oil for a 1997 Boxster

[danyl55]

Any recommendations out there for type of oil? (weight,brand?)seems like there must be something better than Mobil-1 nowadays.

[clickman]

If you do a Search you will find MANY discussions on oils.

I and many others have decided to swap to Castrol Syntec, due to the lessening in quality of the Mobil over the years.

Syntec 10W-40 is the preferred weight. Oil change period is also super important, as the recommended intervals are thought to be ridiculously long. IIRC correctly 8000 miles was the recommended distance for that weight, but my memory might fail me there. Your Search should answer that. Here in Canada we can't get 10W-40, so I'm using 5W-40 and have to change it every 5000 miles.

I'm a bit anal about these things, and I wanted to do the conversion to Castrol from Mobil the right way, so on the advice of experts I did a flush using Valvoline VR1 Racing 20W-50.

[SeanZ4]

I too made the switch from Mobile to Castrol Syntec 5w-40. I didn't do a flush though??? I did find a great year end deal at Advance Auto Parts for $4.99/qt. It was the cheapest around I could find anyway. What do you gain by doing a flush with the Valvoline 20w-50?

sean

[clickman]

Changing oil type question

[Frank M]

I wouldn't be concerned with having synthetic oil going 10,000 miles before changing it.
Since new, I currently have a VW diesel with 273,000 miles and the engine has never been apart, it burns no oil between 10,000 mile changes (per VW recommendation) with 5w-40 Mobil synthetic.

However it is imperative that synthetic be changed yearly or at the specified interval.

It has been posted on other forums that changing the oil to frequently is not good. Some say the oil takes 3-5000 miles to reach it full potential. Seems to make sense.

[JFP in PA]

Originally Posted by Frank M

I wouldn't be concerned with having synthetic oil going 10,000 miles before changing it.

You should be...................

[JTP]

Originally Posted by Frank M

I wouldn't be concerned with having synthetic oil going 10,000 miles before changing it.
Since new, I currently have a VW diesel with 273,000 miles and the engine has never been apart, it burns no oil between 10,000 mile changes (per VW recommendation) with 5w-40 Mobil synthetic.

However it is imperative that synthetic be changed yearly or at the specified interval.

It has been posted on other forums that changing the oil to frequently is not good. Some say the oil takes 3-5000 miles to reach it full potential. Seems to make sense.

I have to disagree here. Following the manufacturer's (Porsche) change interval here is a very bad idea and 10,000 miles is twice the recommended mileage for Boxsters. Also your VW TDI is a very different machine than the M96. You can't compare them at all.
And wouldn't the oil have its full potential when it's new, not when t has 5000 miles?

[Adam]

Originally Posted by danyl55

Any recommendations out there for type of oil? (weight,brand?)seems like there must be something better than Mobil-1 nowadays.

Porsche recommends every 15,000 miles or every 2 years (whatever comes first) for the M96. You can change it as often as you desire however. Use 0w40. Mobil1 is fine, or any other full synthetic.

[clickman]

Originally Posted by Frank M

It has been posted on other forums that changing the oil too frequently is not good. Some say the oil takes 3-5000 miles to reach it full potential. Seems to make sense.

Methinks we have a new troll in our midst. At least my little pea brain sure can't see how that makes any sense at all.

[jmatta]

I wouldn't listen to Porsche's recommendation on oil type and change interval...they, after all, are the ones that have looked the other way when it comes to the M96 engine issues. Jake Raby, Charles Navarro and JFP see these cars everyday and their troubles; best to listen to their recommendation.

FWIW, I change my oil annually (2500-3000 miles) and have been using Castrol Syntec 10W40. No clatter on start-up and filter/sump have been clean.

[danyl55]

Originally Posted by clickman

Methinks we have a new troll in our midst. At least my little pea brain sure can't see how that makes any sense at all.

personally I wouldn't go over 5000 mi. w/out an oil change but that wasn't the question anyway. Why would anyone believe that oil gets better after it has been used for 5 to 10000 miles?

[Adam]

Actually there might be some merit to it. I remember reading a couple different places that an oils lubrication properties actually improve after it's been used for awhile.

[Frank M]

Originally Posted by clickman

Methinks we have a new troll in our midst. At least my little pea brain sure can't see how that makes any sense at all.

I have to agree with you.

here is a quick search I did on mobil1 .com. I tend to stick with what engineers say.
I got 2 answers:

Question:
How to Handle 20,000-Mile Motor Oil Drain Intervals When a Car is Driven Infrequently
Porsche recommends an extremely long drain interval of 20,000 miles for Mobil 1--which is great but since my 2006 911 is a "weekend car" it only gets 5-6,000 miles per year. Should I wait to change the oil at 20,000 miles or should I change it when 2 or 3 years are up?
-- Roy James, Phoenix, AZ

Answer:
We recommend following the drain intervals listed in your owner's manual. Mobil 1 would satisfy those longer drain intervals as long as the manufacturer makes that suggestion.

