How often to change oil?

[san rensho]

Since this post has predictably turned into a discussion of which oil is best, I'll put in my 2 cents worth.

I was first convinced that, based on several on line sources, I should use a heavier weight oil, I used both 15-50 and 20-50 for "flush" oil changes of about 1k miles each (I just got my car and the previous owner went long on the oil change intervals), both to try to get rid of the start up rattle and since I live in Miami Florida where its always hot, to protect against heat breakdown of oil. The heavier weight oils made no demonstrable difference in start up clatter.

Then I read the article below and I am a now a convert to M1 0-40. The long and the short of the article is that oil flow is what is important. You want as much volume going through the motor as possible at all times. Since 0-X weight oil is thinner when cold than a 5, 10, 20-X oil, it will provide more volume while the motor is warming up.

And remember, oil temp lags behind coolant temp during warmup. My Durametric shows that oil temp is about 10 C degrees behing coolant temp until the coolant gets close to 90 C, which takes a good 20 minutes in my car with combined city/highway driving. Once its up to temp, the oil temp is a little less than 10 C hotter than the collant temp, in the 100-105 C. range.

Once the oil is hot, the viscosity in now at 40, which at the oil temps I am running, is more than enough to protect the motor. Now, if I were running my car on the track, oil temps might be significantly higher, so I might consider a heavier oil.

But for the type of driving I do, I am convinced a 0-40 oil will protect the engine better during the crucial warm up, which if you do a lot of short trip city driving, will be a big portion of the time you are driving your car.


http://www.planet-9.com/cayman-boxster-tech/60791-calling-all-engineers-motor-heads.html

[wawa]

I used to have Motul 0-40 with Ester in my MR2. Good or not for the Boxster? I'm Canadian and will run the car all winter long. -20C or even -30C is usual here.

wawa

[Idaho Red Rocket 3]

The first choice should be 10W40 year round use. At least summer. If you are in a realy cold climate, 5W40 for winter. If you can't get 10 weight, just go with 5 weight. 0 is not recomended. These engines run very hot so stay with 40 or higher.

[Flavor 987S]

Originally Posted by Idaho Red Rocket 3

The first choice should be 10W40 year round use.

WRONG. I am not aware of a single Porsche approved 10W40 oil.

[jmatta]

I change my oil once a year in the fall after around 2500 to 3000 miles; Castrol Syntec 10W40 is my oil of choice. LN Engineering, Jake Raby and JFP in PA all recommend oils other than Mobil 1 0W40, for obvious breakdown characteristics.

My '02 S with 21k on the clock has no start up noise or other issues.

Not to get into an oil debate, but I wouldn't put Mobil 1 in my lawn tractor.

[Flavor 987S]

Originally Posted by jmatta

I change my oil once a year in the fall after around 2500 to 3000 miles; Castrol Syntec 10W40 is my oil of choice. LN Engineering, Jake Raby and JFP in PA all recommend oils other than Mobil 1 0W40, for obvious breakdown characteristics.

My '02 S with 21k on the clock has no start up noise or other issues.

Not to get into an oil debate, but I wouldn't put Mobil 1 in my lawn tractor.

You need to read-up on L&N's recommendations, because your statement above is inaccurate, at best.

You need to drive your Boxster more! 21,000 miles in 9 years? That's crazy. Olive Oil would hold up well in that environment.

My Toro lawnmower is +18 years old. Only lawn mower I've ever owned. I wish it would die, so I can justify buying a new one, but it won't. Still starts on the first pull. I've used Mobil and Red Line in it.

[DRMC911]

They way I have been doing it for years, is 3,000 miles or 3 months which ever comes first, and that is with all my vehicles. and as for which oil to use i use Mobile 1.
But everyone has their own opinion.

[Dave928]

5k-7k miles, or twice a year, whenever i can get it to the shop.

