Oil Change twice yearly? With Low Mileage
 

Hi All, I purchased my 2000 Boxster S in March 2009 with 34,000 and have been enjoying the summer so far. No issues.

My question is, this is my daily driver but I'm only putting 600Km per month (I work fairly close to my home). Rather than changing the Oil once a year I'm thinking about changing it every 6 months regardless of the mileage. What do you think?

I plan to do drive the vehicle April to December and store it the other months.

Decisions
- to begin using Motul 8100 5w40 on my next oil change
- Using Shell Gold 91 octane 0% Ethanal, found better gas mileage than Sunoco
Gold 94 Octane with 10% Ethanal


Hack I've done so far

- Changed the Cig Lighter from euro style to US
- Added Ipod connectin to the Becker stereo

Happy Boxstering!

5000 miles a year? Once a year is fine based on the results of my oil analysis.

Welcome.

Personnally, I think that may be too often... but its your car. Look at the oil in 6 months and make the call then. I plan on once a year, depending on the miles I log.

I do about 8,000km annually and replace my oil twice a year & use Shell 5W40 synthetic. Some would say its overkill, but its also peace of mind. Its not a daily driver like yours, only weekend use.
You seem to have short runs and I assume your ambient temps are pretty low, but I would think that replacing the oil just before you lay it up (Dec) and again in April /May before running it during the summer months should be more than adequate for the car.

Are your petrol octane ratings different to ours - here 91 is regular gas but Porsche recommend 98 octane? Low octane fuels are definately a no no as it causes pre ignition knock & overheating which can be very dangerous to your engines health.

I'm also in Toronto and do oils changes once a year and drive ~3000mi.
I use Sunoco 94 but haven't been tracking mileage.

Twice a Year
 

I won't enter into the brand debate here, but I will say that I change my oil twice a year to allow for what I consider proper oil weight in the summer versus in the winter.

For what its worth, I put about 4-5K a year on my car and store it for 5 months. I change it once a year (Mobil 1). My mechanic jokes that he could rebottle and sell to the next customer. It's pretty clean at that point. I just do it every spring for piece of mind.

Use Red Line 5-40 and change once a year.

Should be more than fine.

Good luck

sadly, your motor oil, even when unused, losses it's lubricating properties over time. Over the course of a year, humidity, temperature changes, and yes, even ground level ozone can alter the chemical makeup of you oil.

I've heard 3 months as the rule, but 6 doesn't seem all that bad. 1 year? to each his own, but at 13k to replace a motor, if you're going to gamble, play it on the safe side.

just my .02

I ran my 0W-40 M1 17 months and over 11,000 miles and an oil analysis indicated I could have gone at least another 1000 miles.

Great for you. You also drove a considerable amount (reducing moisture build up, and keeping the chemicals in suspension). I glad it's working out for you, for me, an additional 80bucks a year is piece of mind.

Porsche has been recommending long oil change intervals since the 914. When will people learn that US car owners have been brain washed into 3 months/3000 miles oil changes?

agree. Unless you're driving 10k in 3 months, I don't see a need to change that often

Yes a lot of those miles were put on the car driving to and from 2 Parades. I seldom drive less than 20 miles and I floor the car often.

this is a quick read...one interesting point is that a hotter climate will break down an oils properties more quickly than a cooler one.

oil over time

"As an oil breaks down it combines with combustion chamber residue from blowby gasses to form sludge. High detergent oils dissolve this sludge and hold it in suspension. In addition, as an engine wears small pieces of metal, rubber, and plastic end up in the bottom of the oil pan. Believe it or not, the "granny car" which is "short tripped" will have a lot more acids (condensed from blowby gasses) mixed with the oil than a car which is driven every day! I rebuilt one engine with a thrown rod: (old lady, once a week to the store 3 miles away) The rod bearing had been eaten away by acid deposits!!! Ony 40,000 miles on that motor! Thus on low mileage cars I recommend changing the oil every 6 months, no matter how many miles on them!"