To achieve the best peace of mind related to engine protection, many vehicle owners change their engine oils every 3,000 to 4,000 miles. Is this practice rendered meaningless with the advent of the Mobil high-endurance oils?

Consumers should follow the maintenance practice that is best for them, and that meets their car manufacturers’ warranty. They can have peace of mind knowing the guaranteed performance and protection intervals of the Mobil line of high-endurance oils. Mobil Clean 5000, Mobil Clean High Mileage, Mobil Clean 7500, and Mobil 1 Extended Performance protect critical engine parts from lubricant-related failure for 5,000/7,500/15,000 miles -- guaranteed. (Updated March 2006)

[dirkdiggler]

a manual for 2000 Boxster states that you can use Regular mineral oil OR Synthetic oil in the boxster.

anyone ever run regular oil in theres??

[JoeFromPA]

Some individuals feel that changing the oil too frequently is a bad thing, as it increases the likelihood of something going wrong (oil filter housing coming loose, contamination at top of engine).

The other reason is that oil has the most volatile compounds when new, which breakdown in the first few hundred/thousand miles. After that, it tends to be in quite good shape for a long time in terms of stability.

Neither of those reasons really apply, in my opinion, to oil changes that are at least 1000 miles apart.

On the flip side, there is no reason why high-end oils (such as M1 0w40) should be replaced at 5k miles in the m96 (unless it's been well over a year, or it was 5k of the most brutal miles). The m96 is not that brutal of an engine by any standard, and it has a massive sump size full of high-end oil....

Sump size matters alot in these things.

[Lobo1186]

to put into perspective the size of the sump in the m96, it takes about 9qt of oil. ranging from 2.5-3-4L for motor size.

the dodge viper has TEN cylinders ranges from 8-8.4 liters and at least in the 2002, it takes 10qt.

[clickman]

Originally Posted by JoeFromPA

there is no reason why high-end oils (such as M1 0w40) should be replaced at 5k miles in the m96 (unless it's been well over a year, or it was 5k of the most brutal miles).

Experts doing used oil analysis will tell you otherwise...

[Brucelee]

Red Line.

Expensive but worth it.

[JoeFromPA]

Originally Posted by clickman

Experts doing used oil analysis will tell you otherwise...

Hi Clickman,

I consider myself an expert oil analyst (amateur, I'm not a professional). Can you point me in the direction of any oil analyses indicating the m96 eats high-end synthetics in even 7-8k miles?

To get such info from an oil analysis, you would need to have one or more of the following consistently appearing in m96 oil analyses by the ~7.5k mark:

- Xw40 oils degrading down to a 20 grade viscosity
- TBN is gone, or TAN is exceptionally high
- Insolubles are too high

Almost none of those are feasible when we're talking about 8.5 quarts of high-end synthetic in a naturally aspirated small displacement engine, daily driven or similar, with any form of modern filtration. Furthermore, boxer engines are typically very easy on oil by their design.

Now, maybe there is some sort of engine-oil lubricated bearing point that is absolutely brutal on engine oils in the boxster. However, I've never heard of that and, if that was the case, you'd hear about a common oil-lubricated bearing failure point due to the unusual stresses involved.

The engine-oil lubricated parts of the boxster are exceptionally sound, in part because they are not very stressful to interacting parts protected by a thin layer of oil.

Hope that all made sense.

[JFP in PA]

Originally Posted by JoeFromPA

To get such info from an oil analysis, you would need to have one or more of the following consistently appearing in m96 oil analyses by the ~7.5k mark:

- Xw40 oils degrading down to a 20 grade viscosity
- TBN is gone, or TAN is exceptionally high
- Insolubles are too high

Almost none of those are feasible when we're talking about 8.5 quarts of high-end synthetic in a naturally aspirated small displacement engine, daily driven or similar, with any form of modern filtration. Furthermore, boxer engines are typically very easy on oil by their design.

Oh really? We have been collecting UoA's on M96 (and other) engines for many years now, our database entries for the M96 number in the thousands. We have seen Mobil 1's vaunted 0W-40 show lower viscosities than straight 20W oil after only 2,000 miles in an M96, we have seen TBN values that were less than 20% of their virgin numbers in the same number of miles, and have seen more crap in the used oil than one might imagine (fuel dilution, coolant, high metals, etc.).

"Furthermore, boxer engines are typically very easy on oil by their design." You have got to be kidding me.............The M96 is one of the worst oil killers Porsche ever released (and I have been building, repairing and racing them for over 35 years), they run way too hot, have a myriad of minute oil passages that become easily plugged, the chain tensioners are very sensitive to oil’s film strength, they have a lifter and galley design that is forever causing lifter issues, they tend to run bearings dry in hard corners, etc., etc.

We where happy when we could find an full synthetic that could last for over 5,000 miles in one………..on the street.