[schnellman]

Originally Posted by san rensho

Since this post has predictably turned into a discussion of which oil is best, I'll put in my 2 cents worth.

http://www.planet-9.com/cayman-boxster-tech/60791-calling-all-engineers-motor-heads.html

Thank you for providing a link to this most excellent (and very long) article. Everyone here should read the entire article before drawing conclusions regarding their choice of oil and/or change intervals. I've always been happy with Mobil1 0-40 every 5000 miles or spring and fall. Having read this article, I think I'll stick to my plan. Flame on, boys!

[Johnny Danger]

Originally Posted by schnellman

Thank you for providing a link to this most excellent (and very long) article. Everyone here should read the entire article before drawing conclusions regarding their choice of oil and/or change intervals. I've always been happy with Mobil1 0-40 every 5000 miles or spring and fall. Having read this article, I think I'll stick to my plan. Flame on, boys!

Wow. After reading that article I'm afraid to put coco butter on my face; never mind choosing the right engine oil . So what's the verdict for normal to "spirited" street
driving ? Either 0-30 or 10-30 synthetic ?

[paulv]

Originally Posted by Johnny Danger

Wow. After reading that article I'm afraid to put coco butter on my face; never mind choosing the right engine oil . So what's the verdict for normal to "spirited" street
driving ? Either 0-30 or 10-30 synthetic ?

JD,

The Porsche approved oil list doesn't have any 30 grade oils listed on it -- pretty much 0W-40 and 5W-40 (couple of 50 grades) and all are synthetics.

After my factory fill, I used Motul 8100 5W-40 for 3 oil changes and Mobil 1 5W-40 (TDT) for 2 changes. I just recently changed the oil and have started using Redline 5W-40. Although the previous oils gave me good UOA reports, the car always would have valve train startup noise. With Redline, that noise is now gone.

I change my oil at approx 7500 mile intervals, mainly because the Porsche oil tests are run for approx 200 hrs which roughly equates to 6000 miles driven.

BTW, as we've both seen, summer is fading fast in our area so don't worry about the coco butter

Regards,
paul...
PS: Tried to upload my UOA history (pdf) but it didn't work (IE or Mozilla).

[Johnny Danger]

Originally Posted by paulv

JD,

The Porsche approved oil list doesn't have any 30 grade oils listed on it -- pretty much 0W-40 and 5W-40 (couple of 50 grades) and all are synthetics.

After my factory fill, I used Motul 8100 5W-40 for 3 oil changes and Mobil 1 5W-40 (TDT) for 2 changes. I just recently changed the oil and have started using Redline 5W-40. Although the previous oils gave me good UOA reports, the car always would have valve train startup noise. With Redline, that noise is now gone.

I change my oil at approx 7500 mile intervals, mainly because the Porsche oil tests are run for approx 200 hrs which roughly equates to 6000 miles driven.

BTW, as we've both seen, summer is fading fast in our area so don't worry about the coco butter

Regards,
paul...
PS: Tried to upload my UOA history (pdf) but it didn't work (IE or Mozilla).

I'll take your advice . Both on the oil and the coco butter . I usually switch to Oil of Olay this time of year any way .

[paulv]

Originally Posted by Johnny Danger

Wow. After reading that article I'm afraid to put coco butter on my face; never mind choosing the right engine oil . So what's the verdict for normal to "spirited" street
driving ? Either 0-30 or 10-30 synthetic ?

JD,

You can read the rest of Dr Haas's oil articles on BITOG: - Bob is the Oil Guy

Regards,
paul...

[Jager]

Originally Posted by san rensho

Since this post has predictably turned into a discussion of which oil is best, I'll put in my 2 cents worth.

I was first convinced that, based on several on line sources, I should use a heavier weight oil, I used both 15-50 and 20-50 for "flush" oil changes of about 1k miles each (I just got my car and the previous owner went long on the oil change intervals), both to try to get rid of the start up rattle and since I live in Miami Florida where its always hot, to protect against heat breakdown of oil. The heavier weight oils made no demonstrable difference in start up clatter.

