What oil... Southern california
 

Hi Everyone,

Previous owner said he used 0w40 mobile1 on my 03 boxster s.

I believe i read in one of the faqs that does not recommend to this oil weight..

What do you recommend for weather which is between 60 and 85 everyday of the year.

I live in southern florida, where the temps are about the same and I use Valvoline synpower 20-50. Its ACAE rated a3/b3/b4, which is the standard for european cars. Its specced for many BMW, VW and MB applications but not for Porsche. Valvoline's Porsche spec oil is synpower hst 5-40.

My car has high miles, 118k, and the genral consensus is that a thicker oil is better with an engine that has bigger clearances.

http://www.valvoline.com/pdf/SynPower.pdf

Porsche maintains a list of approved oils for their cars. It's available over an Renntech.org. They are all 0w-40 and 5w-40 oils for the Boxster. The oil that the previous owner told you was used is one of the approved oils. There are contentions that it's not the best oil, but you can find that information in other threads here.

I use 10W40 Mobil 1. Keep in mind most of us own a 986 which are 8 to 15 years old. When these cars were new the oil recomendations were different. My car is a 2000 S. My owners manual says to use synthetic 10W40 or 15W50 "SH". Now days "SH" is no longer available. Around here all I can find is SL or SN. I can find "SG" in Mobil 1 10W40 motorcycle oil. Sometime I use that.

I live in LA and use Mobil 1 10W-40 High Mileage and change every 3,000 miles or 4 track days, whichever comes first.

According to Mobil, the "high mileage" version contains extra anti-wear additives and seal conditioners.

I use Castro Synthetic 10/40. I live in Florida. :cheers:

Here's an article...
 

... I wrote a couple of years ago on the subject. You may find it useful.
I personally do no recommend any ZERO weight oils unless you live in the frozen tundra.

http://www.pedrosgarage.com/Site_5/Engine_Oil.html

Happy Boxstering,'
Pedro

Oil threads are like Religion and Politics threads... Everyone has their own preference... and they should be avoided at all costs!

Cheers!

I agree to a certain extent...
 

... because there are also many misconceptions on the subject.
The more people educate themselves on a subject, the better the decision they will make.
Happy Boxstering,
Pedro