlywiththe
engineoffandexerciseextremecaution.
170Maintenance,CarCare
EngineOil
Engineoilconsumption
Itisnormalforyourenginetoconsumeoil.
Therateofoilconsumptiondependsonthe
qualityandviscosityofoil,thespeedatwhich
theengineisoperated,theclimate,roadcondi-
tionsaswellastheamountofdilutionandoxida-
tionofthelubricant.
Ifthevehicleisusedforrepeatedshorttrips,
andconsumesanormalamountofoil,theen-
gineoilmeasurementmaynotshowanydropin
theoillevelatall,evenafter600miles(1000
km)ormore.Thisisbecausetheoilisgradually
becomingdilutedwithfuelormoisture,makingit
appearthattheoillevelhasnotchanged.
Thedilutingingredientsevaporateoutwhenthe
vehicleisdrivenathighspeeds,asonanex-
pressway,makingitthenappearthatoilisex-
cessivelyconsumedafterdrivingathighspeeds.
Iftheconditionsyoudriveyourvehicleinare
dusty,humid,orhot,thefrequencyoftheoil
changeintervalsshouldbegreater.
Ifthevehicleisdrivenatahighrateofspeed,
climaticconditionsarewarm,andtheloadis
high,theoilshouldbecheckedmorefrequently,
asdrivingconditionswilldeterminetherateof
oilconsumption.
-Theengineinyourvehicledependsonoilto
lubricateandcoolallofitsmovingparts.
Therefore,theengineoilshouldbechecked
regularlyandkeptattherequiredlevel.
-Makeitahabittohavetheengineoillevel
checkedwitheveryfuelfilling.
-Theoilpressurewarninglightisnotanoil
levelindicator.
Theoilpressurewarninglightindicates
seriousenginedamagemaybeoccuring
whenlit,ifenginerpmisaboveidlespeed.

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.

AirFilter
Adirtyairfilternotonlyreducesengineperfor-
mance,butcanleadtoprematureenginewear.
Regularfilterreplacementispartoftheroutine
maintenanceservice.
t>Industyconditions,checkthefilterelement
morefrequentlyandreplaceifnecessary.
ParticleFilter
Thefreshairpassingthroughtheparticlefilter
intothepassengercompartmentisvirtuallyfree
ofdustandpollen.
t>Iftheoutsideairispollutedbyexhaustfumes,
pressthecirculating-airbutton.
Adirtyfiltercanbethecauseofreducedair
flow:
t>Havefilterreplacedbyyourauthorized
Porschedealer.
Regularfilterreplacementispartoftheroutine
maintenanceservice.
AutomaticTransmissionFluid
Thetorqueconverterandthetransmissionare
lubricatedwithAutomaticTransmissionFluid
(ATF).Thefinaldriverequirestransmissionoil.
See"Capacities".
Donottowthecarorruntheenginewithout
ATFinthetransmission.Theautomatictrans-
missionmaybedamagedbyevenatinyspeck
ofdirt,onlyacleanfunnelorspoutmustbe
usedwhenaddingATF.
TheATFandtransmissionoilhastobechecked
andchangedattheintervalslistedinyourMain-
tenanceSchedule.
WerecommendthatyouhavetheATFandtrans-
missionoilchangedatyourPorschedealer,who
hastherequiredlubricantsandthenecessary
fillingequipment.
Ifyoususpectanoilleakinthetransmission,
haveyourauthorizedPorschedealercheckit
outimmediately.
ManualTransmissionOil
Thetransmissionoilhastobecheckedand
changedattheintervalslistedinyourMainten-
anceSchedule.See"Capacities".
Werecommendthatyouhavethetransmission
oilchangedatyourPorschedealer,whohasthe
requiredlubricantsandthenecessaryfilling
equipment.
Ifyoususpectanoilleakinthetransmission,
haveyourauthorizedPorschedealercheckit
outimmediately.
Maintenance,CarCare
183