Then I read the article below and I am a now a convert to M1 0-40. The long and the short of the article is that oil flow is what is important. You want as much volume going through the motor as possible at all times. Since 0-X weight oil is thinner when cold than a 5, 10, 20-X oil, it will provide more volume while the motor is warming up.

And remember, oil temp lags behind coolant temp during warmup. My Durametric shows that oil temp is about 10 C degrees behing coolant temp until the coolant gets close to 90 C, which takes a good 20 minutes in my car with combined city/highway driving. Once its up to temp, the oil temp is a little less than 10 C hotter than the collant temp, in the 100-105 C. range.

Once the oil is hot, the viscosity in now at 40, which at the oil temps I am running, is more than enough to protect the motor. Now, if I were running my car on the track, oil temps might be significantly higher, so I might consider a heavier oil.

But for the type of driving I do, I am convinced a 0-40 oil will protect the engine better during the crucial warm up, which if you do a lot of short trip city driving, will be a big portion of the time you are driving your car.


http://www.planet-9.com/cayman-boxster-tech/60791-calling-all-engineers-motor-heads.html

Interesting article… It looks like to me I have to plug-in an oil heater and get the oil up to 180 degrees before starting the car. This could be a great opportunity for someone to invent a Porsche oil heater! Turn the key… Analyze and heat the oil… Start the car. Oh Jake... Got another project for you.

[Idaho Red Rocket 3]

Gee Flavor 987S who peed in your Wheaties ??? Just because you have not seen any 10W40 approved on a Porsche list doesn't mean 10W40 is not the right weight oil to use. Look what the shop owners say.

My 2000S Porsche owners manual states to use 10W40 synthetic as the first choice. And the car has a Mobil 1 recommended sticker under the trunk lid. If Porsche recommendations are so important to you, please ponder this thought. Porsche's recommended oil change interval is 15,000 miles. Do you agree with that ? I'd bet you don't. As we can see in the posts about oil and change intervals, just about everyone doesn't agree with Porsche on that. So why is the Porsche approved list so important to you ?

Here is another example. My 2000S came with Porsche recomended tires. They were awful. I replaced them with low cost non Porsche approved tires that out perform them and give me vastly improved handling.

I drive my Porsches, Fords, trucks and motorcycles well above average amount of miles per year. In the 40 years I've been driving, I have logged well over 2 million miles on vehicals I own and self maintain. I think my oil practices have proven to be correct because of the long life and good running condition of my motors and drive lines. I'm very satisfied with my choices and feel comfortable recommending them to others. They a based on experience and a considerable amount of reseaching my choices before I buy.

10W40 synthetic is a good choice for the 986 cars. 3 to 5 thousand mile changes depending on use is good.

Bill

[Wayne 962]

I agree. 3000-5000 miles is about the longest I recommend going with the oil changes. Porsche's recommendations are just too long.

-Wayne

[stateofidleness]

My last change, I switched from Mobil 1 to Castrol Edge 5w40 to see if it would reduce the "chatter" at startup. What's this "Redline" stuff? I'd like to get rid of the cold start chatter (ticking sound) at startup.

(wayne: welcome to the board!!)

[Flavor 987S]

Originally Posted by stateofidleness

What's this "Redline" stuff? I'd like to get rid of the cold start chatter (ticking sound) at startup.

http://www.redlineoil.com/

[Flavor 987S]

Originally Posted by Idaho Red Rocket 3

Gee Flavor 987S who peed in your Wheaties ??? Just because you have not seen any 10W40 approved on a Porsche list doesn't mean 10W40 is not the right weight oil to use. Look what the shop owners say.

Just because someone disagrees with your irresponsible (at best) recomendation, that means I want to piss in your breakfast? Grow up and contribute some sound advice. And if your going to make strong recommendations ("The first choice should be 10W40 year round use") that fly in the face of Porsche, let other, not so knowledgeable Porsche enthusiasts who visit this board know the advice you are offering is counter to Porsche.


Lastly, your owner's manual oil list is out of date, and Porsche has released several updates since 2000.

[dennis]

So what is the updated recommended oil by Porsche as of SEP, 2011?