Dealer says: Change oil in spring?

[z12358]

The consensus on this and other boards has been to change the oil BEFORE storing the car for the winter. The dealer recommends doing the oil change AFTER the storage in spring, instead. He is recommending not to make any money right now. Why?
Z.

[MikenOH]

I would think changing it in the fall before laying it up makes more sense. New,clean oil without contaminents would seem to make more sense for long term storage.

I'm sure there are others on the board with specific knowledge, but IIRC, the main culpert is acid in the higher mileage oil with can work on bearings, etc..

I'll yield to my learned colleges...

[z12358]

There's 4300 miles on the car. Bought new in May.

Z, how many miles do you have? I could see you going either way on this is you have only 2-3,000 miles. If you have close to 7,000 you are about due regardless.

I changed my oil at 1,200 and again at 7,200 just before storage. I did one long drive the weekend before storage, of about 350 miles.

If you change it now, then you would probably establish the pattern to do it each year prior to winter storage, and this might be your best option.

Maybe the dealership is planning a big price increase for 2007 and wants to nick ya in the Spring!!

[z12358]

Looks like even with only 4400 miles (and especially since those include the break-in miles) the best is to change the oil before storage.

[MNBoxster]

Originally Posted by MikenOH

I would think changing it in the fall before laying it up makes more sense. New,clean oil without contaminents would seem to make more sense for long term storage.

I'm sure there are others on the board with specific knowledge, but IIRC, the main culpert is acid in the higher mileage oil with can work on bearings, etc..

I'll yield to my learned colleges...

Hi,

You're correct, changing before storage is the recommended procedure. In-service Oil can acumulate acidic compounds, and Fuel, which will strip the Oil from the Internals. But, perhaps the biggest reason to change the Oil is to flush the moisture (a natural combustion by-product) which has accumulated.

If this moisture is allowed to remain in the engine through the storage period, as the temperature swings, the moisture will evaporate and will later condense as water on the cool engine internals causing corrosion and pitting.

This is considered the preferred method by every Museum, longterm storage facility and article on longterm storage, no real debate on it. Even the local Porsche Dealership offers a Winter Storage Service and this includes a fresh Oil Change as well. There is no advantage whatever in storing a car with used Oil in it. I assume they are going by mileage, but the Oil should be changed at the Mileage Interval (preferrably sooner than Porsche's recommended Interval - 7500 mi. is best), or annually. Sorry, but the other dealer is just plain wrong...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

[jeffsquire]

Originally Posted by z12358

The consensus on this and other boards has been to change the oil BEFORE storing the car for the winter. The dealer recommends doing the oil change AFTER the storage in spring, instead. He is recommending not to make any money right now. Why?
Z.

_______________________________

IHave you considered driving it occasionally during the winter months. i.e. whenever the roads are clear/dry?

[z12358]

We already covered that one already. Sounds tempting but consensus was that it's better for the car not to touch it. Those cold starts are not good for the engine. And I also thought it'd be a pain to wash it after each drive. Leaving it all dusty and salty for few weeks doesn't sound good either. Even when roads are dry and clear there's still a lot of salt/dust left on the roads in winter. Remains to be seen... The temptation may just become too strong on a nice sunny dry day.
Z.

Originally Posted by jeffsquire

_______________________________

IHave you considered driving it occasionally during the winter months. i.e. whenever the roads are clear/dry?

[Brucelee]

I would change it before winter and drive the car at least once week during the winter if possible. Drive it to full operating temp.

Short of that, change oil before winter and follow dry storage recs.

Dealer is wrong.

Or, change both before and after. If you do this, throw in some cheap ass oil for winter.

[MNBoxster]

Originally Posted by Brucelee

I would change it before winter and drive the car at least once week during the winter if possible. Drive it to full operating temp.

Short of that, change oil before winter and follow dry storage recs.

Dealer is wrong.

Or, change both before and after. If you do this, throw in some cheap ass oil for winter.

Hi,

Sorry Rich, I have to disagree. The primary reason for changing the Oil prior to storage in the first place is to get rid of the moisture laden Oil. If you run the car over the storage season, you defeat this purpose by introducing moisture back into the system.

Also, everytime you start the car in a cold condition, you're putting a lot more wear on it than if you run it in temperate weather. A daily driver experiences this as well, and while it may not grenade on you, I suspect that if you check tolerances, compression, etc. you'll find that the car stored and left will post better numbers down the road (which translates into lower repair costs/longer life).

It would be very bad to idle the car until warm because you're not running the RPMs sufficiently to assure full Oil pressure. Also, since you've overinflated the tires to prevent flat-spotting, you'd have to lower their pressure to have good traction and be safe on the street. Not to mention that if your battery is pulled, you'd have to reinstall and connect it as well, and you'd be using fuel, dropping the level in the tank, creating a void which would allow moist air to migrate into the tank and condense later.

The best thing is to set it and forget it. It's hard to do, but it's the best thing for the car. If you're not going to follow this, then all the work you put into storing it is just a waste of time...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

[Brucelee]

I should have been more explicit. When I say run it to full operating temp, I meant to take the car out and drive it such that it burns off all moisture etc. That way all parts get lubricated, tires don't flatten, etc. This assumes that scenario is doable. This might take 30 minutes or so.

I believe that is preferrable to having a car sit all winter. But that may be just an old wives tale.