996 Turbo 10w-60 Oil

996 Turbo 10w-60 Oil

Author
Discussion

vanman1936

Original Poster:

759 posts

219 months

Sunday 1st March 2015
quotequote all
Just had the TT serviced at a very well regarded independent.

Has 84k on the clock, drinks a little oil but within acceptable levels.

Just noticed that they put in 10w-60 Mobil 1 Extended Life which isnt a viscosity recommended by Porsche.

Did a few forum searches and threads seem to descend into slanging matches / no real conclusion that helps settle my mind.

Thoughts appreciated.....

ArcticGT

977 posts

212 months

Sunday 1st March 2015
quotequote all
Most of the Indys are using 10/60 in the GT3s so given the Turbos can run slightly hotter if driven in anger, I think you'll be fine. It's probably a little overkill unless your tracking it hard in hot climates but given yours has done average mileage and is using a little oil, you may find it'll use less now.

The Cold start thickness won't be an issue unless we suddenly hit -20C.

Mine has been on 10/60 for years but the Indy used 0/40 at last service and the only difference I can see is the hot, idle oil pressure is slightly lower than it was before. I may try 5/50 at next service as a happy medium.


hygt2

419 posts

179 months

Sunday 1st March 2015
quotequote all
On the US forums, some 996T owners used 0W40 Mobil One Turbo Diesel oil instead of the petrol version to good effect. I think only the 0W40 and 5W50 is Porsche approved. I use 0W40 Mobil One petrol version and I find oil consumption increase after c.4000 miles after oil change which suggests to me the oil is sheared and needs changing. Mine is my winter daily hack, 4 miles each way twice a day in central London with a once a month hard country drive so it is hard on oil.

Rockster

1,509 posts

160 months

Monday 2nd March 2015
quotequote all
It is the wrong oil. Porsche does not approve the use of any 10w-XX, 20w-XX, 0w-60, or 5w-60 oil in that engine.

The Turbo engine has a complicated VarioCam Plus system -- variable valve timing and variable (low/high) lift which is changed on the fly. Both the variable valve timing and low/high lift is controlled by oil pressure/flow and the proper viscosity is critical for this hardware. Porsche tested this hardware to 250,000 cycles which IIRC Porsche believed would equate to one millions miles. But I seriously doubt it tested it with 10w-60 oil.

You won't like to hear this but I'd take the car some place else and get the proper oil in the engine and give that 1st shop a wide berth.

BTW, the Turbo engine doesn't run that hot. My Turbo engine runs cooler than my Boxster.

About the only concession I make regarding oil viscosity where I live and drive is I run 5w-50 Mobil oil (an approved oil) in my Turbo and my Boxster. But winters here are mild and it can get up into the very high 90's even the low 100's here.

Mark A S

1,836 posts

188 months

Monday 2nd March 2015
quotequote all
Mine runs 10-60 as fitted and recommended by Matt at Fearnsport. I would imagine he knows his stuff better than most.
Not used any oil in just over 1000 miles,,,,,,,,,,,,,, so far.

I would imagine when summer arrives and after a good thrash, the 10-60 would be a bit kinder to the engine?


boxsey

3,574 posts

210 months

Monday 2nd March 2015
quotequote all

Orangecurry

7,424 posts

206 months

Monday 2nd March 2015
quotequote all
Thanks boxsey - that's a top link thumbup

nxi20

778 posts

205 months

Monday 2nd March 2015
quotequote all
Mark A S said:
Mine runs 10-60 as fitted and recommended by Matt at Fearnsport. I would imagine he knows his stuff better than most.
Not used any oil in just over 1000 miles,,,,,,,,,,,,,, so far.
+1

Matt runs all 3 of my GT cars on 10/60 - I've been using it for years with zero problems. There's lots of tosh about oil sloshing about on forums but whatever you choose to use, changing it frequently (4-8K miles) is probably the best advice of all.

ArcticGT

977 posts

212 months

Monday 2nd March 2015
quotequote all
Rockster said:
BTW, the Turbo engine doesn't run that hot. My Turbo engine runs cooler than my Boxster.
.
Rockster, I was comparing it directly to the N/A unit in the GT3, not a completely different engine in a completely different car.
I'm betting you could easily see oil temps above 130C when driving the turbo hard and this is where most 40 weights will start to shear. Granted the modern group V ester oils are much better at higher temps in a 40 weight but strictly speaking these aren't Porsche approved for the engine either ??

sportsandclassic

3,774 posts

218 months

Monday 2nd March 2015
quotequote all
nxi20 said:
Mark A S said:
Mine runs 10-60 as fitted and recommended by Matt at Fearnsport. I would imagine he knows his stuff better than most.
Not used any oil in just over 1000 miles,,,,,,,,,,,,,, so far.
+1

Matt runs all 3 of my GT cars on 10/60 - I've been using it for years with zero problems. There's lots of tosh about oil sloshing about on forums but whatever you choose to use, changing it frequently (4-8K miles) is probably the best advice of all.
Same here, run Mobil 10W60 in all the GT engines. Zero issues.

vanman1936

Original Poster:

759 posts

219 months

Monday 2nd March 2015
quotequote all
Yes had read that Opi article and also seen quite a few quality Indis using 10-60.