3 months sounds rediculous. Heck you might wear out the threads on your oil pan plug. :D Once a year or no more than 7500 miles(what ever comes first). If you do it every 3 months I am calling al gore on you!! :eek:

Here is the question, Do you change it before or after winter(in cold climates)?

Boxster33:

Congrats on the new car!

Once a year oil change is fine, just before winter hibernation. FYI- there are some great old threads here about winter storage. Search them out.

Good decision on the Motul oil. Porsche approved and high quality. You may also consider Mobil 1's 5W50. This is a very hard oil to find in the USA, but you guys are lucky in Canada because I have seen it in your Wal Mart stores. This is the only Porsche approved 5W50 weight oil.

If you can continue to purchase fuel without alcohol, that would be my choice too. Even 91 octane over 93. I use to be able to buy 93 octane without alcohol in small towns in Wisconsin last year. But no more. Federal regulations mandate the addition (up to 10%) ethanol for "clean air requirements". This use to be a big city issue, so small towns still have 100% gas. Now everyone has to use the blends. Too bad, the Boxster loved the 93 with 100% gas!

I don't see that being advocated here.

I'd say just do the oil change when you take your car out of storage.

You can certainly change oil twice as often, if that makes you sleep better. Oil is cheap afterall.

I keep hearing about Shell 91 gets better mileage than Ultra94, I'm going to have to try it sometime.

Change your oil before placing it in storage so the aforementioned moisture and acids don't have the chance to work over your internals during the storage period. In the Spring, you're all set to go for the coming season.

All oil change intervals assume ideal conditions and very few people actually drive in these. Stop & Go, short hops, dusty conditions, wet conditions, prolonged idling, irregular fuel quality, hard driving, or any combination of the above all qualify as severe conditions and so the service interval s/b shortened.

Porsche doesn't provide a severe service interval, so you need to decide what interval you're most comfortable with. Using a Lab Analysis can help, but ultimately the decision is yours.

Personally, I drive my car in a similar manner to what you describe and I'm comfortable with an annual change just prior to storing the car.

:cheers:

It should always be changed right before being stored, so it would be done in the winter. There's no need to change it again in the spring, simply from the fact that the new oil poured in has 100% of its acid neutralizing properties, and since there isn't any combustion events occurring when the engine isn't running, the oil isn't having any new acids being produced to cope with.

Basically, the last drive in the winter should look like this:

Take car to shop and have oil change performed.
Drive car home.
Put car in garage.
Pop hood, and hook up the battery tender.
Turn out lights, and lock garage.

BC.

With an internal battery, like the Boxster, I prefer to pull the battery from the car.

The Boxster uses a vent tube to vent away any accumulated Hydrogen or Oxygen gas. There can also be minute amounts of sulphuric acid in this vapor as well. Normally, the air rushing past the open end of the vent tube creates negative pressure (vacuum) pulling these gasses out of the tube and away to the atmosphere.

But, when the car is not running, no air is rushing past the vent tube and so no gasses are extracted and can buildup to the point, over a several month storage peiod, where they accumulate under the hood. The Hydrogen and Oxygen pose a fire and explosion risk, but the sulphuric acid can condense on cold metal parts (hood, firewall, electronics, etc.) and can lead to corrosion - rust. Also, the battery maintains it health better in a warmer environment than in the cold car.

The downside, besides actually having to disconnect and carry the battery away, is that the DME, Tiptronic Control Module (if equipped) and Radio lose their memory functions (and security code in the case of the radio - pre-'03) and will have to re-learn once the car is put back into service. But, this is a minor inconvenience and these things re-learn after just a couple drive cycles.

:cheers:

I am considering the optima battery. This wouldn't be a concern with a sealed battery would it(gas issues not dme)?

RE OIL CHANGE: Before winter was what I was thinking but I needed to hear it for a definate answer. Thanks Guys!!

You missed the part about running the tires up to 50 psi+, throwing on the car cover and having a cold one.

And I normally need to pull out the snow blower, clean the plug and get it started.

The owner's manual states 58 PSI.

So you guys actually store your cars over the winter? As in you don't drive it for a few months? I live in an area with a typical midwest winter of snow, ice, and negative degrees, but when a dry day comes along...

Anyway, Porsche says 15,000 miles or one year on the changes, if I recall correctly. I've yet to drive my Boxster 15,000 miles in a year, so I just stick to annual changes of Syntec 5w40. Only done two, and they have both been in the spring. Changing the oil before storage is a probably good idea if your storage period is longer than a month or so. Otherwise, I wouldn't worry about it. What I'd do instead is drive it more often. :)

For my updated engines I require oil services every 5K miles or every 3 months. Fuel and coolant intrusion into the lubricant has negative effects on these engines, even if they don't see much service time.

I know the manual states 58.... I get a little quesy about running car tires up that far. Bicycle tires: no problem.

And Samson, yes I store it over the winter. When I get more than 4 inches in the drive, its kinda hard to pull out... even harder to get back in.

I'm with you on not driving in the snow - the SP Sport Maxx isn't exactly a snow tire. If/when I drop my other cars and have the Boxster as my DD, then it will most definitely wear some winter rubber. I'm talking about those random 30-40 degree sunny (or cloudy) days when the roads are clear and dry...

Jake - do you have any more detailed information on why you recommend 3 month intervals? Not saying that Porsche is always right (obviously...), but why such a dramatic change? Why do these engines differ from cars where 6-8 month intervals have no tangible negative effects on anything?

Don't be quesy, Vath. Every October, the past 3 years, I drive about 1 mile away and over fill my 19" PS2's with 60 PSI (2 PSI extra since I figure I'll lose that much by Dec/Jan's bitter cold) of Nitrogen (no nitro wars please!).

I gingerly drive home, and even cross railroad tracks, and then park in the garage on top of dense rubber matts, like you'd find in a healthclub weightroom. No problems and never had a flatspot when taking the car out in March/April.

My car sits for +5 months, on the battery maintainer, never started, in a slightly heated garage.

OK, Mptoledo is scratching his head??? :confused:

Is that for the break in period or are you talking your permanent maint schedule? I get the 5k miles for an oil change, but i don't quite get the 4 times a year. I will store mine for 4 to 5 months out of the year so that would be about 2 times a year which "might" equate to 10k miles(more like 6k of non track, joy riding/road trippin). Is that for a special kind of oil?

Thanks everyone for your replies. I will probably just change the oil once a year right before storage. Jake's response about changing every 3 months worries me since he is the Boxster engine guru :dance: . He did mention his updated engines, not sure if it applies to the original engine.

Steve Tinker:
I live in Toronto, Canada and gas usally comes in 87 Regular, 89 Medium, 91 Premium. Only Sunoco has higher (Gold 94) but contains 10% Ethanal (This is what I was previously using). I know the preferred Octane level for the Boxster is 93 but the car is running great with the Shell 91.

Every 3 months Jake?
 

I know you do oil analysis so help us understand the basis of this interval.

It is impossible to "Over service" an engine...

The more we see lifters that are filled with crud and worn variocam components from low mileage engines, the more frequently the oil services seem to be necessary.

The ring tension of the M96 is very low, this makes for fuel intrusion into the oil and that fuel is not lubricant, its a solvent..

Anyone can see how I have come to these conclusions.. Do the oil services at different times and compare the used oil analysis.

I live in Ottawa, Canada. I drive the car from April to November putting on 5-10,000kms, and change the oil & filter immediately before storing the car (once a year).

I typically use Ultramar 91 octane or Sunoco 91 octane fuel. Is Shell 91 supposed to be any better?

Thanks,
Ayan

Very compelling post, Paul - thanks for sharing that. You live in a cool climate, and service and drive your car regularly, which has kept the acid levels down, and your chemicals "in suspension".

The only argument against changing it more often is the extra 80 bucks it costs...which for me, isn't a good enough reason. (no need to call Al Gore, Pep Boys loves my used oil). If it were any other engine, any other car, I might be inclined to extend it, but having had two engine failures in less than 80k miles I'm more than happy to spend the money and take the time to change it. Maybe not for everyone, but it works for me.

Brucelee mocks cold weather and winterizing cars
 

What is this WINTER you speak of???

:D