On balance I am not worried about using 10-60 until next service but will ask them to move back to recommended by porsche range at next service unless there is some logic I am not aware of.

Cheers for comments.


BertBert

19,035 posts

211 months

Monday 2nd March 2015
quotequote all
It seems to me that one of the complexities is that synthetic oils are often not fully synthetic any more - but in fact semi-synthetic (and possibly variable by geography too).

So choosing a fully synthetic oil seems to require the phrase "top end ester based synthetic oils" these days. This debate was on here before and iirc was saying thet even Mobil 1 in the UK is really semi-synth, not fully.

And yes there are the downsides described in OPI article, but how severe are they? How critical is it to have the right oil? How bad is a 60 when a 50 is specified? Dunno.

Bert

supermono

7,368 posts

248 months

Tuesday 3rd March 2015
quotequote all
ArcticGT said:
Rockster, I was comparing it directly to the N/A unit in the GT3, not a completely different engine in a completely different car.
I'm betting you could easily see oil temps above 130C when driving the turbo hard and this is where most 40 weights will start to shear. Granted the modern group V ester oils are much better at higher temps in a 40 weight but strictly speaking these aren't Porsche approved for the engine either ??
Oil shear is the cutting of polymer chains in mehanical parts meshing together AFAIK so I don't understand how shear is temperature related.

Steve Rance

5,446 posts

231 months

Tuesday 3rd March 2015
quotequote all
I use Motul sport ester 5W50 fully synthetic in my GT engines.

thegoose

8,075 posts

210 months

Tuesday 3rd March 2015
quotequote all
I'm surprised no-one's mentioned Millers yet, the experienced independents that have tried it (often for motorsport use too) swear by it.

supermono

7,368 posts

248 months

Tuesday 3rd March 2015
quotequote all
Isn't the problem that with so few engine problems at all we all think whatever magic formula we've happened on must be the winner? Racers excepted who have stuff measured and rebuilt but have a very different usage profile to everyone else, I struggle to accept that anyone really knows if their oil formula is better than anyone else's.

Seems Porsche recommend some oils and using from that list should be fine

Cheburator mk2

2,991 posts

199 months

Tuesday 3rd March 2015
quotequote all
My Mk1 GT3 was owned by Manthey from day one and then maintained by them until I bought it. All I see in the service history is Castrol RS 10W60. Somehow I have the feeling Manthey have forgotten more about the Mezger than we would ever know...

supermono

7,368 posts

248 months

Tuesday 3rd March 2015
quotequote all
Well that's good information for sure. I'm intrigued about the science behind the 60W and why Porsche don't recommend that. What was the amient temperature where the car used to live?

Steve Rance

5,446 posts

231 months

Tuesday 3rd March 2015
quotequote all
thegoose said:
I'm surprised no-one's mentioned Millers yet, the experienced independents that have tried it (often for motorsport use too) swear by it.
I use Millers synthetic motorsport gearbox oil

IMIA

9,410 posts

201 months

Tuesday 3rd March 2015
quotequote all
Rockster said:
It is the wrong oil. Porsche does not approve the use of any 10w-XX, 20w-XX, 0w-60, or 5w-60 oil in that engine.

The Turbo engine has a complicated VarioCam Plus system -- variable valve timing and variable (low/high) lift which is changed on the fly. Both the variable valve timing and low/high lift is controlled by oil pressure/flow and the proper viscosity is critical for this hardware. Porsche tested this hardware to 250,000 cycles which IIRC Porsche believed would equate to one millions miles. But I seriously doubt it tested it with 10w-60 oil.

You won't like to hear this but I'd take the car some place else and get the proper oil in the engine and give that 1st shop a wide berth.

BTW, the Turbo engine doesn't run that hot. My Turbo engine runs cooler than my Boxster.

About the only concession I make regarding oil viscosity where I live and drive is I run 5w-50 Mobil oil (an approved oil) in my Turbo and my Boxster. But winters here are mild and it can get up into the very high 90's even the low 100's here.
You've said this before and its not true - fancy also suggesting the OP gives the Indy a wide berth when you have no idea who it is. On an older engine its actually quite sensible to use a slightly thicker viscosity oil. Yes you've completed 1000,000 miles on your original engine but everyone drives their cars differently. you obviously have a very sympathetic style of driving judging from many of your posts and your cars always gets warmed through properly and used on longish journeys, Here in bumper to bumper rush hour stop start traffic engines can get awfully hot. Different world my friend.